Trailer the game: The Game (1997) — IMDb

The Game (1997) — IMDb

• Awards
  • 1 nomination

Videos3

Trailer 1:35

Watch The Game: The Criterion Collection [Blu-Ray]

Trailer 0:31

Watch The Game (1997)

Clip 1:59

Watch A Guide to the Films of David Fincher

Photos328

Top cast

Michael Douglas

• Nicholas Van Orton

Deborah Kara Unger

• Christine

Sean Penn

• Conrad

James Rebhorn

• Jim Feingold

Peter Donat

• Samuel Sutherland

Carroll Baker

Anna Katarina

• Elizabeth

Armin Mueller-Stahl

• Anson Baer

Charles Martinet

• Nicholas’ Father

Scott Hunter McGuire

• Young Nicholas

Florentine Mocanu

• Nicholas’ Mother

Elizabeth Dennehy

Caroline Barclay

• Maggie

Daniel Schorr

• Daniel Schorr

John Aprea

• Power Executive

Harrison Young

• Obsequious Executive

Kimberly Russell

• Cynthia, CRS Receptionist

Joe Frank

• CRS Data Collating Technician

• • David Fincher
• • John Brancato
  • Michael Ferris
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

Did you know

• Quotes

  [Nicholas van Orten loses a shoe when climbing a fire-escape ladder]

  Nicholas: There goes a thousand dollars.

  Christine: Your shoes cost a thousand dollars?

  Nicholas: That one did.

User reviews809

Review

Featured review

9/

10

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one.

Sean Penn is not the most popular celebrity and has created a few enemies over the years. However, this does not make his performance nor the film «The Game» something to avoid…and considering I am no fan of him as a person, the fact I loved the movie so much says a lot. THE GAME is exceptional…and you’d be doing yourself a favor by watching it. THE GAME is one heck of a great film, as I give it a well-deserved score of 9 because it’s so well written and entertaining. It is one of the most exciting and riveting films of recent memory. You’ve got to see this film! I’ll say no more because I don’t want to spoil it.

helpful•42

10

• planktonrules
• Nov 6, 2018

• What is the significance of the incident and firing of Anson Baer, and how does it plays into the rest of the movie?

• Is «The Game» based on a book?

• What does «CRS» stand for?

Details

• Release date
  • September 12, 1997 (United States)
• • United States
• • English
  • Cantonese
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Thai
• Also known as
  • Trò Chơi Ma Quỷ
• Filming locations
  • Filoli Estate — 86 Cañada Road, Woodside, California, USA
• Production companies
  • Polygram Filmed Entertainment
  • Propaganda Films
  • A&B Producoes, Lda.
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Box office

• • $50,000,000 (estimated)
• • $48,323,648
• • $14,337,029
  • Sep 14, 1997
• • $109,423,648

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Technical specs

• 2 hours 9 minutes

• • DTS
  • Dolby Digital
  • SDDS
• • 2. 39 : 1

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Top Gap

What is the streaming release date of The Game (1997) in Spain?

Answer

How to make a game trailer

1. Pick the right format

Are you trying to hype up a launch, get people to try the game, sell downloadable content (DLC) to existing users? Different objectives lead to different formats:

Announcement trailer

Infinity Blade II announcement trailer

Objective: get people excited without revealing too much.

Format: super short (~30s), no intro, more cutscenes than gameplay, little text (launch date), minimal call to action (follow)

Launch trailer

Infinity Blade II launch trailer

Objective: persuade viewers that they need to try the game ‘right now’.

Format: longer (~60s), short intro, more of the gameplay, positive reviews, strong call to action (buy/download)

DLC release trailer

Black Ops 2 DLC release trailer

Objective: tell the fan base about new features that they can upgrade to.

Format: long (>1min), focus on gameplay and DLC features, dev interviews of interest to fans

• Announcement trailer: super short (~30s), more cutscenes than gameplay, little text (launch date), minimal call to action (follow). Aims to get people excited without revealing too much.

• Launch trailer: short (~60s), more of the gameplay, positive reviews, strong call to action (buy/download). Aims to persuade viewers that they need to try the game ‘right now’.

• DLC release trailer: long (>1min), focus on gameplay and the new features, content of interest to fans (eg. dev interviews). Aims to tell the fan base about new features that they can upgrade to.

2. Aim for content variety

You want your trailer to be visually varied. For that, make sure to tap into all the content types at your disposal: gameplay, cutscenes, animations, live-action, interviews, text:

Live-action

Live-action

This trailer relies primarily on live-action footage.

Live-action is rare in game trailers but shouldn’t be overlooked as it can make your video stand out.

There is staged live-action, such as this Minecraft trailer. And there is more candid live-action, like team interviews.

Animated sequence

Animated sequence

This trailer is one long animated sequence.

Of course, you can make a custom animation just for the trailer. In this case, the trailer is pretty much one big animated sequence announcing the plot.

Cutscenes

Cutscenes

This trailer uses mostly cutscenes from the game.

Cutscenes make for very interesting content, after they’ve been remixed and edited down into a short peefy sequence.

Gameplay

Gameplay

This trailer primarily uses gameplay.

The gameplay usually needs a fair amount of editing to fit the trailer format (see below)

Voiceover

Voiceover

Let’s not forget that not all content is visual. A voice-actor recorded soundtrack, is a tested & proven way to tie everything together.

Text

Text

This trailer uses a fair amount of stylized text.

«Text» is indeed quite helpful to re-inforce certain points. Pay attention to how the text is styled, as you don’t want the text to ruin the aesthetics of the game.

• Live-action: live-action footage is rare in game trailers. Mainly because it’s often not the medium that game developers are most comfortable with. But done well, live action will make your trailer stand out, and engage beyond the traditional gamer fanbase.

• Animated sequence: Of course, you can make a custom animation just for the trailer. In this case, the trailer is pretty much one big animated sequence announcing the plot.

• Cutscenes: Cutscenes make for very interesting content, after they’ve been remixed and edited down into a short peefy sequence.

• Gameplay: The gameplay usually needs a fair amount of editing to fit the trailer format (see below)

• Voiceover: Let’s not forget that not all content is visual. A voice-actor recorded soundtrack, is a tested & proven way to tie everything together.

• Text: «Text» is indeed quite helpful to re-inforce certain points. Make sure to stylize the text — you don’t want your game to look like a word document.

3. Nail the intro

You don’t have much time to make an impression and set the tone for the rest of the clip. You want to start with the message that clearly sets your game apart.

Straight-into the gameplay

Straight-into the gameplay

The «Black Ops 2 Revolution» trailer starts directly with some gameplay from the new DLC package. Exactly the kind of content that black ops fans want.

Brief set-up

Brief set-up

In the GoNinja trailer, the intro is a short animated sequence that sets-up the plot. The intro succeeds in communicating that the game is a fresh take on the ninja theme with cool art.

Long titles

Long titles

For «contre-jour», the long titles intro works well. The cute music and the poetic motion graphics keep it interesting, and it sets the mood for the rest of the clip.

Long plot description

Long plot description

For «angry birds», most people already know the game, and it makes sense to focus most of the trailer on the characters and the plot.

• Straight-into the gameplay: jump right in! This is best for situations where users already know about the game, and you want to emphasize new aspects of the gameplay (eg. DLC releases)

• Brief set-up: Start with a short animated sequence, usually made of remixed cutscenes, to set the stage and quickly establish why the game is great.

• Long titles: You can delay things a few seconds with titles. Combined with the right soundtrack it can help build anticipation and give a cinematographic feel.

• Long plot description: In this case, the intro takes up almost the entire length of the trailer. Great if you have an animated sequence of fantastic quality that tells an interesting story, and if viewers are already familiar with the gameplay.

Bumper or no bumper? A bumper is a short branded animation at the beginning of your video (and sometimes at the end of your video as well). Done well it gives “gravitas” and “polish” to your trailer, done wrong… it can bore and drive viewers to drop off.

1. A bumper is probably more useful for out-of-context situations (eg.: someone stumbles on the video on YouTube), but less useful if they are already on your app page in an app store. Maybe make two versions of the video?

2. No matter what, don’t make them too long — imagine some really impatient kid watching your trailer and wanting to get to the real stuff. Keep them short.

4. Supe up your gameplay

Don’t hesitate to add zooms, freeze-frame, slow-mo, lens-effects to your gameplay. Adding those cinematographic effects will help a lot. Especially if your game doesn’t have a lot of camera movement.

Raw gameplay

Raw gameplay

Imagine how much better the Dragon Flight trailer would have been with just a few zooms on the action. Some screen shakes, and some slo-mos would have helped too. If the point was to make us see how crazy the game gets, then adding a few cinematographic effects would make the crescendo more tangible.

Edited gameplay

Edited gameplay

The use of slow-mo, zooms and the careful synching with the dubstep soundtrack, add a lot of movement and variety to the original gameplay.

Animated gameplay

Animated gameplay

In some cases, it may help to animate around the gameplay. This makes sense to do if the gameplay is monotonous, can’t be improved with just editing tricks. It’s not animation for the sake of animation, it needs to be adding to the story told in the trailer.

This is your chance to add all those cinematographic effects that you dreamed of (but couldn’t get done with the game engine) while staying true to the actual game. Just don’t over edit.

This is also where professional editors shine. They choreograph the visuals around a catchy soundtrack and vice-et-versa. It builds intensity, pace and rhythm.

5. Synch the action with a great soundtrack

Feel free to use a new soundtrack if the game’s soundtrack doesn’t lend itself to the short form of the trailer. Use royalty free music, or music you own the rights to, to avoid copyright issues.

No soundtrack

No soundtrack

It’s ok not to have any soundtrack if you are going for a «blairwitch effect» effect. The absence of soundtrack re-inforces the utltra realistic creepy feel.

Running soundtrack

Running soundtrack

In this trailer, the soundtrack is only loosely coupled with the action. This is a fine technique for visually intense pieces. But probably not a good idea if the footage is monotonous.

Synched soundtrack

Synched soundtrack

If you pay close attention, you’ll hear that in this trailer, every visual change is synchronized with variations in the music soundtrack.

• No soundtrack: suitable for utltra realistic cutscenes, to transport the user in the universe of the game, which is supposed to be reality like

• Running soundtrack: That’s when the soundtrack is only loosely coupled with the action. Fine for visually intense games, not so much for monotonous footage.

• Synched soundtrack: Talented editors have a knack for artfully synching the soundtrack with the action. It just makes the trailer that much more engaging.

6. Add a second serving of yummy Sound FX

In addition to the gameplay’s soundFX, sprinkle some more to jack up the intensity of the trailer. Remember those «inception»-like base low rumbles, it just makes things more dramatic.

7. Plan for small screens

Many of your soon-to-be-users will watch the trailer on a small screen, so:

• Avoid small fonts: use big fonts instead, that take up more of the screen

• Avoid static camera angle: trailers that are filmed from just one angle tend to be boring to watch (eg. long wide shot in ). Instead add close-ups and panning even if it means loosing a bit of pixelization

8. Get your assets in order

Record your gameplay:

For PS3 and Xbox, you’ll need a video capture card (good article here). For iPhones, you can invest in a video capture card or use Display Recorder or other hacks (more here). For PC games, Fraps has been the standard for a long time. You want something that won’t slow down the game and drop frames while recording.

The gameplay should be:

• high resolution (720p minimum)

• 16:9 aspect ratio (otherwise you won’t get the cinematographic look without unwanted pixelization)

• high bitrate (as high as possible, but certainly >2Mbps)

• standard «codec + format» (eg. h364 + mp4 works well with most modern editing software)

Gather your assets:

• Gameplay footage

• In-game cutscenes

• Sprites (for 2D animations)

• 3D models (for 3D animations)

• Layered files (. psd)

• Game sound FX

• Music soundtrack(s)

9. Get it done well

So you have answered the questions above, prepared the assets, now is time to get the trailer made. You have a couple of options:

• Edit/Animate yourself: it’s not a bad place to start if you have the time and have done it before, it helps you answer some of the questions above, and can lead to a good first pass. But realistically you probably won’t get the best output unless you are an experienced pro at after effects / final cut pro, have a taste for music mixing, can tell a good story, and are ready to spend a good chunk of time.

• Post to craigslist to find an editor: it’s a slow process, you have to sift through tons of emails, choose based on reels only, and reels are misleading and hard to compare. Utlimately, you take a risk, since you have to see what the editor makes with your own footage to gauge the fit.

• Use a video production company: they are expensive, but if your footage is particularly interesting, you may get a good deal from someone talented who wants to build their portfolio.

• Use Videopixie — a marketplace of editors and animators: you upload the assets, then editors submit multiple cuts, and you pick the style you like best. It’s the easiest way to get lots of creative videos for your game without breaking the bank, and without spending your nights editing yourself.

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A bit of theory from Wiki. Very often, the correct interpretation of the term helps to perform any tasks associated with it. In any case, when I have a question about doing a job that I rarely get involved with, it helps me a lot.

Trailer — a short video consisting of brief and usually the most spectacular fragments of a movie / game, used to announce or advertise this movie / game. In this case, a video sequence of unrelated fragments is often combined according to the principle of a kaleidoscope. Sometimes scenes in such a kaleidoscope change very quickly, impressing the viewer more than leaving a meaningful impression of the movie / game.

I’m by no means an expert on these things, so by no means consider this to be the best solution or the right way to make a trailer.

Determination with duration.

In today’s realities, with the factor of market glut and the struggle for attention, the video should be short and informative. Roughly speaking, after watching the video, there should be a desire to read more information about the game before closing it. According to my personal feelings, this is a threshold per minute, a maximum of a minute and a half. (For larger films)

Musical accompaniment.

Before that, I wrote the music for my games and trailers myself, but, having gained some experience and feedback, I realized that it’s better to take ready-made material and make a video based on it. Fortunately, now there are royalty free or resources where you can listen to the demo and buy the option you like. The second option is better in quality, but if you dig deeper into the first one, you can also find something worthy.

When choosing, you need to keep in mind approximate pictures from the game that you would like to see in the video, taking into account the right mood and the right theme. (When writing trailer music, it’s best to do the same)

P.S. look at this trailer, simple text, but due to the sound in the video, it feels like an epic. (carefully, after this video, you may find it difficult to perceive modern movie trailers)

Timeline.

You need to choose moments from the game that, in your opinion, make it stand out from the rest. Moments that you would come to a friend and say: «Look, I’m making a game and you can do 9 in it0174 then and then , and during this, can happen, this is «, etc.