This was originally intended as a standalone trailer remix for the times we live in... but with recent news of the passing of Don LaFontaine, it should also be considered a tribute.
To a good man, RIP.
If you are not familiar with the name Don LaFontaine, you are not to be blamed, but rest assured you know his voice. His work on thousands of cartoons, commercials, and movie trailers has made Don's voice a nearly ubiquitous feature of popular culture, even if unsung. Most people simply know him as the "In a world..." guy. He invented and perfected the style of movie trailer that stereotypically begins with those very words.
When I began work on this trailer a few days ago, I was unaware that he had passed away this weekend. His work for John Edwards on an Iowa caucus How-To and for other charitable causes aside, I needed some inspiration for movie trailer construction.
Where better to start than with the work of the master? So I was watching and listening to youtube clips and interviews, hoping it might improve my poor delivery (it didn't), when I saw the RIP after his name. It was one of those unexpected moments where you hope it's a typo and don't want to find out it isn't. Sadly, it wasn't.
I'd like to say my tribute lived up to the quality the man might have expected of himself, but I work with a second rate microphone and a third rate voice, without the freedom a studio space might allow for a full throated voiceover session (can't have my neighbors thinking I'm too crazy).
So, I'll apologize for all the painfully evident shortcomings on display above.
RIP Don. There will never be another better.
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Footnotes on the trailer for Once Upon A Time In America:
This trailer is a meditation on the current election, using footage and audio from Sergio Leone's 'Once Upon a Time in the West' to portray a narrative oft repeated in history and storytelling. Namely, the decline of a corrupt system and the rise of people to reclaim their birthright.
The movie itself is still in production, and will not be released until November.
ANNOUNCER
In America.
A nation adrift.
A people lost.
Left behind.
And taught to fear.
With only one chance.
To reclaim their birthright.
OBAMA
They think they own this government.
But we're here today to take it back.
ANNOUNCER
They... had put up with it long enough.
And they... were ready to take it all back.
The stolen election.
A war... based on lies.
The death of the American Dream.
McCain
All who wish to be under the current system can still do so.
And everyone else will choose...
...having nothing to do with the purposes of goverment.
And everything to do with the preservation of power.
That's not change we can believe in.
He doesn't trust us to make decisions for ourselves.
And wants the government to make them for us.
All who wish to be under the current system can still do so.
And everyone else will choose...
ANNOUNCER
Once upon a time in America.
There was a new sheriff.
In town.
OBAMA
And so people decided they were going to come together.
Because... alone, we are weak.
But united we are strong.
That is the essence of what America is all about.
That's why we're called the United States of America.
ANNOUNCER
This November.
Witness history.
In the making.
Thanks for watching the trailer, see you at the premiere.
In case you missed it above the fold...