THE TOURIST
Spec Trailer
Services: Editorial | Sound Design (rough) | Music Sourcing
Deliverables: Hero Trailer Edit
Timeline: Passion project (self-initiated)
Modern trailers have a spoiler problem. They prioritize marketing over storytelling, giving away the moments that should land emotionally during the actual viewing experience.
The Tourist - a BBC/Netflix thriller about an Irish man who wakes up with amnesia in the Australian outback, hunted by people trying to kill him - presented the perfect opportunity to test a different approach.
The challenge: Cut a trailer that builds intrigue and urgency without burning the moments that make the show worth watching. Balance mystery with action. Give the audience just enough to care, but not enough to predict.
The constraint became the creative opportunity: How do you sell a story without selling it out?
Protecting the viewer experience: Creating trailers that invite discovery rather than spoil it
Self-Directed Creative: No client brief. No external input. Just a love of the show and a desire to cut something that honored the story rather than exploited it.
Trailer editing is foundational discipline - it demands economy, rhythm, and narrative precision. It's also the reason many editors fall in love with the craft in the first place. This was a return to that passion, exploring what trailers could be if they respected the audience's experience.
The work involved:
Music sourcing - Found a track from our friends at Alibi Music that could carry both mystery and action, driving the rhythm of the entire edit
Narrative architecture - Built the story structure from scratch, determining what to reveal, what to withhold, and when to shift tonal gears
Editorial precision - Every cut motivated by music rhythm or narrative purpose. Sound design layered to build dread without telegraphing story turns
Moment protection - Selected visuals that felt compelling in isolation but wouldn't spoil discoveries when viewers eventually watch the show
The goal was to condense a 6-episode series into 2:30 of pure intrigue without giving anything away.
Editorial Philosophy: The trailer needed to operate on two levels of mystery simultaneously:
Identity: Who is this man who can't remember his own name?
Stakes: Why are people trying to kill him?
The Tourist balances thriller pacing with dark comedic beats and a moral question about identity and guilt. The trailer needed to reflect that tonal complexity while preserving the experience of discovery.
The Approach:
Selective storytelling - Establish the "what" (car crash, amnesia, danger) without touching the "why" or "who," mirroring the protagonist's own experience of waking up with no answers
Moment remixing - Use striking visuals from the series but recontextualize them so they don't spoil narrative beats or character revelations when viewed in the full show
Music-driven rhythm - Align pacing to music hits, using tension and release to create urgency without relying on plot reveals
Tonal range - Balance action with hints of the show's unexpected dark humor without losing thriller momentum
The Pet Peeve Principle: This project was born from a creative frustration: trailers that ruin the viewing experience. The audience should discover the best moments for the first time in the show itself, not recognize them as callbacks to the trailer.
The goal: Make people want to watch without telling them what they're about to see.
What This Demonstrates:
Creative initiative - Workprint identifies opportunities and executes on our own terms, no assignment necessary
End-to-end ownership - Concept, narrative structure, music sourcing, editorial execution - all handled internally
Editorial point of view - A philosophy about storytelling that prioritizes audience experience over conventional marketing tactics
Trailer craft - The ability to condense complex narratives into tight, compelling packages without sacrificing discovery
Why It Matters: Spec work proves capability in ways client work sometimes can't. This trailer demonstrates Workprint's ability to take raw material and build narratives from the ground up with complete creative control.
Whether responding to a client brief or pursuing a creative vision, the process is the same: Find the story. Protect the moments. Make people want more.
The Tourist trailer reflects a core belief: great editing isn't just about understanding footage - it's about understanding what the audience doesn't know yet and preserving that discovery. That's the difference between a trailer that sells and one that spoils.
Editor: David Nitzsche
Project Type: Spec / Creative Exercise
Original Series: The Tourist (BBC / Netflix)
Trailer Length: 2:30
Series: Season 1, 6 episodes
Music: Alibi Music (alibimusic.com)