Girl with Dragon Tattoo Trailer Saga

First, a couple days ago, we got (what I and a lot of others felt) was a faked bootleg cell-phoney video of a red band trailer for TGWTDT. Picture started looking exactly like what you get from a cell phone or flipcam. But, a couple seconds in the resolution gets much better, stays that way until a couple seconds before end of video, then reverts back to low-rez again. So, beginning and end say 'cell phone video' but everything in between looks like high quality video that's been de-rezzed.

That's not the only clue. Video was not removed until today, spending about 48 hours up -- about 46 hours longer than usual for an unauthorized bootleg. Studios demand that stuff be taken down fast. Didn't happen. Why? Nobody wanted it taken down, that's why.

Next clue: the sound -- too good. Was not recorded by onboard mics in a cellphone or flipcam (from the speakers in the monitor the video was recorded from). That was digital sound married to the picture -- no mics involved. Dynamic range was too good, high frequency too good, and bass too good for ticky-tacky mics to reproduce. It even has good stereo separation and imaging/staging.

Then there's the 'shake'. That was not real handheld camera motion. Was desperately random, continuous, and way too pronounced. I guess it's subjective, but handheld video does not look like that. That motion probably was a (rectangular shaped) mask placed over the video and manipulated -- moved around in a way that emulates what you get when you hand hold a video camera -- by a tech in post.

Then, late last night, we get the legit green band trailer. However, that has been taken down and we have no trailer at all. (Update: 2:09. Apparently, the green band trailer is still available on sites, but was taken down on TrailerAddict). Just a bunch of bloggers and fans searching the web for 'girl with dragon tattoo movie trailer', which boosts Google results and creates a lot of buzz.

What we have here, folks, is savvy next gen viral web marketing from the guys at Sony/Columbia Pictures. And, they're doing a great job. This movie has more heat than anything I can remember. (Of course, having a kick ass trailer helps, but the campaign is fucking brilliant).

So, for a time yet to be determined, here is the green band trailer I clipped from YouTube. Looking forward to seeing what the gang in marketing comes up with next. Should be good.



(Update 7:53) Okay, that one was taken down so here's another: