iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 30/09/2026

Came here to say this, but I also had to check and...

Barbie Box Office Mojo Page

DOMESTIC (44%)
$636,238,421

INTERNATIONAL (56%)
$810,900,000

WORLDWIDE
$1,447,138,421

Oppenheimer Box Office Mojo Page

DOMESTIC (33.8%)
$330,078,895

INTERNATIONAL (66.2%)
$645,732,438

WORLDWIDE
$975,811,333

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 29/09/2026

What a fucking asssssshole. So sorry you had to deal with him. You're the awesome one 💖

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 23/09/2026

And here's the same segment with sound, but a very bad sound mix (to show the difference a good sound mix makes)

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 23/09/2026

Thanks to everyone who watched my talk about the trailer for Skin Deep! Here's the clip from the cold open that was supposed to be in the talk which has all of the game sound effects turned off (to show how much emptier it feels without them)

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 23/09/2026

This was a nice talk about USPs! One he touched upon are "systems" and his example of the "Pressens" combo system from Remember me is a really good of a USP that is REALLY HARD to show in trailers. It might be a good system, but you usually need to actually play to see what make it good.

Screenshot of "Combo Lab" menu from the game Remember Me where you can customize your attack combos

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 09/09/2026

As an aside, this is how I feel about the Professor Layton trailer 🤪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAxK...

Elton John meme where Elton John is in a huge pink feathery outfit standing next to a guy in plain black jacket.

Elton John: Game Footage
Guy: Voiceover

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 13/08/2026

I trailer-ed this for @nobrakesgames.bsky.social! This was an utter delight to work on 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑 Graphics by @bywilliamjmeyer.com Sound mix by Michael Cardillo of Creative Waves

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 01/08/2026

Quote with a ridiculous movie you think people should watch.

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 26/07/2026

I’m very satisfied by how neatly the YouTube play button fits into the Cyan logo 😄

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 20/07/2026

Good lord, I thought deleting and ignoring would be enough. (Blocked) The worst thing is I KNOW this person must be using some sort of automation thing which sends initial DMs and then follows up when there’s no response. So they’re doing this at scale. Fuck offffffffffffffff

LinkedIn DM:

You can’t leave me hanging in the middle of a championship match.

Rock, paper, or scissors?

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 17/07/2026

My video just passed 10K views, which is way more than I typically get 😮 Thanks for watching and sharing! ❤️

YouTube stats for “The Best Game Trailer Template” video

10k views, 1k likes, 111 comments

3% impressions click through rate

8:08 average view duration

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 17/07/2026

What kind of engagement LinkedIn bullshit is this!? (Deleted)

LinkedIn DM:

“Hi Derek, which game: rock, paper, or scissors? And if I win will you give [redacted] 10 minutes?

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 16/07/2026

I trailer-ed this! Here are the folks I worked with: Music: @jasongravesmusic.bsky.social Vocals: @malukah.bsky.social Sound design: @guywhitmore.bsky.social Motion graphics: @bywilliamjmeyer.com Production: Amy Pantea & Peter Boldt Thanks @polyarcgames.com for having me for the adventure ^_^

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 15/07/2026

I flipping HATE these AI generated comment reply suggestions in YouTube. I can mostly avoid AI bullshit in my day to day but here it is in my face. Burning up a little bit of the earth for something I didn’t ask for and never want to use.

Comment: Loved every second of this. I love trailers Breath of the wild (Switch presentation) and Ghost of Tsusima (Paris Games Week) jump to mind. Love getting this insight. Awesome stuff Derek.

YouTube generated AI reply suggestion:

Glad you enjoyed it, those are definitely some top-tier examples!

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 24/06/2026

I trailer-ed this! Big thanks to the Dear Villagers team for having me on! Thanks to Jayson Houdet for the game fixes and Corentin Brasart for the music and sound 😙 🦌👦🏻

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 23/06/2026

If the apartment was only this and the photo was taken by someone with their back to the wall then I’d believe it 🤪

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 22/06/2026

There's so much good stuff in the audio/visual style of Tunic, but one thing I really appreciate this time through is the amount of overexposure in the highlights where the detail is all lost. I feel like that's something I don't see often in games except in transitions from indoors to outside.

Fox from Tunic rolls to avoid an exploding enemy. The explosion is bright and overexposed with purple fringes on the explosion

Siege Tank from Tunic's big beam attack. The beam and glowing parts on the Siege Tank are overexposed with yellow fringing

Fox from Tunic uses grapple item on a hook. The impact point looks like a starry shaped overexposed light with pink fringing

Explosion from piece of dynamite in Tunic damages frog enemies. The explosion is overexposed with slight yellow fringing

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 21/06/2026

If you see this, post a vampire who isn’t Dracula

Luke Wilson as Sheriff Hartwell from the X-Files episode Bad Blood

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 16/06/2026

Hopefully you’re out now but here’s an Uni and Ebi oldie but goodie 😽

Adorable black cats named Uni and Ebi sit on books on a kitchen counter. Uni’s ears are turned sideways and his eyes are bugged out. Ebi stares straight into the camera.

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 07/06/2026

For Among Us Story: On Guard’s reveal trailer we wanted it to be CRYSTAL CLEAR this is a completely new game and not an update. And yet… 🙃 These comments seem to be the exception, but just goes to show the extent to which people can easily miss the message in your trailer 🫠

graphic for Among Us Story: On Guard reveal trailer

Innersloth presents: A NEW STANDALONE GAME

YouTube comment : “Is it going to be an update or another game if another game tell us the expected price in usd”

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 04/06/2026

You have very nice handwriting! 😃 Here's mine I think my cursive handwriting still looks like it did when I was in elementary school 🫣

(photo of my writing)

"This is my handwriting which I'm pretty sure hasn't changed since I was in high school :P"

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 04/06/2026

The internet failed me by not showing me this trailer a month ago. Did all that time I spent watching people sandblast stuff on TikTok mean nothing!??? 😂 I only found it because I needed an example of how experienced influencers often write really good copy for games (this is from Madmorph)

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 04/06/2026

This is a cat checkpoint; relinquish your most recent car picture (s)

Adorable black cat named Ebi sits on a kitchen floor looking up at me

Adorable black cat named Uni sits on a kitchen floor staring off to the left

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 29/05/2026

Omg I love how the red frame fits the YouTube play icon

Thumbnail for the Red Frame Thinky Direct Exclusive trailer.

A tree-like appendage from the ground holds a red picture frame which perfectly fits around the YouTube play icon in the center of the thumbnail

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 28/05/2026

Hooky bits are there to show what makes your game unique and hold people's interest by being new and unexpected. In isolation they might be too weird, or unfamiliar, but paired with anchors they add new flavor.

Skin Deep Hooky Bits

- Glass can get stuck in your bare feet
- Sneeze Meter
- Skullsaver Mechanic
- Auto heart defibrillator
- Stun enemies near electrical pipes
- Make guards slip on banana peels then and jump onto their backs
- The levels are contiguous spaces you can explore inside and out
- Break windows to make enemies (and yourself) shoot out into space
- Lots of tiny text on objects
- Guns are very tactile
- Use walkie talkies to stop alarms
- Mech you can pilot
- CATS

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 28/05/2026

Anchors—common gameplay tropes—should be in the trailer only to show you have the basics of the genre. Like looking at a Chinese restaurant and making sure they have rice and noodles. They're there for reassurance, but are only interesting in the context of a new twist. (e.g. Skin Deep)

First person shooter
Peeking around corners
Enemies to fight/interact with
Health bars, inventory
Locked doors and keys
Throwable objects and items
Vents, ducts, zip lines, etc.
Guns, ammunition, grenades
Map screen and objectives
Pickpocketing
Open lockers to get items
Breakable things
Alarms
Story cutscenes and dialogue
Stealth
"One last job" trope
Flushable toilets

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 28/05/2026

This isn't to say start the trailer with a montage of the most rote game mechanics. Just: - Show a shot in the default game camera ASAP (to signal how the game is played) - Spend most rest of the trailer exploring your new thing

Premiere Pro timeline with a tiny blue clip at the start labeled "Show the genre" and a large purple clip for the rest of the trailer labeled "Show the hook"

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 19/05/2026

First photo on your phone This one was sent to me by my cat sitters when I still lived in L.A. 😹

Two adorable black cats named Uni and Ebi sit hunched underneath a futon bed. The photo was taken with a flash, so their eyes look like incredibly bright green and cyan lights, respectively.

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 18/05/2026

If you were a video game character, what would your health pickup be?

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 03/05/2026

How am I only seeing this today for this first time? 😂 (Thanks @kubasobek-eng.bsky.social for linking it)

Comic titled “Gameplay Trailer”
Panel 1: Gamer
A black man with a beard and baseball cap lies back on a couch drinking a beverage. He says: “cool.”

Panel 2: Dev
A white man wife tense eyes sits nervously clutching his knees to his chest. He thinks:
“OH FUCK it's footages from the wrong build aaah this VFX is still a WIP and why they chose to show this area OMFG this animation wasn’t fixed is that texture updated my god the UI needs some polish I wanna die the shader is broken and the trigger doesn't work here we need to replace that mesh the lights...please this is not the...sound I wish I could replace...asset did I bought the groceries today people will see t-

Instagram - victorlahlou
Facebook - TheDevteamLife
Twitter - DevTeamL
Twitch - twitch.tv/devteaml

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 23/04/2026

I’m greatly amused by the “wrong about AI/Bitcoin” list 🤣

Bluesky lists I’m on including “AI Haters” and “Wrong about AI/Bitcoin/VR probably other things”

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 21/04/2026

Once I saw this meme format I couldn't resist making a version about video editing 🤪

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 18/04/2026

Omg it took me years to figure out Ebi likes rubbing on my hands because of carrots—I always though it was the curry 😹

A bowl of homemade Japanese style katsu curry with carrots and potatoes on a table. My hand to the left of the bowl holds my cat Ebi’s head as he nuzzles it

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 16/04/2026

Why whatever do you mean? 🙃 (I also got messages “forbidden” and “not enough resources” while sending this reply)

Screenshot of Chet Faliszek’s post “this app is a fucking testament to the stupidity of vibe coding”

Below, all the replies have not loaded yet (they took a little while to finally appear)

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 05/04/2026

I made this meme in honor of New Frame Plus and all other YouTube channels I enjoy where this applies.

Vince McMahon meme where he’s more excited in each frame
1. YouTube video about a niche that interests you
2. Made by professional working in that niche
3. Exceptionally well researched and edited
4. Custom made captions

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 30/03/2026

Here’s my Stream Deck debug button setup for when I worked on a trailer for Skin Deep by @blendogames.bsky.social (mild spoilers for the game) Bonus points to anyone who can spot the two references to one of my favorite picture books 😙

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 26/03/2026

Quick pro video editing tip! Oftentimes I hear sound effects in gameplay capture get harshly clipped off when the shot ends. This makes the trailer sound and feel less professional. The quick and dirty solution is to add little cross dissolves to soften the transition to the next shot.

Premiere Pro timeline with three video clips. None of the audio for the clips have transitions.

Text below reads: "These 'straight' cuts clip the audio and sound abrupt and harsh" arrows point to the cut points

Premiere Pro timeline with three video clips. Each audio clip has a short audio cross dissolve at their beginning and end

Text below reads: "Adding cross dissolves will soften the transitions and sound better!" arrows point to the cut points

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 17/03/2026

Please wish happy birthday to my little voids Uni and Ebi who are 14 years old today! 😽

Black cat named Uni with big bugged out eyes lies on a chair

Black cat named Ebi with gentle eyes lies in an open suitcase

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 17/03/2026

PSA: If your Steam trailer starts with a full screen ESRB, use the little icon instead so we see gameplay right away. - 4 sec, 15% of vertical height of the video If your game is rated M, you can use the ESRB with descriptors - 4 sec, 25% of vertical height—no graphic violence in the first 4 sec

Arizona Sunshine 2 trailer's first shot which shows an ESRB M rating 25% of the vertical height of the screen with its descriptors.

Psychonauts 2 story trailer opening which shows an ESRB rating icon in the bottom left which is 15% of the vertical height of the screen

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 16/03/2026

In most shots with cards I reduced visual clutter by hiding the topbar and the UI on the bottom corners. In some cases I hid the HP bars because some status icons were temp art. I could also add/remove cards in my hand to be exactly what I wanted to show (often a mix of new and old cards)

Slay the Spire 2 trailer screenshot which shows the topbar hidden, and no UI in the bottom left and right corners

Slay the Spire 2 screenshot with full UI

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Derek Lieu - Game Trailer Editor @derek-lieu.com · 16/03/2026

Since Slay the Spire 2 is out, here’s a peek at my Stream Deck with all the debug commands I needed to make gameplay capture fast and easy. Took about a day to hook up, but totally worth it! This was possible because @megacrit.com set up debug as either hot keys or console commands.

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