How to Make an Indie Game Trailer

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Making a strong trailer for your game can be a huge challenge, so I’ve collected a bunch of tips and best practices from the industry’s top trailer makers. More resources can be found in the description, below.

=== Sources and Resources ===

What Makes an Indie Hit?: How to Choose the Right Design | Ryan Clark
https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RyanC...

Heaven’s Vault Case Study | Derek-Lieu.com
https://www.derek-lieu.com/blog/2019/...

Trailer Made: What Makes a Successful and Memorable Game Trailer | GDC Vault
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025729...

Worst Trailer Mistakes | MJoshua.com
http://mjoshua.com/blog/2016/05/02/wo...

Salvage your game trailer with these 12 tricks | MJoshua.com
http://mjoshua.com/blog/2016/08/25/sa...

How Game Trailers Are Made (PAX West 2017) | Derek Lieu on YouTube
   • Firewatch to Ooblets: How Game Trailers Ar...  

Trailer Editors To Hire

Derek Lieu - https://www.derek-lieu.com/
Kert Gartner - https://www.kertgartner.com
Marlon Wiebe - http://mwiebe.com
M. Joshua - http://mjoshua.com
Dino Katherine - http://trailergoblin.com
Vanessa Williams - http://filmette.com/editor
James McGregor - http://corfiz.com
Keith Shetler - http://saturdaymorningcereal.co
Ben Combes - http://benjamincombes.com
Shaun Finney - http://shaunfinney.com
A Shell in the Pit - http://ashellinthepit.com
Evolve PR - http://evolve-pr.com

Find out more

Video Game Trailer Specifications | Derek-Lieu.com
https://www.derek-lieu.com/blog/2017/...

The Best Debug Tools for Game Capture | Derek-Lieu.com
https://www.derek-lieu.com/blog/2018/...

Making Entertaining and Engaging Video Game Trailers | Kert Gartner
https://www.kertgartner.com/making-en...

Virtual Cinematography for VR Trailers | Kert Gartner
https://www.kertgartner.com/virtual-c...

Capturing Great Footage for Game Trailers | GDC Vault
https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025079...

Ideal Game Trailer Length and Labeling | Derek-Lieu.com
https://www.derek-lieu.com/blog/2018/...

=== Chapters ===

00:00 - Intro
00:40 - The Purpose of a Trailer
02:12 - Explaining Your Hook
05:02 - Pacing and Retention
08:26 - Presentation
11:06 - Case Study: Subnautica
13:16 - Conclusion

=== Games Shown ===

Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017)
Wandersong (Greg Lobanov, 2018)
Owlboy (D-Pad Studio, 2016)
War Builder League (The Cyber Prophet, In Early Access)
Vesta (FinalBoss Games, 2018)
Mighty No. 9 (Comcept, 2016)
The Witness (Thekla, Inc, 2016)
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games, 2015)
Undertale (Toby Fox, 2015)
Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games, 2019)
Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment, 2012)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall, 2017)
Cuphead (Studio MDHR, 2017)
Wargroove (Chucklefish, 2019)
Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games, 2016)
GRIS (Nomada Studio, 2018)
Minit (JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom, 2018)
Superhot (SUPERHOT Team, 2013)
Heaven’s Vault (Inkle, 2019)
Heave Ho (Le Cartel Studio, 2019)
Linelight (My Dog Zorro, 2017)
Baba is You (Hempuli, 2019)
Way of the Passive Fist (Household Games, 2018)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope, 2018)
Orwell (Osmotic Studios, 2016)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games, 2018)
Fallout 76 (Bethesda Game Studios, 2018)
Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth, 2020)
Firewatch (Campo Santo, 2016)
Enter the Gungeon (Dodge Roll, 2016)
Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam, 2015)
Into the Breach (Subset Games, 2018)
Absolver (Sloclap, 2017)
Katana Zero (Askiisoft, 2019)
Guacamelee 2 (Drinkbox Studios, 2018)
Dead Cells (Motion Twin, 2018)
Ooblets (Glumberland, 2020)
ABZÛ (Giant Squid Studios, 2016)
Duskers (Misfits Attic, 2016)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine, 2016)
Ape Out (Gabe Cuzzillo, 2019)
Nuclear Throne (Vlambeer, 2015)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope, 2013)
Jack Lumber (Owlchemy Labs, 2012)
The Messenger (Sabotage Studios, 2018)
Tacoma (Fullbright, 2017)
Risk of Rain 2 (Hopoo Games, 2020)
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (Sukeban Games, 2016)
Forager (HopFrog, 2019)
Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2018)
Yuppie Psycho (Baroque Decay, 2019)
Factorio (Wube Software, 2020)

=== Credits ===

Thoughts Alive - animeistrash

=== Subtitles ===

Contribute translated subtitles - https://amara.org/v/C3BEO/