Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Trailer Park

9/12/2013

0 Comments

 
Among the many jobs I've done over time include writing movie trailers.  (Yes, I've actually written the words, "In a world where...") 

I was once hired to write a parody of another trailer.  The studio loved it -- but thought the end was a little over the top, could I tone it down?  Sure, no problem.  They loved the new version -- except the part before the new end that was fine before was now a bit too over-the-top for them.  Could I tone that down now?  Absolutely, not a problem.

This went on for six drafts.  Finally, they asked for one more change.  Something was too over-the-top, and they wanted to know if I could change it?  What I said was, "Yes, I can tone that down.  Just know, though, that if I do, it will no longer be a parody of that other trailer, but a direct copy."  Without skipping a beat, the executive said, "That's okay."

The first trailer I ever wrote that got me started was never actually made.  That's not uncommon, but it's just odd because it's what got me in with the company.  They needed a trailer fora new, live-action version of Casper.  The problem was -- Steven Spielberg wouldn't let them give away the special effects CGI Casper, and he didn't want people to think the movie was a cartoon.  The company didn't have a clue to do, they'd been trying for weeks but were totally stumped.  Oh, and "We need them tomorrow by the end of the day."  I'd never written a trailer before in my life, and that was my assignment!  Driving home, an idea suddenly hit me, and by the time I got to my desk, I knew exactly what to do.  I wrote the trailer scripts up and had them back to the company the first thing in the morning.  They were bowled over that I had something and that fast -- and even more thrilled that they loved them.

Alas, the studio didn't.  They were too out of the box.  More little narratives than normal trailers.  So, they said "no."  A foolish thing because I think they were so off-beat that they would have gotten SO much attention.  But the company at least loved them, and so they kept hiring me, which is how I got started in that field.

All the trailers put a cartoon Casper into a real-life setting.  One had Casper on a psychiatrist's couch -- his friends insisted he see the doctor because they were concerned he kept insisting that his new movie wasn't a cartoon.  At one point, he began shouting to the doctor's challenging questions, "I'm not a cartoon!  I'm not a cartoon!  I'm not a cartoon!!!!"  The psychiatrist is taken aback and says, "You don't have to be so hostile."  To which Casper replies, "I'm friendly, not a wimp."

Another trailer had the cartoon Casper as a guest on the Larry King Show.  He was explaining to the real Larry that in his new movie he wasn't a cartoon, because he wanted to stretch and try something new.  They also took phone calls, one of which said, "Hi, Casper, I'm a big fan, loved in in Ghostbusters."  Casper corrects him that he hadn't been in it.

The final one was a real-life courtroom scene where the cartoon Casper was on trial for saying that his new movie wasn't a cartoon.  He's on the stand, getting drilled by the human prosecutor, and it looks bad for him.  The prosecutor leans in for the kill and asks with a coup-de-grace sneer, "Why should we believe that your new movie isn't a cartoon, but 'real life'?"  Casper answers, "Because it's produced by Steven Spielberg."  The entire courtroom goes, "Oooooooooooo."  And then judge slams the gavel, "Not guilty!  Case dismissed!"

This all leads me to a wonderful, fake trailer that Mark Evanier posted on his website.  It takes the hilarious comedy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and some fellow re-edits the trailer to make it look like a totally different movie entirely.  It's brilliantly done.

And now for something completely different --
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like