I am not the smartest person alive, just ask my teachers, girlfriend, parents, brother, friends or basically anyone who has had more than one conversation with me. But I do know a few things and one is that you don’t put the entire plot of a movie in its trailer! You have to give enough information to gain an audience’s interest but leave just enough out to surprise said audience when they pay $12 to see the film. And yes, this includes kid’s movies.
This new Gulliver’s Travels trailer does just that. It gives us roughly 7 of the 8 major plot points that typical movies contain. I would give that a percentage, but math isn’t my strong suit (again, not the smartest guy in the room). Let’s go through them shall we?
1. Establish – Jack Black is a wanna be writer in New York!
2. Set up – Gets sent on an assignment, ship wrecks on an island
3. Complications – Dealing with the little people
4. Reframing – Becomes a hero to the Lilliputins
5. New Complications – They figure out who he really is
6. Downward spiral – The robot beats him up! He has a talk with the pretty lady (Emily Blunt!) who cheers him up!
7. On the offense – Goes to war against the ships!
….
8. The return – Does he make it back? Will he ever become a writer? Have the little people taught him something in return? Will anyone believe him?
(9. – Profit!)
And if you’re interested in learning more about the process of storytelling, check out Scott Myer’s awesome blog Go Into The Story.
So you see, I basically just saved you ten bucks and two hours of your time. I guarantee you he comes back with a wild and fantastical story and becomes a great writer. They should’ve adapted the Jonathan Swift book where they eat the babies. Anyway, check out the trailer below and try to laugh. We dare you.
Source: MovieFone
