LOOK LOOK LOOK AT THE AMAZINGNESS.

Okay, so now I’ve calmed down a tad (I love this so much), I need to examine why this works. I think book trailers are actually really difficult to do. They need to act like a movie-trailer: you don’t want the whole thing, but you do want to get a feel for the book. You want to know what you’re getting into, and if you’re already into it, you want a little extra AND THEN you need it to be easily available on the internet, you want it short but sweet because you want it to make a mark within the first ten seconds or so because of the increasingly short attention spans and you need it to look good and have a feeling of quality because  frankly some of the home-made efforts on Youtube are outstripping ‘mainstream’ media these days AND THEN after all of that, it needs to, you know, sell the book a little bit.

So, it’s easy right? Not really. I admit I’m a bit of a video snob (I’ve got mad editing skills) and get a little obsessed over trailers that look to be a tad cheap or mainstream when the book itself is not at all run of the mill and deserves a lot more than a shaky hand and a special filter or two.

This is why I love this book trailer:

• Brief (I am not bored and I’ve watched it a good 10 times now)
• TUNE (I love a good bit of pop. LOVE)
• Riffs on Pop-Up Video (iconic pop culture reference, fixes Heather Wells into a  context)
• Gets the plot across (and does it without faffing about)
• AND it’s really nicely edited (it’s glossy, but with those subtle stylistic edges that place it in a very specific sort of music video)

Nice work Meg Cabot’s team!!

However, upon having a rummage through the rest of Meg Cabot’s Youtube I came across this which is both amazing and terrifying all at the same time. I think  it might be one of the most epic things I’ve ever witnessed.