How to Start a New Trailer Timeline

The best way to avoid making a trailer which feels like a bunch of haphazardly cut together clips is to start by mapping out the timeline with the idea for each section. This gives you design goals and constraints which guides the editing and game capture. This is similar to how script writers use note cards arranged on a wall or table to outline the story before diving into the dialogue and scene direction.

All of my timelines start with text descriptors for each section of the trailer. This gives me a very general feel for the trailer's structure, and for how long each section needs to be. If the trailer is going to use voiceover or title cards, I'll also roughly put those into the timeline so I can plan how they'll intercut with the game footage.

The descriptors I use in these outlines vary in specificity based on the project I'm working on. At the most abstract level, the text descriptors look like this:

1. Exciting opening

2. Logos

3. Introduction of ideas

4. Building on the ideas

5. Montage of the coolest stuff

6. Title card

7. One more thing

8. Final end slate, call to action etc.

This might not seem like much to start a trailer, but the mere fact it gives you something to put into that imposing blank timeline is huge.

Working like this is especially helpful when it comes time to organize your game capture for editing. Looking at raw footage with no outline or constraints is like doing a word search with no word list. Yes, you might find something, but your eyes look with more purpose when they have something specific in mind.

A timeline with SOMETHING in it is much easier to work with.

When you have a goal for a shot, it becomes plainly obvious if something you're looking at doesn't align with it. For example, if making a trailer for the original Super Mario Bros., basic jumping from level 1-1 probably wouldn't be the best fit for a section labeled "Exciting opening."

Not all of my trailers follow this exact format, but they are all pretty close. With this basic outline I can then make a more detailed outline with specifics from the game. The way to do this is to take the high level goal and ask questions.

Exciting opening

I think of this section of the trailer like the Abilitease concept in games (commonly found in Metroid games) where in the opening of the game you're fully powered up, and then after a fun intro it's all taken away from you, and you're forced to gradually re-acquire each of those power ups. When trying to find a good clip to use for an opening I ask myself questions like:

What section of the game is the most visually striking? What player verbs are the most kinetic? What joke in the game is short, and funny? What scene in the game posits an interesting question? 

Either of these could be used as a placeholder title card for the opening sequence. The more specific the better, especially if working with someone who is doing game capture for you.

For my Spelunky 2 trailer, an exciting moment meant using a jetpack/shotgun combo in a treacherous biome with lots of new enemie types!

Introduction of ideas

This section is like the opposite of the opening. It might even be a little bit boring because of how basic it is, but depending on the game it's probably necessary in order to show the audience enough that they'll understand the really cool stuff later in the trailer. Questions to ask yourself for this section:

What are the first things the player learns to do? What player verbs are fundamental to the core game loop? How do these verbs build upon each other? What is happening in the story? Who are the characters, and what do they want?

It's good to get through this section as quickly as you can so you don't bore the audience too much, but think of it as laying the necessary groundwork.

The Mario Odyssey trailer gets us familiar with the hat in the intro

Building on ideas

This section is all about introducing complications. Maybe the game puts the player in scenarios which will test their ability to master their core abilities or test the protagonist's very being. Some questions for this section:

What is an area where things increase in difficulty? What section of the game tests the player's abilities? What complications occur in the story? What goes wrong for the protagonist?

This section is oftentimes the longest, because once the game introduces ideas, it'll likely want to put you through a wide variety of interesting scenarios which will be fun to play through. Story-wise, the character's struggles and efforts to overcome will also be at least half of the entire game.

After introducing the hat, we get to see possessed Chain Chomps and stuff

Montage of the coolest stuff

Finally, this is the fun part where the trailer can be a little bit all over the place with its variety of gameplay scenarios, level types, enemies, boss battles and the biggest, and flashiest visuals. Question for the climax:

What are the most impressive visuals in the game? What parts of the game contrast the most from each other? What looks like the most difficult part of the game? What story beat creates uncertainty for the characters' future? What unresolved story setup will be enticing to see more of? What mysterious thing will inspire curiosity?

The climax can do a lot of things to build excitement, but it's fundamentally about presenting a lot of cool scenarios, mysterious story details, suspenseful beats, and visuals which contrast so much you wonder how the heck they can connect in one game. For example, most of the trailer for Inception has no snow, but towards the end of the trailer we get a few shots in the snow. That looks like a big leap when cut together with scenes none of which are in the Winter. The audience can't help but wonder: How do these snowy scenes connect with the other scenes?

Showing one thing and a vastly different thing entices us to find the connection

One more thing

The button or stinger is the one last thing to tease the audience. A lot of times it's the biggest and most striking thing in the game like a giant dragon roaring into the camera or a massive stunt the player has to overcome. Or a final joke which is funny on its own or feels like it's riffing off of everything we just saw in the trailer. Some questions to ask:

What is a funny way to end the trailer? What is a huge, impressive thing not shown in the body of the trailer? What is something fans expected to see in the trailer, and will keep watching just in case it shows up?

The G-Man in the Half-Life: Alyx trailer definitely falls into the category of: "You wanted to see this, didn't you...?"

This is just a basic framework to help you plan out the structure of your trailer. Of course, every game is different so it's up to you to find the things specific to your game which fulfill these sections. Or maybe you'll find a different structure which uniquely works for your game. Either way, start with the ideas, and then find or create the shots which evoke them.