The Making Of the Flutter Book Trailer

I’m excited to have Gina Linko, the author of FLUTTER back to tell us about the making of the FLUTTER book trailer! In case you missed her trailer premiere guest post, check out the synopsis below, watch the book trailer and enter the giveaway for a signed copy of FLUTTER and an APPLE TV!

The Making Of the FLUTTER Book Trailer

by Gina Linko

For Teens, By Teens!

The very best thing about the FLUTTER trailer is that it is teen-powered. The cover photograph for the book was actually taken by Colleen Truskey, a high-school student, and then posted on her DeviantArt page, where the Random House design team found it and purchased it for the cover.  It just seemed to fit the story so well.  (I don’t want to give away too many details, but after you read FLUTTER, you will find the cover even more compelling!!)

So, as the author, I was working with Eva at LindenTree Productions to put together a trailer for the book, and I realized that I had the best resource in the world at my fingertips:  the teens involved in the cover.  I was able to contact Colleen, the photographer, who then contacted Sarah Beth, the cover model, and, well, they shot many of the video clips for the trailer.  They turned my little pet project into something so beautiful, so visually gorgeous.  And with the work of LindenTree, Colleen and Sarah Beth, the trailer really came to life, becoming this magical, spot-on minute or so of video that relays perfectly the eerie, suspenseful, romantic mystery, which encompasses the whole feeling of the book.

The two talented teens were gracious enough to answer a few questions for us today on the making of the trailer.

1. How did you feel about being asked to contribute to the FLUTTER trailer?

CT: I was thrilled to be asked to help with the Flutter trailer! It was an honor to be trusted by Ms. Linko with such a responsibility, and very exciting to get to work with Sarah Beth again on something that meant so much to both of us.

SB: I was really excited to be involved with Flutter once more! When Colleen first approached me about it, I knew immediately I wanted to do it. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun to shoot and the reward of seeing it would be amazing!

2. In working on the clips, was it difficult to set the right mood, or get in character because you haven’t read the book yet? (Are you excited to read it?)

CT: I had been given the rough trailer and knew the general outline of the book, but I didn’t really have any detailed sense of the feelings evoked by the setting or the characters’ attitudes and personalities, and that did make it difficult to try to create and film an acceptable representation of the book. Was Emery tenacious? Shy? Bold? Reluctant? Was the book suspenseful? Hopeful? Heartwarming? Dark? I tried to film as much as I could based on the little that I knew, which was simultaneously challenging and an adventure!  It felt more like I was filming something based on a prompt, rather than strict instruction, which was quite freeing.

SB: When we were shooting, I tried to get into the mindset of Emery by reading the information about her online. It was difficult to know exactly what to do though, not having read it thoroughly. However, I am BEYOND excited to read the book and I can’t wait for October 23rd!

3. Do you think the trailer does its job to entice readers to want to read the full story?

CT: I certainly believe the trailer captures the nature of the story.  All of the different clips really portray (without giving away!) a rich and compelling story.  It’s most definitely a trailer that isn’t easily ignored.

SB: I definitely think the trailer draws the viewer in with the beautiful clips shot by Colleen, the music, and the overall mystery surrounding it. It made me even more interested in reading it!

4. Book trailers are notoriously difficult because you can’t focus on the plot, but rather emotional moments and key turning points to get the FEEL of the book through to the reader. In your opinion, what kind of things does the trailer convey?

CT: There are so many different elements in the Flutter trailer, all of which are seemingly unconnected, and I feel this certainly relates back to all of the different elements and plot points present in Flutter itself. Seizures, time travel, romance, mystery — even though they all aren’t explicitly conveyed in the trailer, they’re certainly there in some form, and that’s what’s important.

SB: I think that the trailer conveys a lot of mystery, romance, and thrill. It also conveys Emery’s desire to find out who she really is, which I find really beautiful.

5. Have you seen other book trailers and how does this one compare?

CT: I’ve seen a few other book trailers, but honestly feel I’m too emotionally involved to objectively make a comparison!  I love this trailer though, and feel like it does a very good job of giving the viewer just enough to pique their interest without spoiling anything.

SB: I’ve seen a few other book trailers and I definitely think that this one does a great job in conveying the emotion behind the characters more so than most. That is the kind of story I am more interested in reading, so it definitely appeals to me.

6. Did you have fun at your video shoots? Any anecdotes you’d like to tell us about?

CT: The video shoot was a fantastic spot of fun! We all went back to the field of a dear friend of mine where we had first taken the original photo used for the book cover and went about shooting again — this time, of course, with a different purpose in mind. All of us aren’t professionals by any means, so there was a lot of figuring things out along the way, which made for quite a few laughs. Shooting with video is so vastly different from shooting with a camera, so we spent a lot of time working out lighting, composition, and how to get the most realistic (yet simultaneously artistic) clips. Fortunately, everyone was very flexible and imaginative, which made things so much easier.  A neighbor’s dog actually ended up following us around the whole time; I have quite a few “failed” clips where a happy-go-lucky canine runs right through the background!

SB: We had a blast shooting the trailer! We spent a Sunday morning in a beautiful setting, laughing and having fun with each other and working together to make the trailer as great as possible. I remember specifically that a local dog on the property we were on kept following us and every time Matt and I started to get really into a moment, he would come bounding in the background. It definitely cracked us up a few times. There were also a few moments where we found that Colleen had accidentally taken a picture rather than film, and that prompted a few laughs as well!

7. Who plays the handsome Ash in the video? And how did you choose him?

CT: Ash is played by a young man named Matt, who we actually had never met. The first time either Sarah Beth or myself met Matt was when we all met up to drive to my friend’s place.  He was a very nice guy, though, and fortunately very willing to help us out.  I’ll let Sarah Beth tell the story of how we ended up working with him — it’s quite the little tale!

SB: We stumbled upon Matt (Ash) through a family friend of mine – my hairdresser, actually. I told her we were looking for a tall and attractive guy to act with me and she mentioned that she had done a young actress’ hair a while back and her brother was quite “dreamy” and had a background in acting….Perfect!

8. The book cover and the trailer are both very much TEEN POWERED. What do you think of that in terms of what teens can contribute creatively?

CT: Teens can of course contribute in a creative manner, and do so quite well; we tend to be inexperienced, emotional, and willing to experiment, and that can make for fabulously innovative work.  All a teen really needs is some support to keep on doing what they’re passionate about, whether it’s writing, filming, painting, or what have you.  I’ve been incredibly fortunate in the opportunities I have been given and the wonderful friends and family members I have who’ve helped work with and inspire me.

SB: I think that this was a wonderful opportunity to display our talents. Because the trailer was filmed by teens for teens, I think it makes the book that much more special.  It has definitely been an adventure that we will always remember, that’s for sure!

Thanks so much to Gina for sharing how Flutter’s book trailer came to be! I think the trailer turned out awesome, and I love that it was made by teens! Readers, be sure to enter the Goodreads giveaway, and then enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to a signed copy of Flutter and an APPLE TV (ends 10/25/12 at midnight, US only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway