Behind the Scenes: Operation TBD trailer

Haven't seen it yet? Well, here it is, in all its green glory:



This is my second trailer for a readergirlz project (the first being the readergirlz Night Bites trailer in honor of YALSA's 2008 Teen Read Week), so I thought I'd give you a few of the behind-the-scenes deets of making a movie - especially if you plan to make an entry for Justina Chen Headley's North of Beautiful Find Beauty Challenge! On Thursday I will post part 2, a short Windows moviemaking tutorial on how to put it all together.

First, you need the perfect music for your trailer - something that inspires your mind, coordinates with your images and/or video footage, and that you will love to listen to at least a hundred times before you are finished.

"Marching Orders," by lovely and talented Seattle singer/songwriter/musician Andrea Wittgens, is all that and more - edgy, catchy, and thematically right on. (Thanks to my artist friend Alice Engelhardt for suggesting her!)

Next, you need permission - because it's not OK to use someone's music without their permission any more than it's ok for someone to plagiarize your writing or art or whatever, and there are plenty of free music sites on the web for just this purpose (Google "royalty-free music" to find public domain music, or find someone you know who makes music, or be brave and send your favorite band a message on MySpace). Generally it's easier to get permission for indie music on small labels versus the big ones that want big royalties - it was rumored that Microsoft paid between $8 and $14 million for permission to use The Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" in their Windows '95 marketing campaign - so if someone give you permission, be very very grateful. (Have I mentioned how much we love Andrea?? Check out her album at CD Baby!)

Once you have your music, you're ready for the next step: putting it all together. Stay tuned for Part 2 on Thursday!

Holly Cupala, author & rgz diva