Challenge: Create a trailer for an AH film!

[Strategos' Risk]

Choose your favorite AH novel (preferably something that would be good for a movie adaptation, I'm thinking A Man in the High Castle Here), and write a short script for the trailer you'd create to promote it.

[wkwillis]

Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen
The mess after the first major battle when the captured mercenary artillary specialist asks Lord Kalvan what god taught him to cast cannon like that...

[Ivan Druzhkov]

If I have a little time this weekend, I might try to bang one out for Not This August (which would about twenty-three times better than Red Dawn as a movie, IMHO).

[zoomar]

More of a short teaser:


Scene opens with a fade in to a CSA belt buckle shown in tight closeup, scene gradually expands as martial music (maybe the "Bonnie Blue Flag") slowly swells from nothingness to show the buckle is on a uniform worn by a Confederate officer, scene further expands to show the barrel of a gun, which expands further to be an AK-47. Scene expands further to show similarly armed Confederates standing and milling about in front of the damaged White House with the detritus of a battlefield littering the grounds. As soon as everything is clearly recognizeable, the music suddenly swells, ending with a large boom and the screen goes suddenly black, with the simple words, "The Guns of the South" fading into and out of legibility.

[MarkWhittington]

I know this is self serving, but...

EXT. LUNAR SURFACE

An Apollo lunar module sits on the lunar surface.

The airlock hatch opens and a space suited figure emerges.

A title card reads: December, 1975

The space suited figure descends down the ladder.

A title card reads: The flight of Apollo 23

The space suited figure stands on the landing pad of the lunar module.

WENDY (OS)
I'm going to step off the LEM now.

The figure steps off. Boots make imprints on the lunar soil.

WENDY (OS)
This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in mine eyes.

Fade to:

A field of stars.

Title card reads: Children of Apollo.
It could have been like this...

[Major Major]

VOICEOVER:
"In 1940, Adolf Hitler was triumphant everywhere. France had fallen before his mighty Panzers. All Europe lay under his sway."
Images of victorious German Arms -- Stukas diving, Panzers rolling along French roads, the Wehrmacht marching triumphantly through Paris.

CUT TO
A dozen middle-aged Englishmen are walking along a road in a pleasant stretch of English countryside on a mild misty English morning. Eight of them are carrying rifles; all of them have white armbands with "LDV" on them in black letters.

VOICEOVER
"In all the world, there was only one nation that still faced the tyrant, one nation that he had to crush. Would he do it by air? By sea? Or would he send his mighty army on its most daring leap, across the storm-tossed Channel?"

The men look up. Mists are clearing away, and the air is full of airplanes. Then, parachutists drop from the planes, their chutes opening:

SERGEANT
"That's them, boys. They've come."

TITLE CARD
IF HITLER HAD INVADED ENGLAND
Based on a story by C. S. Forrester

[Archangel Michael]

A man wearing a gray business suit is walking down a dark hallway. He is followed by four guards dressed in gray military uniforms and World War One-era doughboy helmets. This man is President JAKE FEATHERSTON of the Confederate States of America. The sound of cheering is getting louder and louder.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
Imagine a world where the South won the American Civil War.

As the announcer is speaking, images of the past flash for several seconds: images of McClellan surrendering to Lee, the Confederate flag flying over the White House, soldiers in blue and gray clashing, and American barrels fighting in the Great War.

ANNOUNCER (cont’d.)
Imagine a world where the United States was put between two hostile nations. Imagine a world where the Allies lost the First World War.

JAKE FEATHERSTON finally exits the hallway and is standing on a balcony overlooking a huge crowd. Thousands fill the plaza, with guards in gray uniforms and holding Freedom Party flags are in the front. The crowd goes wild as they see FEATHERSTON. He snaps off a clean Bellamy (Nazi) salute. The camera pans around and we see the massive crowd responding in kind. Large cries of “Freedom!” ring out.

ANNOUNCER (cont’d.)
Well, stop imagining.

JAKE FEATHERSTON
My name is Jake Featherston, and I'm here to tell you the truth!

The crowd, which had quieted down, explodes into applause and more shouts of “Freedom!” can be heard.

The shot changes to that of SCIPIO, his wife BATHSHEBA, and their two children running down a dark street. Buildings are on fire and shouts of “Freedom!” can be heard in the background. The shot then changes to that of camp guard JEFF PINKERTON watching as a truck drive up.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
Dive into a world filled with hate and violence.

A guard in gray steps out of the truck and walks up to JEFF PINKTERTON. Several more guards open up the doors of the truck and empty out its passengers: black prisoners in chains.

TRUCK DRIVER
I’ve got you another batch.

JEFF PINKTERTON
I’m over my population limit. What I am I going to do with more niggers?

TRUCK DRIVER
That’s your problem.

The image turns to a shot of the battlefield in Ohio. Confederate barrels are charging past the burned out wreckage of their American counterparts. We see more images of war.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
And into a world gone mad with war. Presenting Settling Accounts: Return Engagement, the groundbreaking movie based off the best-selling book by Harry Turtledove. Coming to a theater near you on May 10th. Rating pending.

The screen goes black

CROWD (v.o.)
Freedom!

[Fenwick]

A map of the United States is shown, the border between Virginia and Maryland is shown. A fire burns between the borders and engulfs the map.

In a world of might have beens America is split in two.

A black and white photo of black men being pushed into trucks is shown.

Picture a world where the confedracy lives on to 1941.

A black and white photo of Gary Oldman wearing a uniform shouting into a mircophone, the reverse confederate flag behind him.

The south ruled by a racist madman named Jake Featherston.

Barb wire fences are put up by black men with rifles.

In the midst of war, a greater terror is occuring.

Ed Harris stands by a fleet of trucks his face cold and stern.

The horrors that occured are unlike anything mankind has seen before.

Camp Dependable

[Ivan Druzhkov]

I promised I’d write that trailer this weekend, and I delivered. I went more of an action-y route with this, as I thought the book tended to have some of the heroic highs and wicked lows of traditional action films, and I doubt anyone’d take the whole concept of the story seriously enough to try a more “serious” trailer. Besides, it’ll get bums in seats, and that’s what we’re aiming for, right?

TITLE CARD:Logo of FILM STUDIO is displayed. However, the whole image appears as if shot through a dark red filter, and the lettering is in a yellow, Impact-like font. Furthermore, a few of the R’s and N’s in the name of STUDIO are reversed. A slowly rising ominous tone is heard.

CUT TO:Snippet of speech given by THE PRESIDENT. THE PRESIDENT, who looks like Lyndon Johnson after spending six months in a prison camp, is delivering a speech, fighting to hold back tears. The image looksit was shot on early 1960’s TV.

THE PRESIDENT

My fellow Americans, our armed forces have met with great defeats on land and at sea…

JUMP CUT to a field with burning American tanks (M60’s probably) with Soviet armor (T-62s) trundling unopposed across the wreckage, then JUMP CUT back to speech.

THE PRESIDENT

…our last defenses along the Rio Grande have fallen, and the heartland stands unprotected from attack.

JUMP CUT to city (maybe Phoenix) being buzzed by MiG-21s then JUMP CUT back to speech

THE PRESIDENT

…I have had no choice but to communicate our unconditional surrender to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics…

JUMP CUT to a battalion of Soviet troops marching in formation down the main street of a small town (Norton, NY) then JUMP CUT back to speech.

THE PRESIDENT (almost breaking down into tears)

…may God bless you all and stand you in this hour of trial.

CUT TO shots of Soviet troops setting up shop in Norton (erecting banners, setting up chain-link fences, civilians in breadlines, etc…)

NARRATOR

In the darkest chapter of American history…

CUT TO KGB MEN holding a farm family at gunpoint.

NARRATOR

…In a world where all hope is thought lost forever…

CUT TO JUSTIN and GRIBBLE in an underground launch pad, looking at a massive satellite mounted on the top of a rocket. They are about level with the top of the rocket. Keep the camera on the satellite for a full 3 seconds for dramatic emphasis.

GRIBBLE (bitterly)

There it is. The ultimate nuclear doo-hickey that’ll win this war and keep it won.

CUT TO TITLE CARD reading “THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM LIVES ON”

NARRATOR

The fight for freedom lives on.

MONTAGE of several scenes from the movie, including: firefight in Norton between American rebels and Soviet troops, with a few buildings exploding; BETSY CARDEW, in white doctor’s coat, trying to deal with several people on gurneys at once, in a hallway packed with sick old people; BILLY JUSTIN in a prison cell, getting pistol-whipped in the mouth by a KGB man; the rocket launching from its pad in an “Apollo 13” shot; a group of Red Army troops lined up against a school wall, facing a row of machine guns; and finally BILLY JUSTIN in the underground launch pad, looking up to pray. Throughout whole sequence, some typical “action movie trailer montage segment” music plays, rising in volume and tempo to cresendo as the last scene ends. CUT TO TITLE CARD of movie title.

NARRATOR

Not This August.

CUT TO TITLE CARD reading “THE LIBERATION BEGINS” (new line) “06.23.06”

What do you all think?

[NomadicSky]

that was good Fenwick I think that book series could made into a successful movie series there more than enough Civil War buffs who'd go see it

[Polish Eagle]

Originally Posted by Archangel Michael

A man wearing a gray business suit is walking down a dark hallway. He is followed by four guards dressed in gray military uniforms and World War One-era doughboy helmets. This man is President JAKE FEATHERSTON of the Confederate States of America. The sound of cheering is getting louder and louder.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
Imagine a world where the South won the American Civil War.

As the announcer is speaking, images of the past flash for several seconds: images of McClellan surrendering to Lee, the Confederate flag flying over the White House, soldiers in blue and gray clashing, and American barrels fighting in the Great War.

ANNOUNCER (cont’d.)
Imagine a world where the United States was put between two hostile nations. Imagine a world where the Allies lost the First World War.

JAKE FEATHERSTON finally exits the hallway and is standing on a balcony overlooking a huge crowd. Thousands fill the plaza, with guards in gray uniforms and holding Freedom Party flags are in the front. The crowd goes wild as they see FEATHERSTON. He snaps off a clean Bellamy (Nazi) salute. The camera pans around and we see the massive crowd responding in kind. Large cries of “Freedom!” ring out.

ANNOUNCER (cont’d.)
Well, stop imagining.

JAKE FEATHERSTON
My name is Jake Featherston, and I'm here to tell you the truth!

The crowd, which had quieted down, explodes into applause and more shouts of “Freedom!” can be heard.

The shot changes to that of SCIPIO, his wife BATHSHEBA, and their two children running down a dark street. Buildings are on fire and shouts of “Freedom!” can be heard in the background. The shot then changes to that of camp guard JEFF PINKERTON watching as a truck drive up.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
Dive into a world filled with hate and violence.

A guard in gray steps out of the truck and walks up to JEFF PINKTERTON. Several more guards open up the doors of the truck and empty out its passengers: black prisoners in chains.

TRUCK DRIVER
I’ve got you another batch.

JEFF PINKTERTON
I’m over my population limit. What I am I going to do with more niggers?

TRUCK DRIVER
That’s your problem.

The image turns to a shot of the battlefield in Ohio. Confederate barrels are charging past the burned out wreckage of their American counterparts. We see more images of war.

ANNOUNCER (v.o.)
And into a world gone mad with war. Presenting Settling Accounts: Return Engagement, the groundbreaking movie based off the best-selling book by Harry Turtledove. Coming to a theater near you on May 10th. Rating pending.

The screen goes black

CROWD (v.o.)

Freedom!

Wasn't his name Jefferson Pinkard?

[Polish Eagle]

In a world gone insane...

(Shows Nazi high command in a room with large wizard and pagan objects visible)

Himmler: Gentlemen, I now have the solution to all your problems!

Only one man...

(Shows Hitler watching with eyes wide into a 6 foot circular portal as we hear wet slapping noises)

Could possibly think to do this.

(Shows scenes of battle between British soldiers and sea lions, Alien Space Bat attacking Churchill, and the attempt to gas the Sea Lions on the beaches)

British soldier: Blimey! The gas just gone and made 'em randy!

Superimposed on screen: Operation Teufelseelowe: The Ultimate Sea Mammal

The insanity begins this fall.

[Atom]

[A man on a horse riding. Should be in Mongol dress, as his horse gallops through the steppes of Hungary]

[Title Card Shows: 1405 AD, which then morphs into: 738 After Hegira, the third year of the Yongli Empire]

[The Horse Rider aproaches an abandoned villages. Corpses litter the streets and his disgust is obvious. Nothing is living in the village. A few seconds of Silence as he looks around and begins to climb a hill. As he approaches the top he sees a man. The mongol looks at him and points to a dead body and the empty houses. All sounds should be muted]
Mongol (In Mongolian): Where are they?
Romanian man (In Romanian): Dead. All dead.
[He points away from the hill and the camera turns revealing an abandoned valley, where ruined farms and fields lie. The Burned remnants of a wont can be seen. Cut to Black]

Announcer: Christendom is dead
[Cut to major European cities of the Early 1400s, Paris, Constantinople, Florence. Emphasize major landmarks. All Abandoned and decayed. Chinese and Arabian music plays in the background, pace should get increasingly rapid.]
Announcer (cont'd): And in its place
[Cut to images of Islamic settlers on the Rhine doing the morning prayers, Chinese junks on the shores of America]
Narrator (cont'd): Others shall rise,
[Rapid cuts to an Islamic man performing experiments in Samarqand, Chinese explorers landing on the Coast of mexico to an Aztec Host, Iroquois armed with rifles marching, Indian Railroads and Zeppelins destroying a Muslim Occupied constantinople]
Narrator (cont'd): and fall.
[Show images of WWI era weapons and a few tanks as they rush across a gray and muddy battlefield. In the background the Taj Mahal can be seen, then rapidly other images of the long war, Iroquois guerrillas ambushing an islamic patrol, aerial dogfights above Russia. Sudden Cut to Black]
Narrator (Cont'd): These are...
[Dramatic Blocky lettering in culturally influenced fonts:
Kim Stanley Robinson's: The Years of Rice and Salt

[Melvin Loh]

(footage of D-Day preparations- OVERLORD invasion fleet, airborne boarding planes, amphib forces boarding ships)
Voiceover: Imagine if the world's greatest invasion had failed...
(footage of combat on Omaha Beach, BIG RED ONE destroyed by 12th SS HITLER JUGEND, then also wrecks of British and Canadian armour around Caen, long rows of Cth POWs, with depressing martial music)
Caption: What if the Allies had lost at Normandy, despite the best efforts of our greatest men ?
(footage: Lt Eberly and hsi squad fighting desparately a la Ramelle firefight from SPR, Lt-Col Birks and his 30th Inf Div OLD HICKORY troops fighting rearguard action for evacuation despondent Lt-Gen Rennie (?), 51st Highland Div surrendering to Rommel)
Caption: Based on the book by Peter Tsouras...coming to a theatre near you


If anybody can think of anything else, pls feel free to add...

[Melvin Loh]

BTW, I'd also love to do some trailers for other AH movies, such as K IS FOR KILLING or LIGHT AS A FEATHER, but I'm disadvantaged by the fact that I don't hace these books immediately avail in front of me...

[Tucker Dwynn]

{Fade in}

:Nice calm music:
Exterior: Overfly of ocean. Camera sweeps over an old clipper style ship, then over a small town on land.

{Fade to black}

Words (white letters): On a the small island of Nantucket

{fade in}

:Music contining in nice tempo:
Exteriors: Scenes of people getting off ferryboat, people realing in sails on ship, people doing shopping in town.

{Fade to black}

Words (white letters): Something unexpected is going to happen

{fade in}

:Music lurches into something darker:
Camera shows a woman looking up at the night sky next to a telescope. She says "What the...". Scene shifts to town where many people are looking up at the sky. Sailors on the ship as well. A shot glimps at a glimmering sky...

{Fade to black}

Words (white letters):That will leave them

{fade in}

:Music builing up in pace an tension:
Several quick and short scenes including... People in town carrying torches. A whaling harpoon getting thrown. A darker skinned pagan priest dressed as close to a jauguar as possible. The three masted sailing ship in heavy seas. People arguing in a large town meeting setting. A charging line of savages with some chariots and carrying brozne age weapons.

{Fade to black}

Words (white letters): All alone.

{fade in}

:Muisc is in sharp quick notes:
Just flashes of action scenes of Fighting. Sailing. An elctric arc on board the sailing ship. A Katana being qucikly drawn from its scabboard.

{Fade to black}

:No music, just the sound of a flag flapping in the breeze:
Daytime: A close up of a flag moving in the breeze. The perspective slowly pulls back to reveal a fluttering US Coast guard flag hanging from the back of the sailing ship, and the island is in the background. The camera pans away to the east, and into an open ocean. Words fade in close to the horizon line.

Island in the Sea of Time

[luakel]

The "Idealist Movies" logo appears, followed by the WB logo.

NARRATOR
Imagine...

The WB morphs into a sun, and the camera moves down to rest upon workers standing angrily beyond a metal gate. They are waving picket signs with slogans like "IWW WILL TAKE CONTROL" and "DOWN WITH THE ROBBER-BARONS". They can be heard screaming various things, while nearby police watch on nervously.

NARRATOR
...a world where things are different.

The sound of horses trotting can be heard. The camera moves to one of the horses' head, and then moves to it's owner. He has a somewhat portly face, and has brownish-gray hair, a short mustache, and round spectacles. He is Theodore Roosevelt, President-elect of the United States. He begins to speak, but his voice cannot be heard over the protestors.

NARRATOR
And it just so happens...

Behind Roosevelt, there are many other horsemen, all with shotguns at readyness. On the ground next to Roosevelt, a Pinkerton (Samuel Hammett) draws his revolver and looks at the crowd as Roosevelt continues to speak.

NARRATOR
...that on this world...

Roosevelt stops speaking, and him and the other horsemen begin to advance towards the gate, even as the protesters start chanting a slogan repeateadly and begin to try and climb the gate. The police begin to take action, rattiling their clubs on the bars of the gate and yelling orders to cease and desist.

NARRATOR
...a change has happened...

The horsemen aim their guns at the gate, which is weakening under the pressure. Roosevelt raises his hand, apparently ready to order a charge, when a gun firing is heard. His mouth opens, and he says one last word.

ROOSEVELT
(softly)
Bully.

Cut to spectacles hitting the ground and shattering, and then to the Pinkerton's face, watching in shock as shotgun blasts are heard.

NARRATOR
...that was heard 'round the world.

Cut to a scene in Washington, with several notable landmarks visible. It is snowing slightly. The camera zooms to a scene on the Capitol, where a man has his hand on the Bible and is speaking.

CHARLES FOSTER KANE
...So help me God.

NARRATOR
And this change...

Cut to a shot of Lincoln's statue in the memorial. Icy tears fall from his eyes. Then, suddenly, the camera is filled with a crimson hue, with a hammer-sickle symbol expanding from the center.

NARRATOR
...would make America go red.

The Beatles' "Back in the USSR" plays, but a similar toned "A" has been spliced into the song in place of the "R". Meanwhile, there is a montage of scenes from the movie, from the sinking of the Titanic as seen from the eyes of Houdini in the water, to soldiers fighting in a trench-crossed France while shells burst, to another scene of Washington with a huge group waving red flags and chanting, to a smartly-dressed Alphonse Capone walking down a White House corridor with his cronies following.

NARRATOR
This fall...

The screen turns to black, and the words First Part of the "Back in the USSA" Trilogy" appear.

NARRATOR
...revolution is in the air.

The words Red Revolution Rising appear in a way that makes it seem as if they have been written in paint... or blood. They then disappear, and "10.13.05" appears to end the trailer.

[Tyr]

Peshawar lancers was made for film and the book suffered for it.

Shots of standard Victorian London and a caption telling you THE DATE, London, United Kingdom. God save the queen playing in the background and cockneys happily going about their buisness then suddenly a small explosion wipes out a street.
Cut away to newspapers unvealing the disaster as it happens over the top of scenes of London decending into case ending with the break down of all order and the last ship escaping.
Black screen and 'xxxx years later' (I can't remember exactly how much)
Images of Delhi at first looking fairly standard and Indian but gradually the reality becomes clear with Angrezi doign their thing and all that, Indian music is faintly heard in the background becoming louder (actually god save the king played with a Indian style) as it becomes totally obvious the caption says the date and 'Delhi, Angrezi Raj'.
Then the standard trailer really starts up, with various rapid small scenes appearing, one has to tell it how it is (you know- the raj is here, France outre mere is here.With our alliance we can defeat the muslims here), the airship battle, figting in Afghanistan, the odd shot of the Russians, etc...



Obviously there'd be a voice over man making comments too but....you get the jist. I think the 'WTF?' factor would be pretty good amongst the plebs.

[mrmandias]

Originally Posted by Melvin Loh

BTW, I'd also love to do some trailers for other AH movies, such as K IS FOR KILLING or LIGHT AS A FEATHER, but I'm disadvantaged by the fact that I don't hace these books immediately avail in front of me...

Accuracy in a movie trailer? It is too laugh.

--

GI Sergeant:
Boys, you've probably heard the rumor that Uncle Sam has a super-weapon that's going to bring the Japs to their knees.
That super weapon is us.

Narrator: Imagine no Hiroshima, no Nagasaki, no atomic bomb to bring the fanatical Japanese leadership to its senses. Imagine beaches running red with blood.

Shots of Japanese troops shouting Banzai; GIs in am amphibious assault; dogfighting over Mount Fuji; a starveling Japanese girl crying as GI boots pound past her; an old Japanese man running at GIs with a rifle and getting shot down; a bird's eye shot of a dead GI.

Shot of the movie title, etc. Voiceover (young man with a Japanese accent, sounding weary): Duty is heavier than a mountain. Death is lighter than a feather.

[The Vulture]

INT. PADDED CELL

A man in a straitjacket sits and stares vacantly at nothing. Softly, he sings.

MAN: (singing) It's a world of laughter. . .

(Young Mouseketeers, smiling and laughing, line up outside a church, taking picket signs)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd) . . .a world of tears. . .

(A white mob descends on Ernest Green, he opens his mouth in a silent scream right as the camera mercifully cuts away)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd). . .it's a world of hopes. . .

(Orson Welles swigs from a bottle of Paul Masson and shakes hands with Elvis Presley, the Eiffel Tower in the background)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd). . .it's a world of fears. . .

(Armed, weary-looking soldiers take down an Israeli flag and run up a red and yellow Communist version)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd). . .there's so much that we share. . .

(A black man grimly watches as policemen hold a crowd at bay with submachine guns, guarding the workmen putting up a concrete wall in the middle of a street)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd). . .that it's time we're aware. . .

(George Lincoln Rockwell walks into the Capitol, puffing his pipe, a copy of Mein Kampf tucked inconspicuously under his arm)

MAN: (voiceover, cont'd). . .it's a small word after all.

(US Marines corner a man on a war-torn Cuban street. He is dirty and injured, but his beard and hard stare makes him instantly recognizable as Fidel Castro)

SMASH CUT TO BLACK

MC: (voiceover) Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States. . .

SMASH CUT TO CROWDED EVENT

MC: Walter Elias Disney!

(Disney walks out on stage, flanked by Cohn and Dodd)

TITLE: A WORLD OF LAUGHTER, A WORLD OF TEARS

(At a downtown police station, a young nervous black man edges closer to the desk sergeant. When a cop looks up at him, he flings open his coat, revealing a dynamite vest)

SUICIDE BOMBER: Allahu akbar!

(Exterior view of the windows of the police station blowing out)

SMASH CUT TO BLACK

TITLE: COMING THIS SUMMER