The guts of a great book trailer

Click the title of the post for some background information.

I chose this article to give you guys some idea of the amount of work and workflow required to create an awesome book trailer.

I can hear gasping and fainting right now about the prices. Yep, I realize that not all of you guys have that kind of money to put forth for your book trailer - but unless you have some skills of your own, or have a favors relationship with a great video creator, you may have to get creative in other ways.

A couple of the trailers I've posted previously were created by the writers, one paper cut out stop motion comes to mind.

Now look into the people you know and what they might be able to help you with. This fellow knew quite a few athletes, and had them perform doing what they did best. He didn't try to get them to monologue Shakespeare. I bet you know people who are amazing at something, and can use that for your book. Heck, I can imagine the time lapse footage of someone knitting being really awesome, for instance, and could be a great shot for a cozy mystery. (You do still have to light and frame the shot.)

Do you NEED pros? I'm shooting myself in the foot a little, as this is how I make my living...

For the quality above, yes. For a trailer that does it's job? You may not. Depends upon your approach. If you want something action packed and heavily stylized, finding a pro is probably your best bet. And a thought on performance and voice overs - find an actor or vo artist who's just starting out, but be sure they have some sort of reel. I can't tell you how many trailers I've seen with friends and family doing this, and it mostly doesn't work. You might have a friend or family member with unusual talent, just don't bank on it.

Of course, if you're just making a trailer for the hell of it, just as a fun activity, do whatever you like.