Trailer Talk: Looper K.I.L.L.’s it
I was watching trailers from the past week, and I was having trouble finding something to write about. Nothing I saw really stuck with me. Then I remembered I hadn’t seen the Looper trailers yet.
Looper is the time travel sci-fi thriller coming out Sept. 28th starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. Gordon-Levitt is a hitman, whose life gets pretty difficult when he has to kill his future Willis self. I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say these are the best trailers of the year by far. I was blown away.
I know I’m late to the party, but I just have to write a few words about it.
TEASER
The editing in this trailer is brilliant, but what really impresses me is how a particular look and feel are conveyed. The old, dirty film overlay, with the exposure flashes, give it a kind of antiquated, old fashioned character. This isn’t a clean, crisp, J. J. Abrams production. Looper is a “very gritty, grounded action sci-fi”, as described by the Director Rian Johnson to the LA Times. I don’t know if the actual film has these old film effects and transitions, but regardless, it’s a great touch by the editor in this teaser from Flyer Entertainment.
DUBSTEP DONE RIGHT
Ever since I learned about dubstep 2 years ago I felt its sound would be perfect for trailers, and I really wanted to see it embraced. The Looper trailer is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.
Nick Murray & Mark Moore’s track “K.I.L.L.” (from Xtortion Audio’s album Rage) is used for the back end music. The piece is an epic hard rock piece with a heavy dose of electronic grit. Elements of dubstep are thrown in, which the trailer emphasizes in the editing. The cuts are jumpy, and jarring, just as the dubstep livens and interrupts the music.
The second trailer from Big Picture Entertainment takes the dubstep idea, and goes even further with it.
THEATRICAL TRAILER
The back end of this trailer, uses Jack Trammell’s “Fight For Freedom” (1:17 to 2:00), and “Crushing Blow” (2:00 to the end) from Position Music’s album Behemoth (iTunes).
This trailer keeps the gritty and old film look from the teaser, and doubles down on the dubstep. Quick cuts, flashy transitions, and jumpy visuals, make for another trailer where the sound and picture feel like they are one and the same. The dubstep is incorporated into the picture and it works. So many moments stand out but if I had to pick two, the first are the cuts from 0:33 to 0:38. The gunshot sound replaced by the weird soft piece of sound design leaves a pretty eerie impression.
The second moment is where the cell phone looks like it’s floating in midair at 2:09. Chances are the editor just reversed the footage to give it that appearance, but as small a detail as that is, I find it affecting and a really cool choice.
The only thing I can criticize is the shot of Bruce Willis at 1:55.
It’s just goofy, and he’s just begging to be captioned.
Source: AdTunes
