Writer-Director Andrew Stanton, decided to speak about his
new trailer that he released for his upcoming film John Carter, he believes
that, when it comes to marketing, more movies should "own their
sh*t."
"To me, if a trailer is looking or sounding like any
other trailer out there, then what you're saying to the audience is, 'My movie
is just like any other movie,'" noted Stanton on the eve of the trailer
premiere for his new film, the ambitious sci-fi epic John Carter. "I tend
to worry that marketers are underestimating their audience, which is not what I
was trained to do at PIXAR. Own what you really have. Own your sh*t."
And judging by John Carter's new trailer (watch it below),
the filmmaker is taking great pride in owning the identity of his live-action
directorial debut. In fact, Stanton is very passionate about the way films are
made and seen. He knows how to deliver big ideas; he's crazy at taking those
ideas and wrapping them around characters worth caring about (see WALL.E and
Finding Nemo). The biggest compliment you can give the guy is something along
the lines of: "I wish I came up with that first!"
IGN then got a chance to speak with the guy, and they were
interested on how do you get a film to be so successful and whats that process
like, but anyway check the interview.
IGN: The last
time we spoke with you, you were getting ready to release the teaser trailer
for John Carter. And getting that from concept to final product was a long
process for you and your team. Ultimately, the piece was met with various
reactions, but it definitely had people talking.
Andrew Stanton:
Well, I think we called attention by being quieter than everybody else. And
with this new trailer... we're proud of the film we have. So every [discussion]
we have about it -- whether it be about making the poster or the trailer -- is:
"Let's encapsulate it." And if that's not easy to do, then that's OK.
But let's not give up until we encapsulate what it feels like to watch the
movie.
What I care about is: "Do you feel after you've watched
the trailer like I know you'll feel after you've watched the movie?" It
just so rarely happens with trailers.
IGN: Let's back
up a bit and talk about the process of making this trailer -- of fine tuning it
while knee-deep in post-production, to get it to that place you just described.
Stanton: Sure.
This happens on every movie, at least on every movie I've worked on. Because of
the CGI nature of it, there's so much to be done to an image to make it look
"finished" on film these days -- especially on the digital ones --
that we never fit the calendar with when those shots are going to be done and
when the trailers have to come out.
Trailers and teasers have to be planned at least anywhere
from six months to year out from release, and most movies -- the film, the
images -- they aren't starting to look finished until at least three to six
months out from release. So there's always this huge [scheduling] conflict. A
lot of the time, you're seeing less in a trailer or you're not seeing "the
best stuff." It isn't because they didn't plan it that way, it's because
that's all they had that they could show you.
Fortunately, when you're on a big movie with a studio like
Disney, they've been through it enough times that you can try to plan for it.
IGN: So at what
point does the marketing component of the movie intersect with what you're
doing as a filmmaker?
Stanton: You're
trying to find the identity of your campaign while you're making the teaser --
at the same time -- so that's tricky. For example, on the teaser, you let [the
marketers] play with all the rough footage of your film, and they'll cut
whatever they need to cut to try and find something. Your first big hope is
that they'll just find something worth watching. And if you're lucky enough to
find the trailer that everybody likes then the next big battle comes. Because
you go: "Well, I love that trailer. But I gotta tell you, 70 percent of
the shots you've chosen? They will not be done by the time you need them."
John Carter hits theaters in March 2012. Definitely will be
something worth the wait.
Check out the Trailer Below....
