Curtin book trailer project & make your own book trailer activity
Fremantle Press joined forces with Curtin University’s Department of Film, Television and Screen Arts this semester to produce book trailers for a number of the Press’ new titles.
Curtin Senior Lecturer Lezli-An Barrett, who co-ordinates a unit specialising in producing advertisements and music videos, approached Fremantle Press and local authors to participate in a book trailer assignment with a real client.
‘Book trailers are one of the newest forms of video advertising and are prevalent on the internet,’ said Ms Barrett.
‘The students were required to produce a cutting edge advertising video that is primarily net-based, which made the book trailer an interesting form to study through creative production,’ said Ms Barrett.
Ms Barrett said she and Claire Miller at Fremantle Press immediately struck up an exciting collaboration.
‘This experience has been very rewarding and the students enjoyed engaging with the process and being part of a marketing campaign,’ said Ms Barrett.
The students were guided by lecturers Lezli-An Barrett and Richard Seale who were also executive producers on the projects.
Fremantle Press Media and Promotions manager Claire Miller said she is thrilled with the results.
‘I was pleasantly surprised by how well they turned out – in fact two of them left me gobsmacked because they were so fantastic,’ she said.
Ms Miller said this was the first time most of the students had worked with a client.
‘It was a win-win situation. The students had the experience of pitching to and producing work for a real client, while we got some great book trailers to help promote our new releases,’ she said.
Ms Barrett said students gained a richer experience by working with a client rather than producing work for a hypothetical situation.
‘The feedback and interaction with the client was invaluable, especially from Claire who put a great deal of time and energy into giving the students feedback,’ said Ms Barrett.
‘The students really enjoyed the experience and they were really motivated to up their skill level and creative input to make the productions successful,’ said Ms Barrett.
Ms Barrett hopes to continue the collaboration with Fremantle Press next year.
Harmless by Julienne van Loon, The Amazing Spencer Gray by Deb Fitzpatrick, Red Dirt Talking by Jacqueline Wright, Now Showing by Ron Elliott, The Mimosa Tree by Antonella Preto, The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt by Tracy Farr and Salt Story by Sarah Drummond were among the books chosen for the project.
Click here to see Now Showing book trailer.