Trailer Art: Rosie de Belgeonne
When you watch a trailer for a film, you’re likely not thinking about anything except whether you’re interested in that film. Trailers exist in an ethereal dimension, raising your engagement in a story yet not defining it for you. This fine art of revealing but not giving away too much is its own special form of filmmaking. Rosie de Belgeonne has mastered this art and her work on numerous award-winning films (including Oscar-nominees) cements her as one of the most sought after trailer editors in today’s film industry. The short, yet fascinating tales that are her life’s work are the ambassadors of the film world to the public; the representatives you meet before truly getting to know these cinematic entities.
For the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated I Am Love, Rosie used the score (by Grammy-winning composer John Adams) to lead the mood of the trailer and reduce the need for subtitles, since the majority of dialogue was in Italian. Director Luca Guadagnino gave her wide reign, resulting in a lyrical and poetic trailer for this film starring Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton.
Rosie’s work enables her to collaborate with an eclectic set of filmmakers and presents an opportunity to see these professionals at different stages of their career. Rosie refers to seven-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh as her all-time favorite director, so when asked to create a trailer for Happy-Go-Lucky, she was thrilled at the chance. Leigh is known for using score from his films in his trailers, but de Belgeonne went out on a limb to suggest use of a pop song by Lily Allen to help convey the sunny outlook of the protagonist…to which he acquiesced.
In contrast, Rosie created a trailer for the debut feature from Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, American Honey) entitled Red Road. Having won an Oscar for her short film Wasp, Arnold was heavily involved in every aspect surrounding her first feature. De Belgeonne created a disturbing trailer, absent of music but instead underscored by an alien soundscape which suited the harsh Glaswegian setting of the movie. Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen entrusted Rosie’s abilities to create a compelling trailer for his drama Hunger, which tells the story of Irish Republican Bobby Sands leading a hunger strike in a Northern Irish prison. The trailer is full of gravitas, with a single repeating piano note as an audio bed. Hunger won numerous awards from the New York Critics Film Circle Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, British Independent Film Awards, Cannes Film Festival, BAFTA, and many others.
Rosie’s trailer for the Emma Watson-starring film Colonia was nominated for a Golden Trailer Award for Best Foreign Thriller. Harry Potter fans had created a major buzz about the film, keen to see what Watson would do next, and expectation was high. The story shows Watson as a girl drawn into a famous religious sect. The trailer was structured using a slow-building rhythm, gradually growing in intensity to a final horrifying climax. Abbey Warner, Director of Marketing at Screen Media (distributor of Colonia) states, “The Colonia trailer was crafted using skillful and arresting editing techniques and was the ideal marketing asset for this chilling true story. Rosie possesses a natural creative sensibility and a riveting storytelling technique.” She also created the trailer for the Netflix production Audrie and Daisy, an award-winning documentary about two teenage girls who were bullied via social media, with tragic consequences. Mark Berridge (President of trailer company Zealot) declares, “I am proud to have collaborated with Rosie on the trailer for Audrie and Daisy, which was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and a Critics Choice Award for Best Documentary. Rosie found an innovative and powerful storytelling method to startle audiences with this trailer, bringing maximum impact to an important subject matter. Her creativity is inspiring.”
One would never expect that a short trailer is the product of so much work. Rosie’s process involves numerous viewings of the film: first to find themes, then to pull dialogue and ideal shots, and finally sounds and music. The evolution of ideas to manifestation of the perfect trailer is completely congruent to that of creating the film itself, which is why so many of the filmmakers she works with consider this trailer editor a peer among them. Rosie humbly states, “It’s an honor for me to work with these filmmakers. I’ve admired their work for so long and to be included in the creative process with them is an incredible feeling of compensation. I think everyone who is creative is searching for that outlet and sense of community to be able to express themselves; I consider myself to be extremely fortunate in my career. Every day I’m excited to see what project I will get to work on next.”
