Character Trailers., Cinematic Storytelling. Options

[Darkness Eternal]

If your Character had their own cinematic or regular trailer, what would it be? What would be in it? How would the feel of it be? What music/song would you add to it? And of course describe how the trailer would be for any of your characters in fanfiction and short stories. Post Away!

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla's would be sort of graphic novel-ish with Light em Up as the music. It'd feature her killing vampires. I've actually been thinking of a way to get this to be a reality.

[Black Hand]

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This post has been edited by Black Hand: Apr 11 2014, 11:01 PM

[Darkness Eternal]

Nice trailer Black. I'm guessing that's Seythas, yes? Our resident assassin. Still wondering why you deleted the other posts of his story a few pages back.

Song: Encounter-Confidential Music.

Opening Scene: A multitude of people cheer, scream and clap around a great arena in the Imperial City. Two gladiators, an Imperial male and a heavy-armored pale-skinned Orsimer, step into the arena as soon as the gates open. Uriel Septim VII extends his hands, and the two gladiators salute each other and the Emperor as flower petals falls upon them.

"What does fate have in store for each of us? Can we mold ourselves into something great, or do the stars dictate the start of our path and the end of that road? I've came this far only to remember what misfortune has led me to."

Scene cuts to a chained long and black-haired human man, staring into nothing with his fist under his chin. Tears welling in his eyes. "I was born a free man. Lived in Cyrodiil. Until the day I was deceived, kidnapped and sold into slavery."

A voice says: "All the horrible things in your life. Your father. The battles. Knowing that the woman you held close was taken away from this life by your own hands."

Various shots show; the young man cringing in a corner of an old cottage. The young man, later grown, blocking a downward slash with his shield from an unseen opponent. A Breton woman knelt down with her head down, a halberd coming slow down to the nape of her neck. The scene fades to black before she is shown beheaded.

The voice comes from a Nord slave. "All these things can be forgotten. They can be put behind you . . . if you join us. All we have to do is survive."

"I don't want to survive," the Imperial says. "I want to live."

Scene cuts to him stepping outside, all around him are toiling men carrying stone and wood and an immense fortress being built around him. He is wearing nothing but a tattered brown shirt and patched pants. The scene changes to show him hammering away at a sword in an anvil.

Scene cuts to dark elven masters whipping various slaves. The scene jumps to show a few others being hanged.

"This is Oblivion on Nirn. I've been brought here by my own doing." The Imperial says with a coarse voice.

Shot fades away and shows a heavy-built khajiit speaking to the Imperial in a smithy. "You can leave this place just the same. We all have a choice."

"My choice got taken. But that won't ever happen again," the Imperial replies as he sharpens his sword.

The scene turns black, and reopens to show a well-dressed Dunmer speaking over an assembly of people. "Expansion in Morrowind is my goal. I do what I want with my property, and if you share the same vision, you will learn to accept that. Slavery has and always will be part of our culture."

The music intensifies, and the scene turns to a group of starved slaves grouped together. "Rebellion is our only chance for freedom."

The scene slowly fades into the Imperial man gazing at a young slave woman. "You don't understand the way things are. I do."

"If we refuse to let our wounds heal we become monsters."

"Better to be a monster than to be a victim." The Imperial says.

"Your rage will consume you if you let it."

"A man cannot be broken the way one breaks a dog or a horse. The harder a man is beaten, the taller the man shall stand." The Imperial says.

The scene changes. The Imperial stands with a Breton, the Breton says. "Farmer turned slave turned gladiator turned blacksmith. I wonder what you’ll turn into next."

The scene changes to show a masked Nord and other raiders engaged in combat with Dunmer mercenaries and soldiers with swords and axes.

The scene fades to show the Imperial being attacked by a unnaturally large bear leaping in midair to tackle him.

The scene changes to show the man lying in a bedroll with potions and herbs around him. Lacerations and sword-cuts spread throughout his torso. Blood caked over his beard.

"Every man can be defeated. No man truly is immortal. Even legends can die." A bald Redguard says.

The scene fades, and the Imperial man speaks to a half-naked Dunmer sorceress. "The nightmares grow. It is in my dreams. It is in my reality. It is inescapable. I can't fight it."

Scene fades to Imperial standing over various candles circling around a portal of daedric nature. He's bandaged to the chest down to his waist, with various fresh scars over his worn face whole he's leaning over a cane for support. The same sorceress speaks. "Whatever the reason you're doing this. Focus deeply on that. Perhaps it will help."

Scene shifts and two warriors are engaged in combat together as lightning strikes and a heavy downpour drenches them. The redguard and the Imperial exchange blows from swords throughout the top of the fortress.

"Trust me," the Imperial says. "I've been through worse."

The woman looks at him, and shakes her head. "No you haven't."

The scene completely fades to black as he enters through a glowing portal, screaming. He holds the hand of a young Imperial maiden while a group of others are behind him.

Another voice, much more primal and savage, speaks loudly as the scene shows a vast prehistoric-like landscape with giant vultures flying overhead the wilderness. "This isn't your escape. You can't flee from your past. Your nightmares will devour you here. In the realm of hunters, you're prey."

The scene turns to show the Imperial wandering through a dark jungle at night through a shadowy swamp. He is pulled under the water and later rises from it to see a large crocodile snap at him.

The scene changes as the music continues to intensify. The muscular, bare-chested Imperial is walking through a yellow open savannah with a readied wooden bow in his hand. As he walks, a giant lion pounces from a stone boulder and into the open. The Imperial drops his bow in slow motion.

The young maiden, wearing torn rags for clothes, sits with the Imperial in a cavern before a campfire. He speaks to the other men. "We're being hunted for the same purpose. We're the monsters of our own world. This is our hell and we have to live with that."

Scene changes to show the Imperial running through a woodland forest with many others, frightened looks on all their faces. Behind them, a horned figure with a pack of wolves are hot in their trail. A single moon is full in the sky, illuminating the scene.

"You're a slave to yourself. To be free of your chains forever . . . you must break them." A blue-eyed old man says to him.

"How can that be done?" asks the Imperial warrior.

"You must die. But I ask: are you willing to trade one master for another?"

Various scenes show as the music reaches epic heights; a group of men running through an open plain with various gazelle-like animals fleeing alongside them. The Imperial is caught in a one-on-one fight with a seven-foot tall Nordic warrior in a forest. The Imperial kneels before a makeshift statue of a horned god. The scene changes to show the Imperial and Daedric Lord Hircine facing one another over a barren canyon painted red by a crimson sun's light, the Imperial painted with black and red tribal markings and Hircine holding a spear as both rush toward each other with intense speed.

The scene fades to show the Imperial in a fortress in Morrowind. A great pit is shown below a bird's eye view. The well-dressed male Dunmer is at a large dinner event extending his hand to a clapping assembly. The Imperial and a suthay khajiit shake hands and embrace. A male Breton is held at knife-point by the Telvanni sorceress. The Imperial stands over unmarked gravestones, head bowed.

"I've seen enough death to understand the value of life." The Imperial says, fully armored in black armor, as he runs his finger over the body of a newly sharpened sword while a wolf helmet sits at his side. Blurred figures stand around him, weapons of all kinds in hand.

Trailer concludes with an abrupt end. Red and black words, of savage and wild quality, fade into place: Kraven Desselius: The Victory That Broke The Chains.


This post has been edited by Darkness Eternal: Mar 31 2014, 08:12 PM

[Acadian]

DE, that has a wonderfully epic feel. I can almost hear an announcer's voice fading in at the end, "Coming soon to a theater near you!"

[Darkness Eternal]

Thanks Acadian. I just had to let my imagination flow there

[haute ecole rider]

@Blackie and DE: I am just awed by your ability to sum up your characters and their stories in just a few seconds of cinematic drama. I wish I could write something like that for Julian, but I'm afraid it would be just mundane as hell. Too Hollywoodish, you know?

One thing trailers should do is to make someone want to watch the feature (or read the full-length novel). Both of you have certainly accomplished that with your written trailers. Awesome!

[PhonAntiPhon]

Quick précis:

Music: Vex Red - "Cause and Solution"

Screen starts black, camera pans to reveal a black eye; black in black, and part of a face.
00' 08" - music ups a gear and the camera cuts to a silhouetted figure leaping from a rock with a warhammer poised over its head, below it seethes an angry sea of assorted foes, human and creature alike.

Following the ebb and flow of the music there would be scenes of Eilidh fighting, interspersed with scenes of dialogue, landscapes, sex, creatures and people; the camera constantly moving with the track.
It would be fast moving barring a couple of slower sections. About 03' 02" as the music climaxes it would switch back to Eilidh still shadowed completing her leap and disappearing into the melee below. Fighting would ensue, fast and frenetic.

Post climax, as the track tailed off, we would see her from behind heading into the sunrise walking away from the camera. She would be cloaked, with bow, quiver, and hammer on her back.

Through all of it, you would never see all of her, just shadows and highlights: part of a face, breasts and belly in flickering candlelight, muscles flexing with a bow, tattoos - that kind of thing.
Full body shots would be in either flickering semi-shadow or full silhouette, or from behind as at the close.

Stylistically I am thinking anime, but channelling Frank Frazetta, Yusuke Nakano, and Ralph Bakshi.

That's a very rough summary, I'm still working on the details...

[edit]: I suspect the "Love" trailer - (there is one!) - would have "Tonight, Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins as it's theme.

This post has been edited by PhonAntiPhon: Apr 2 2014, 05:14 PM

[Rihanae]

Ooh, what an interesting topic!

I think Lissa's trailer would start off with epic looking and sounding shots of Cyrodiil, with an announcer saying something like, "Cyrodiil, land of opportunity..." blah bah blah (I'm no good at writing epic!)

Then he finishes with a slow pan up of Lissa saying, "One girl is on a mission... a mission for truth."

Then once the camera reaches Lissa's face we see her arguing to herself, with Rihanae, "RIHANAE! You can be so dull sometimes... BECAUSE YOU'RE DEAD... Blah blah bored now..."

We then she she is talking to herself in the middle of a crowd. She looks awkwardly as the stare at the odd girl talking to herself. She smiles sheepishly, then slowly edges out of camera shot.

This s followed by more epic announcing as a backdrop for the action on screen, including Lissa wildly chasing a bandit with her warhammer, Dancing in a tavern with Jessie whils't Anyanka looks on unimpressed and Lissa riding her horse, Crystal, with her sister.

... I can't think of anything else right now! Haha

[minque]

Hmmm interesting indeed! Really need to come up with something...got a few things in my head but as usual....I'm slow...but we'll see ....

[Cardboard Box]

FADE UP
SCENE: ANVIL DOCKS - DOLLY MOVING EASTWARD

V/O:
When the time comes, heroes are chosen.

DOLLY PANS ALONG DOCKS UNTIL ONE SHIP REACHED. TRACK TURNS TO FLANK THE SHIP. SHOT TILTS TO THE NAME OF SAID SHIP: "COY CARP"

V/O:
When destiny closes, heroes are called.

DOLLY RUNS UP GANGPLANK ONTO THE MAIN DECK AND TURNS TO FOCUS ON MAIN DOORS.

BEAT.

V/O:
When destiny calls...

MAIN DOORS OPEN TO REVEAL RA'JIRRA AT 30-ODD YEARS OLD. HE BLINKS AND STARTS UP THE STEPS TO THE DECK.

V/O:
The heroes will rise.

RA'JIRRA TRIPS ON A ROPE AND FACEPLANTS BELOW CAMERA FOV.

RA'JIRRA:
Bugger.

MONTAGE OF: COMBAT - AGAINST BANDITS ON ROAD. CUT TO RA'JIRRA RECOVERING.

RA'JIRRA:
Bugger.

AGAINST UNDEAD IN FORTRESS RUIN. RA'JIRRA SLUMPS AGAINST A WALL.

RA'JIRRA:
Bugger.

THREE NECROMANCERS ARE SPREAD OUT AND THREATENING RA'JIRRA.

RA'JIRRA:
Aw bugger.

A CAVE. A DREMORA IS MENACING A BATTERED RA'JIRRA.

RA'JIRRA:
Bugger me... hang about, I remember you...

CUT TO BLACK. TITLE CARD ZOOMS IN: "RA'JIRRA: LEGEND OF THE ARCH-MAGE"

RA'JIRRA:
There's probably some imp chips in here but at my age who can tell?

FADE TO BLACK

[haute ecole rider]

Classic Ra'Jirra!

You had me rolling at the first trip!

[Callidus Thorn]

Well, this looks like fun, think I'll give it a try...

Since I've got something I'm working on, this really is a trailer. It's a rough draft, but since the idea's popped into my head I might as well go with it. I should mention there's the distinct posibility I'll rewrite the whole thing a couple of times.

Right, here goes nothing:


No music.

Opening:
A cell in the Imperial City Prison, a solitary shaft of pale orange light streams in through the small window. A torch burns weakly by the gate, leaving much of the cell in shadows. A figure sits in the corner, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, feet resting on a rickety table. His face is obscured by darkness, but amidst the shadow a pair of crimson eyes blaze.

A dry, grim voice speaks. The voice can be heard over everything:

We like to think that our choices matter, that we have the freedom to direct our own lives...

Scene cuts to Uriel Septim, asleep in a large four-poster bed, tossing and turning in the throes of some nightmare.

But some few are shown how little their choices mean. Pity them, for they are without hope for themselves.

Scene cuts to a view of the Imperial City, zooming in on White Gold Tower, darting through a window. Inside a score of Blades don their armour and test the edges on their katanas

Some act the only way they know how, never realising that the choice to do otherwise even exists...

Scene cuts to shadowy figures in red robes moving throughout the Imperial City, some climbing down into the sewers, others loitering in the shadows cast in alleyways

Some act as they do because they see no other way to act...

Scene cuts to the Chapel of Akatosh, to a brown haired male Imperial in grey robes

And some have choice snatched from them by others...

Scene cuts back to the cell

A thousand men and women can make a choice, and change nothing. And yet one person without a choice can change the world forever.

We like to think our choices, our lives, important, but how many of us are simply entertainment for those with the power to place us. To put us where we have no choice?

I never really thought about choice, until I gave mine away. I left everything I knew, and went blindly where I was sent. Now I sit in this cell, wandering if I will ever have a choice again.

The figure removes his feet from the table and leans forward, revealing the face of a Dunmer

They taught me to kill. To kill with blades, with bows, with spells. I came to pay a debt, but some debts cannot be paid in blood. But what choice have I? What can I do but kill?

I do not know what is coming, why I am here. I feel the web around me, and wonder if anything I do from here will be my choice. I wonder if I am truly here for a reason, or if I am simply another morsel of entertainment for the Webspinner.

Perhaps I will never know...






Tarvyn Dralor: Caught in the Web.

Coming soon...

[treydog]

Although I tend to think in "cinematic" terms while I am writing, I was not sure I could condense my pictures into a trailer. But I managed a little something....


(Voice-over): Some say the age of heroes is past. But legends still live, in the East, in Morrowind.

Dwemer airship crosses from left to right, disappearing into a snowstorm. Aerial view of Hrothmund’s Bane, with quick shots of rieklings and bristlebacks. Interior shot of Castle Karstaag.

Dagoth Ur has been defeated.

Trey fighting Dagoth Ur beneath Red Mountain.

And the Blight is ended.

Serene waves her hand and brings plant growth from the Ashlands.

Vvardenfell has come to life once more- new life.

Children run in the streets of Balmora and among the crab-shell building of Ald’Ruhn. Pause on a brown-haired Imperial boy with a serious face and a violet-eyed Dunmer girl with a hunting bow.

Years pass and the children of heroes grow. And (dramatic music) a new threat appears on a small island to the north.

Silhouette view of Hircine’s antlered head, lifted as in a howl. Shot of destruction at Fort Frostmoth.

The Great Hunt has been called. But who is the Hunter and who the prey?

Athlain putting on his Legion helmet. Athynae drawing Dreamer from the scabbard on her back. Athynae and Athlain in the snow of Solstheim, beset by wolves.

In these dark days, loyalties will be tested, trust betrayed, friendships forged… or sundered. Who can tell ally from enemy?

Carnius holding out a contract to Athlain. Julian taking Athynae’s Gift from Athlain in the interview room at the fort. Athynae and Athlain fighting outside Thirsk, as camera pulls back to show the scene from Sethyas' point of view, over the ebony head of the arrow he has drawn and aimed at Athlain.

What secrets will be revealed by the dark light of the…

Pages of a journal riffling too quickly to be read

Blood Moon?

Hircine silhouetted once more, against the blood-red moon. Fade to black.

[haute ecole rider]

Niiice, Treydoggie! A terrific encapsulation of Blood Moon in just a few scenes. I especially liked the background - it gives an added depth to the trailer and tells us that our beloved couple didn't spring up out of the sea like -- umm -- Venus?

[minque]

Yay Treydoggie! That was awesome...need to thing about coming up with something.....

[Darkness Eternal]

Music plays.

The scene begins with a young blond woman sitting below a stone sarcophagus which reads the clawed word Praxedes. Empty bottles of brandy are scattered about around while she gulps a bottle down. Her face is sorrowful; her golden eyes are red and teary. Her nose is running. Her blond hair is wild. She gently hits the back of her head on the stone surface, unwilling to blink. She’s a mess.

The scene fades and opens again to show the same Imperial woman, wearing brown ragged pants and an old brown sackcloth shirt standing over a table with many parchments folded and stacked together. The top parchment shows the face of some man with the words Wanted written below. She stabs the wanted posted with a dagger while a few bags of coin can be seen on the other side of the table. She counts the coins after she reads a Black Horse courier paper that is titled: Mysterious Huntress! Law-abiding citizen or criminal?

The scene fades black and begins anew with the woman lying in a single bed inside an old stone chamber which she made her home. The scene shows periodic images of her restless sleep; she twists and turns, sits up, rubs her eyes, returns back to sleep. She wakes up again and scoops a bottle of brandy off the wooden nightstand beside the bed. She walks back and forth the room, drinking. She sits down on the edge of her bed and repeatedly smacks the palms of her hands in her face.

The scene fades black once more and opens up with a view of the Imperial woman in her armory. No longer seen in her ragged, frayed clothing, she’s dressed from shoulder to feet in armor made of steel. Her armor has a few scratches and marks on it. Her gloved hand sheaths a dagger on her belt and conceals a knife in her boot. She swings a bow on her back, where it joins with a quiver full of arrows. She picks up a full steel helmet and places it under her arm as she leaves the underground chamber.

The scene fades black and reopens much brighter with a blue sky over a green hillside which the woman is walking across, the White-Gold Tower and the Imperial city can be seen in the background. Another shot shows the fully armored woman walking through the Great Forest until she comes to an opening that leads to a great castle. She holds her hand on her sheathed blade and walks forth to the gates.

The scenes, once again, fades black. It opens with the Huntress sitting across a handsome (and very pale) Imperial male, evidently wealthy, with many strange rings adorning his fingers. Behind him is a painting of him and a younger beautiful black-haired woman. His eyes are a shade of crimson. His hand is set on the table and he slides a parchment with names of various powerful individuals. The Imperial Huntress scans them over and nods slowly. He points at a chest sitting a few feet away with the cover open, giving her a glimpse of the quantity of gold inside. There’s a lot of gold. She stands, and he stands and they both shake hands.

The scene begins anew with the Huntress in the wilderness, sitting on a moss-encrusted log without her armor. She mixes nightshade and various other herbs together and grinds them into pieces in a mortar and pours the poisonous liquid over few of her arrows. The scene shifts to the Huntress in the swampy area of Blackwood, where she applies the poisonous juice from the skin of a large blue frog, coating the arrowheads.

The scene changes once more to show a group of travelers walking along the road near a carriage carrying a well-dressed individual, presumably a nobleman. The people escorting the carriage are armed and armored. The Huntress pulls an arrow from her quiver as she hides behind a tree. She nocked her arrow on the bowstring and aimed. She breathed and loosed.

The scene fades to black and opens with the huntress surveying the bodies of the dead. There is only one survivor: the nobleman, who is running for his life with an arrow lodged into his back. He’s gradually slowing down as he runs down the road. The veins on his face take on a purplish hue, and he coughs and stumbles. The huntress walks over him, fully armored and helmeted.

The scene fades away to show the Huntress sitting across a desk from the Imperial nobleman who hired her. He offers her a goblet of crimson liquid, she openly refuses. He slides a bag of septims to her. She casually grabs it. Below the sack of coin is a Black Horse Courier edition that reads: Aspirant chancellor murdered by Highwaymen! Draken Decumus next in line for Chancellor? The scene changes to show the huntress back in her home. She’s near the sarcophagus again, slumped over it weeping and mouthing: “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I don't know what to do with my life.” She sits, cries, and begins drinking again.

The scene shifts to night, she’s drunk and stumbling in the woods. She hides behind a bush and begins to remove her clothes. She's fully naked, and falls to her knees, screaming. The camera pans up to Masser and Secunda lighting the sky, both moons are full.

The new scene takes on a rapid pace: The nobleman begins crossing names off the list. The Huntress is seen shooting an arrow on a fleeing woman. The scene changes to the Huntress carrying the paralyzed woman on her back and laying her at the nobleman’s feet. The scene changes again, with the Huntress holding a sharp axe over her shoulder while a Breton man holds out his hand to her. The scene shifts to show her dropping a red-stained bag over the nobleman’s desk, with the head of the man inside. The Imperial noble smiles, and hands her a bag of coin along with the chest of gold.

The scene changes to show the Huntress standing over a ravine’s edge, contemplating. A woman stands beside her. They exchange words, though nothing can be heard. The scene changes to the huntress drinking again, arguing with the young woman in the crypt that bears close resemblance to her. The huntress slumps in the cold floor with brandy in her hand while the other woman vanishes into nothing, as if she was a ghost or a hallucination. The scene turns black and opens up with the Huntress in the Great Forest, in a foggy morning, standing over a block of wood, a rope tied around her neck while she stands beneath a tree. She breathes deep.

The scene turns black. The words form:

One Is Silver, and the Other Is Gold.

[haute ecole rider]

Oooh, that's quite the intriguing one!

It makes me interested in the story, and I'm wondering if the trailer is the story itself, or the prelude to a second?

[Darkness Eternal]

Thanks, Haute. It was just something that sprung to mind. It will probably be a short story with some scenes in the "trailer" post included in the story. But the rest is best left for readers to see play out.