It’s an ancient Mazatec secret passed down verbally from video editor to video editor: If you want your game to be a smash hit, end your trailer with something roaring. It can be an alien, a dragon, a balrog, a T-Rex, whatever; as long as it’s roaring, you’ll move a minimum of 20 million units, guaranteed.
Video editors like me know the sheer dramatic power that roars hold. But it’s not just roaring! There are many different flavours of “Trailer Roar-Out” (Or TRO, as it’s known in the biz). Here are just a few examples you can use to spice up the trailer for your multi-million dollar game trailer:
- Monster roars, then eats the camera.
- Monster roars at hero, who then does something badass like takes out a sword/gun/chainsaw/lightsaber/BFG.
- Monster (usually, but not always, a dragon) roars, then breathes fire at the camera, only to reveal title of game. Excellent transition!
- Giant monster slams on the ground, the trailer cuts to black and a roar is heard. What happened? You’ll have to buy the game to find out!
- Trailer ends, then just when you think everything is safe -BAM!-: Monster roar. Bet you didn’t see that one coming!
- Hero and Monster run at each other at full speed while Monster roars, weapons drawn. Hard cut to black just before impact.
- Hero, who is also a monster, roars and attacks other Monsters/Heroes/Hero-Monsters.
See? So many ways to spice up your trailer using roars! Now that the secret is yours, remember me when you’re diving into a giant pool full of money, Scrooge McDuck style.
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