A video game trailer manufacturer of The Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer

Surprisingly nobody, the new trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI – The slush colossus, of which many (perhaps wrongly) will arouse the video game industry – is talking to the city. The masses are in love with the graphics of the trailer and his representation of an apparently likeable, loving main character. Websites and content manufacturers have posted So Over 15 lists that reduce 15 details that you may have missed. But a trailer that everyone has observed and a well -made trailer are two different things.

Although he collects a really amazing number of views, GTA VIThe second trailer did not land for everyone. This does not mean that the game will be bad or that Rockstar somehow dropped the ball, but that it is an art for itself to make a trailer like any other kind of storytelling – one for itself – one that goes far beyond the simple act of layering music on footage.

Derek Lieu, a professional game trailer editor, whose work you have dealt with with quite certainty -trailers for trailers Half -life AlyxPresent Among usPresent Psychonauts 2Present RivenPresent Spelunky 2Present FirewatchPresent Dead cellsPresent ViewfinderAnd Stray godsTo name just a few – believe that GTA VIThe second trailer does not do justice. The game, he said aftermath, looks incredibly impressive, but after watching the trailer several times, he doesn't find as much as he wants.

“[The game] Looks great. It looks great, “said Lieu to Aftermath.” A trailer should make this thing good, namely stimulate our emotions and show a few things from this new thing that we have never seen before. This trailer or a bunch of B-Roll with music can achieve the same thing. But that doesn't make it a good trailer. Just because people are hyped does not mean that it is a good trailer. If this were a better trailer, people would have acted so much more. You would feel that you would take care of it. “

Just because people are hyped does not mean that it is a good trailer.

According to Lieu, one of the biggest problems of the trailer is a general lack of narrative. This may sound strange because it consists of cutscenes, but think about what we have learned until the end: there are two characters that we should obviously trudge for, and we know that you have a great time with old crimes in Vice City, but what are the missions? Why does this happen?

“The only thing we know about these characters is: they make crimes and they are a few,” said Lieu. “We have no idea what your motivation is. Why do you do crime? Are you forced to do crime? What is the reason? If the first part is over with the landlord, it is, like 30 seconds after the trailer – an immense time.”

Lieu has made a comparison to a more effective variation of the topic from rock stars of its own oeuvre:

“GTA IV“S third trailer, where it is like” Niko, my cousin! ” [Niko] Is a person who came to the United States, they know that they are an immigrant. They know that their contact is in a really shitty apartment, but they have efforts of more, “said Lieu.” You have it all in one shot. That [moment] comprises the whole story of GTA IV. There is probably something like that in GTA VI somewhere. At least let us know what [the characters] Do you want, and that will take care of it and interest me how to achieve it. “

Lieu described Rockstars Trailer production over the years as “uneven”. This is with supporters that were produced internally-in contrast to those who were created by committed editors or agencies such as altar creative who have worked with Ubisoft on many occasions. While Lieu does not know sure whether GTA VI'S trailer was made in his own house, he believes that he is wearing the trademark of one that was it.

“Some places are fantastic,” he said. “Fate 2Most of them are incredible. Snowstorm, surveillanceYour things are incredible. Nintendo is somehow uneven, but the good stuff is really good. “

In house followers, he said, often rely on the existing knowledge or the excitement of the audience. You stop the extra parts.

“The first Final Fantasy VII remake I think trailers are also made in their own house. You are terrible. The really good ones – they are really closely edited and the music is well done – are edited by a place called Hammer Creative in Los Angeles. This [first trailers] are incredibly accidental because [Square Enix] knows that it is Final Fantasy VII. Everyone will recognize these scenes. You will do the work for us. But Final Fantasy VII Has great music. Put some amazing music underneath. Let me remember all of the stuff. It is such a wasted opportunity. We could be [up] Here, emotionally and instead, whether people recognize it or not, they could be so much more excited. ”

You can give people space for speculation and reaction videos and things and it is fun to see it.

Granted, GTA VI It is not ready to get out another year, so that Rockstar may not have the necessary raw materials at hand to put together a number of scenes that explicitly represent the operations of the game. But Lieu finds this unlikely, since video game trailers are usually produced. He said that some Triple-A studios will spend a month to only record film material, which means that the process of working a trailer can be “easy for several months”.

“I am working on things that are for the summer game festival,” he said. “Many of these games are not super duper early, but there is still a lot of gray boxing things. So I do my draft of the trailer and then we polish the things that need to be done for it.”

It is also the question of rock stars of notorious commitment to waste supporters with as many notes as possible and Easter eggs as possible to inspire the type of free marketing of the “details you missed” above. But Lieu does not believe that this type of smaller flourishing must go at the expense of the story of a trailer.

“You can give people space for speculation and reaction videos and things and it's fun to see it,” said Lieu. “If you look at the Tears of the kingdom It is a follower Legend of ZeldaSo everyone will speculate about each individual frame. The full pendant is completely epic. … there are ups and downs, there are big, crucial moments. If you look at this trailer in terms of its emotional weight, the diagram would be of it [a series of taller and taller spikes, building to a huge crescendo]. GTA VI'S is somehow [flat]. “

Music is another area in which GTA VICompared to other big players – or even rock stars earlier, the trailer stalls in Lieus eyes. Here, too, the drama and the narrative of the trailer take a back seat, in favor of a song that is only … there. The song itself, “Hot Together” from the pointer sisters, fits the atmosphere of the trailer, but it is inserted, although Rockstar with quite certainly has the resources in order to give it adequate cinematic treatment.

“So look at the trailer [movie] Knife out or It takes two'S' better together 'trailer. These use both licensed music, but they have the music that rock star has the money in the trailer. Not all licensed music can simply be put into a sequence and processed into a trailer. When you look at yourself Knife outAbove all, that is really adapted. If you listen to the music in different parts of this trailer, you can really like “Oh, that's the beginning, that's the middle, and that's the end.” But for [GTA VI]The energy simply feels flat. “

As Lieu sees it, all of these problems are put together so that the trailer feels separate – like a series of non -related moments and not like a coherent work. For example, the first part of the trailer lingers on one day in the life of Jason Duval, a strange jacked man from Florida, who makes up half of the game's core power pair. But at first it is not like trying to convey several related events from his point of view.

“I didn't even notice this whole opening minute that the first scene in which the landlord says [Jason] The guy beats and open the register, which is like two shots later, “said Lieu.” It is so fast too. It doesn't feel like this is a day in my life. This happens and that happens. '”

Not all licensed music can simply be put into a sequence and processed into a trailer.

These are to be remedied so far from Lieu that problems are resolved. You only need a little more guide.

“The part in which the two show that they carry out crime compared to beers is available for really simple contrasts. They could be cut like” new beginnings ” [gunfire sounds] “Hands on the floor!” To ask: “Oh, is that actually a new beginning?” To have this dramatic irony there. There are so many things you could do there, but it just feels very separate. It forces us to do the work in an interesting way. “

This does not mean that trailers have to give them everything in advance. Some of the best trailers attract you with a variety of unanswered questions. They give them the basic premise, followed by scene flashes that almost act as puzzle parts. Lieu pointed to A24 film trailer as an example.

“A24 film trailer are really good where you have an idea and then show a large part of the film. If you watch the trailer Under the Silver LakeThe premise is that [Andrew Garfield’s character’s] Girlfriend disappears and after this setup there are a lot of things. All it seems interesting, but none of this helps me to understand what plot happens in relation to the plot, but it is interesting. It does a good job of [conveying] This context of this problem, which has to be solved, and then “these are things that we go through to do it.” But we don't know how to do it. We don't even know which parts of the film [we’re seeing]. “”

In view of the fact that we talk about Rockstar, one of the best -known secret studios of the business, we can only speculate about the exact intentions on which this trailer is based. But we can speak to the end result and the circumstances that surround it. Last week Rockstar announced that it was delayed GTA VI From 2025 to May 2026. On those who have been waiting for over a decade to finally go to their latest, largest, the largest, the most milli -crime holiday, could indicate difficulties in paradise. Rockstar had to report concerns and keep the hype train in motion.

And so even though they are tried to see A GTA VI Trailer as a simple layup – after all, this game will sell more units than there are granules on the meticulous beaches – it fulfills an important purpose. Every trailer, even for games whose success seems to be like a meaningful conclusion.

“As big as Grand Theft Auto VI is, “said Lieu,” it is still important to control the messages and keep things at a glance. It is only in a different selection. “