Storyteller / Activist
As much as I love our Book One trailer, there was no way we could pull off another live book trailer. Just didn’t have the time or resources and if you’ve read the second book, the world is SO different it would have been quite the SFX challenge.
So, my filmmaker friend Mauri came up with a different idea, which is what you see below. Not quite as exciting as a live action version, but it does the trick. 🙂
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUlvIUMWDXA]
What happens when a screenwriter turned filmmaker turned novelist gets a book published? He makes an incredible book trailer, that’s what. Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, is also just an interesting person. He collects odd, old, discarded photographs and as a photo-essayist, has a love-affair with devastating and disturbing images. What’s not to like?
I have O’Dell over at Book Twirps to thank for introducing me to both the book and the trailer. The production value is very high on this one, I mean, the man traveled to Belgium to shoot it! It’s tough to compete with that… and I’ll watch the trailer a few more times after I get over my initial jealousy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWrNyVhSJUU&w=640&h=390]
The Accidental Novelist (who won’t be able to call herself that much longer) presents the new book trailer for Brigitta of the White Forest (from our production company BYOA Entertainment)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyx3c84tvAE&w=640&h=390]
Cast and Crew:
Brigitta – Haley Hunt
Himalette – Shaleigh Lachance
Hrathgar Evil – Yvette Dudley-Neuman
Music by Land Of Deborah
Producers: Danika Dinsmore and Mauri Bernstein
Author/Director: Danika Dinsmore
Cinematographer: Phillip Schalast
Editor/Puppeteer: Mauri Bernstein
Sound: Kevin Barron
Sprite and Eyeball Puppets: Keith Randall
Hrathgar Hair/Make-up: Susan Manning
Briggy/Himmy Hair/Make-up: Leah Wilburn
Props: Jo Shotbolt
Faerie Wings: Charlene Rowley
For information on the book: thewhiteforest.com
For information on the publisher: entheospress.com
I was thinking of doing a post collecting the best information on making and posting Book Trailers… but WHY when someone has already done it!
Children’s author Darcy Pattison posted “The Best Info About Book Trailers” a few years ago, but I think most of the information still holds true and the links are good. Her links cover the how to and the why of book trailer creation, as well as links sites that feature trailers. Thanks, Darcy!
While cruising through all the links I came across this lovely book trailer for Neil Gaiman’s Blueberry Girl. It made me want to run out and buy the book. So, I guess the trailer did its job.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH4lyJWa_84]
While browsing through book trailers on YouTube, I noticed that fans are getting into the act and creating their own book trailers. Can you imagine? That would be cool to have fans so enthusiastic about your work that they take the time to create a book trailer. What a fun student / class project as well.
Here’s a fan’s clever book trailer for The Mysterious Benedict Society:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D4cIAQwL-k]
I still want to find the ideal site to VIEW book trailers. There’s just too much to wade through on YouTube.
When I first decided to create a live action book trailer for my accidental novel Brigitta of the White Forest, it was at a time when book trailers were still pretty basic. Most were made by “panning” over still shots and overlaying words on the stills or inserting them as separate title cards. There are websites you can use to put these together with stock images and stock music.
I just did a quick search and found these:
SQUIDOO’s BOOK TRAILER TIPS and TOOLS
How to Create Your Own Book Trailer for Free
Because I come from a film background and love to direct, when I think of “trailers” I think in movie trailers. I knew right away that if I were going to do a book trailer it would be live action or not at all.
Since the inception of the idea, I have found more and more publishing companies coming out with book trailers with much higher production value. The bar has definitely been raised.
This one cracked me up:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZVE5uF24Q]
This is by far one of the most interesting book trailers I’ve seen:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_jyXJTlrH0]
For those self-published or small press published authors, it might seem like you can’t compete with the flashy new trailers larger publishing companies are putting out. But really, you can give something higher production value with little extra cost. Having little money is not a barrier, it simply means it’s time to get creative!
Here’s a very simple book trailer that I think still packs a punch:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIjyJ_tqedc]
And this very intriguing video that chronicles the making of the cover for the steampunk novel Blameless isn’t really that complicated at all. It’s basically time-lapsed stills of photoshop pages and some haunting music:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDCiTsS7dU]
We just wrapped production on our trailer and will reveal it as soon as it’s ready.
In the meantime, if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a teaser we threw together before my tour:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=est8Ufv1Mks&w=640&h=390]
