The idea for the Paris trailer came from a tweet from a reader, who said, “You should go to all sorts of interesting places in Paris.” I thought about that, and decided to use signs and random people to give little tidbits about UNTIL I DIE. What I REALLY wanted to do was to include 2 big banners draped over the side of Paris’s bridges. I was going to take the tour boat, and as we were about to pass underneath, my assistants on the bridge would unfurl the banners, one of which would say “Kate loves Vincent” and on the next bridge “Vincent loves Kate”. Unfortunately, that proved a really difficult plan to carry out, and time was running out.
A friend told me about two American-French brothers, Nicolas and Amaro, who have a production company called HypeVandals in Paris, and I saw this video that they made of a party: http://vimeo.com/33970630, which I loved. I contacted them immediately. We talked on the phone and by Skype and I showed them what I wanted. And finally, after much discussion and explanation and planning of locations we wanted to use, and making of cards, we met up on a Wednesday, early in the morning, and began.
I had asked my Facebook followers to vote for the dress I would wear in my cameo that morning, so I showed up on the Alexandre III bridge wearing my bright red dress. We did the very last shot of the trailer first, with me holding the sign. And then we began hunting victims.
We went to each of the locations we wanted, and then I scoped out someone I found interesting. I approached them with a copy of DIE FOR ME in my hand (the hardback that has my picture on the back), and started speaking to them in French, and if they didn’t speak French I spoke in English, and twice had to resort to my really bad Italian. I would say something like, “Hi. I wrote this book, see? That’s me on the cover.” And if they hadn’t run away by then (which many did), I would say that I was shooting a video to promote the sequel and would they pose and hold a sign.
The “victims” were of all nationalities: French, Chinese, Italian, American, Australian, Belgian. People really enjoyed playing their roles, and most gave me their email addresses so that I could let them know when the video was up. I also had a few friends meet me along the way. Standing in front of Notre Dame with the “Team Ambrose” sign is Katia, an Australian podcaster who lives in Paris ( http://www.katiaandkyliemac.com/ ) The well-known French YA blogger Francesca is holding the “Kate Loves Vincent” sign on Pont Neuf (her Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Francesca_fr ) And in the extended version, my friend Laila is standing in front of the Pompidou Center with a “Revenants Rule” sign.
The hardest person to get was a policeman. I REALLY wanted one to hold the “Jules = Hot” sign, and had to ask several before I lucked out with the one I got. Yep, he looks pretty uncomfortable. He just kind of stared at the sign, for a minute, so I told him it was for a teenage book…as if that explained everything. He bought it.
And then there was the “More Hot French Guys” sign. I walked up and down the Champs-Elysees looking for a hot guy, until finally Nicolas said, “Hey, let’s just go across the street to Abercrombie.” The Abercrombie models were standing outside letting all of these tourists take photos of them. So I asked if they would hold the sign, and once they saw what it said, they were happy to! (You should have seen the crowd go crazy when they read the sign!)
One of my favorite shots, though, is the couple holding the “City of Love” sign. I mean, how cute are they? They were both French, and she had on the most creative romantic outfit. When I asked them, he looked to her to see if it was okay, and she was the one who said yes. And while they stood there, he just gave her the sweetest look and little squeeze and I just about melted.
We put everything we wanted in to the video, and it was way too long. But it killed me to take anything out permanently, so that is why I kept an Extended Version. And as for the song, this one is thanks to my Facebook followers as well. What would I do without my readers to vote on stuff? 🙂
The trailer turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be: a love letter to Paris. Just like my DIE FOR ME trilogy is meant to be. I hope the trailer makes you want to read UNTIL I DIE, and to visit Paris to fall in love yourself!
Thank you so much for visiting, Amy! I truly adore the trailer. The Paris setting is one of my favorite aspect of this series so this is really a wonderful way to display it!
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