Battlefield franchise always been open for interpretation when it came to music. We had classical orchestra for "Battlefield 1942", techno dubstep for "Battlefield 3" and "Battlefield 4". And fantasy, yet historical, for "Battlefield V". But every time I was creating a video game trailer, for my own personal development, I always wanted to do something different, something I never done before. And as a fan of classical music, espcially Beethoven, it was a perfect match.
The theme we were going for was "remembering the good times" and "giving us motivation and hope to go forward. Something that is worth fighting for". The music for the trailer was produced by Imagine Music and it was a cover of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", and it was perfect track for the theme we were going for. It had the epicness, the right tempo and it was perfect for a game that is "Battlefield V", re-imagined WW2 setting with a bit of fantasy in it.
Originally, we were planning to use title cards to send the information to the viewers, but we realised it felt too empty and stale without any voiceover. I wrote a script for the trailer and I contacted my friend Ray Edmunds who does voiceover work, and asked him if he wants to feature as the main voice in this project. Thankfully he agreed and we did some work.
After we had our voiceover and we finally have a rough cut of the trailer, I gave it the people I trust most to be my focus group and see what they think. Ignoring some issues we had with the audio, people weren't really keen on the particular voice that was picked for the trailer originally. It just didn't work well with the music choice or the tempo of the trailer. Because time was running out and I had a deadline to meet, I quickly brought my friend Adrian Matei who does Comic Con videos with me and asked him to redo the whole script (that was re-written and improved thanks to Ray's voice being as a placeholder at that time).
After couple days of editing, we finally had a new rough cut of the trailer using Adrian's voice and him reading the improved script. Directing Adrian was definetely one of the best working experiences ever, just because he was cooperating well and we did 15 different takes, using different voices and tones, which made my editing job much easier and more fun because of the options I had at my disposal. The new rought cut was given again to the people I trust most and it was definetely an improvement according to them, so I continued polishing the edit as the deadline was approaching.
A day before the release of the trailer, I went to bed at 5am, making sure all clips are flowing well, that the audio mix is perfect with all the effects and music, and all our graphics are ready and good, including the actual poster for the trailer. I never recommend to anyone doing what I usually do, but then again I can't deny that it wasn't worth it as the trailer finally got released.
The reaction from the audience was really impressive and I was actually worried that they might not like it for the voiceover or the music. People loved it and my biggest fears were put to bed. Of course there are some things that I'm not happy about (logo title cards might be too dark) or some clip doesn't flow that well, and I would love to improve it, but overall it was a really positive reaction with nice comments following later.
I've been asked what is my next project will be about, but I have no idea yet, but I do have some plans for the future. Until then, please enjoy our work and let me know what you think.
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