If you’ve been to a Banff screening anywhere in the world, you will know it. You take your seat, the theatre lights dim, and for the next seven and a half minutes, a series of epic athletic feats and stunning landscapes flash on the screen in tandem with the strings and percussion of Jacques Blackstone’s iconic soundtrack (the Banff Theme), while the sonorous baritone of Richard Armstrong welcomes you to the show – this is the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival video trailer. It premieres at the Festival in Banff, Alberta, and then makes its way to roughly 550 locations around the world – kicking off and pumping up the audience at every Banff World Tour screening. But just what goes into the making of this awe-inspiring intro? I met with Banff Centre’s Senior Video Editor, Jozef Karoly, to find out.
The trailer has always been created in-house at Banff Centre. In the past, audio, graphics, and editing practicum participants would work on the intro under the producer’s supervision, but for the last few years, Jozef has edited the trailer himself. At a Festival screening a few years ago, Jozef sat behind some filmmakers – when their shot came on screen during the trailer, they started hi-fiving and cheering. After seeing their excitement firsthand, he wanted every filmmaker attending to have that experience and thought, “oh, we have to include everyone now!” It can be challenging to fit 80-85 films and sponsor recognition into a seven-and-a-half-minute piece. “Heavily subtitled and story-driven films are the hardest to find shots,” Jozef mused, but he makes it a priority that all Festival finalists get some screen time. After the nine-day Festival in Banff concludes, the trailer gets tweaked with more of an emphasis on the 30-35 films licensed for the World Tour, so the audience will have more of a curated experience of what they will potentially be viewing at their event.
Jozef starts by watching all the films, not just their respective trailers. It is important to “not just assemble the nicest shots, but to create little micro-stories throughout the piece." Micro-stories can be similar themes or visual cues that might overlap in different films (dancing, brushing teeth, putting on gear, etc.). Jozef can also tie shots together by sports, colours, animals, and landscapes. Though subtle, micro-stories are essential to maintain good flow throughout the trailer and keep viewers visually engaged, but they take a long time to curate! Jozef can spend up to an hour or more with each film (depending on its length), noting time codes to find the perfect, tailor-made shots. After nearly two weeks of consistent work, he will have nothing to show for his efforts except a very detailed spreadsheet. “The lead up to the Festival can be intense… you can’t not have a trailer! It’s kind of scary!”
Fortunately, at this point in his career, Jozef knows the Banff Theme music well. Sometimes, when watching the films, Jozef will think, “Oh, I know just the spot where this will fit.” Other times, he might get attached to having a segment in a specific spot and then realize after adding more film clips that something needs to change “that is the worst''. As an editor, you have your own style, but Jozef has found a natural pattern that starts to develop in response to the soundtrack. The opening music slowly builds tension up to the welcome, followed by three to four minutes of sponsor and film clips; the final two minutes are the intense, epic ramp-up of music and jaw-dropping, adrenaline-inducing shots that, with the assistance of colour correction, still seamlessly tie together frame to frame. On occasion, Jozef might change or add things to a shot (always with the filmmaker’s permission). Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed at the start of the 2020-21 trailer, a big “2020” emblazoned on the top of the pillar that the animated mountaineer from the film The Great Milestone collapses in front of – a playful wink to what a tough year 2020 was to many.
Though it is a lot of work, creating the trailer is a labour of love for Jozef. “At the end of the day, it’s very satisfying work...one day it’s done, and you can see how live audiences react.” Thanks, in part, to his tight edit, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival trailer captivates, energizes, and inspires outdoor aficionados from around the world. See if you can spot all 84 films (from 13 different countries) in the trailer at the Festival this year!
Author: Lauren Schmidt