Weblog:
I’m a real sucker for great video editing set to awesome music–be it a movie trailer, video game trailer, or music video. I see so many badly edited game trailers that I feel most game marketing departments could use a lesson or two in video editing. Many just slap together footages and then throw music on top; calling that editing would be an insult to the art of video editing. A great edit would sync itself to every significant changes in the music–both the subtle ones and the obvious ones–noting the changes in mood, complexity, use of timbre..etc. Anyway, I came across one recently that I really enjoyed–the latest trailer for EVE Online, using music by JunkieXL (featuring Saffron, the chick from Republica). You can grab the video from the website’s download page, or download it directly here (118 MB). All footages are in-game, and looks gorgeous (if you’re a fan of epic spaceship sci-fi). The video editing itself isn’t complex, but whoever did it really grasped the pulse of the music and worked closely with the changes in soundscape. And speaking of the music–although this might sound strange, but the highlight of the piece is a very simple but highly effective 2-note melody. Yeah, that’s right–two. You really have to listen to it to see what I mean (I recommend watching that trailer at full-screen size, with the music turned up). If you want to find the music by itself, it’s a track titled Beauty Never Fades (Animatrix Edit). Make sure it’s the Animatrix Edit version–the original version isn’t nearly as atmospheric.
One of my favorite movie trailers was the one for Dark City. It really showcased the feel of the film very well, and the music was composed specifically for the trailer. I was so taken by the music and the trailer that I had contact New Line Cinema about it (that’s how I found out it was composed especially for the trailer by Hughes Hall). If you’ve never seen the film, I highly recommend it–one of the most underrated sci-fi films in the last decade.
