Trailer codes and conventions

2. As you will see on the next slide, the typography tends to be sans serif and bold in
order for the audience to be able to clearly read the text. Also the typography will
often reflect the genre of the film, for example for straight out Compton, the
typography is done in the cd warning style in order to emphasis the basis of the
films storyline to the audience.

4. At the beginning of the majority of trailers which I watched the production logo tends to appear first, this is show audiences have expectations
about the films genres, however an exception to this is the film: Steve Jobs: The Man in the machine, this is so we know who the film is about and
the production logo appears after we are introduced to Steve Jobs through a series of crossfades. Another reason why the production logo is
placed at the beginning is so the audience can gain an idea of how big the film budget is.

5. A code and convention which is
common within the genre of
drama is, the feature of, Academy
award…, this is so the audience
know that the film is going to
deliver a high standard of acting
and so the audiences can
familiarise themselves with the
actors/directors name. Also
another common convention in
dramas are film critics quotes, this
is because if the film has a quote
from empire magazine, for
example, the audience know the
film is going to be of a high quality
standard.

6. Another convention is being introduced to the main characters through mid-shots and close-
ups, close-ups tend to be used on famous actors as this can be the ‘pull’ factor for an audience
member to pay attention to the trailer and then go on to watch the film.

7. Intertitles,., the intertitles which feature the directors/actors name will normally feature near the end, however in the man from U.N.C.L.E, the
directors name appeared at the beginning this creates expectations for the audience. Also in some of the trailers, such as concussion the actors
name appears with a clip of them so the audience recognise the actor, fi they aren’t familiar with their name.

8. The title of the film tends to appear near the end of the film, one reason for this is because if the title was at
the beginning the audience could forget the name of the film as they would be focusing on the action
whereas if the title is near the end the audience is more likely to remember the tile of the film which means
they have a higher chance of watching the film.

9. The billing block will appear near
the end of the film, this is a legal
requirement as it features, the film
studio, the film’s title, who’s
involved etc., this also allows the
audience to find out any additional
information about the film which
again could be an an encouraging
factor for them. Also to make it
easy to read the text is in poster
sans serif.
.

10. At the end of the trailer the release information tends to appear last this is so the audience can remember
the date or time period of when the film is being released, additionally to this the release information tends
to feature social media links so the audience are encouraged to find out more information about the film.
Also by stating that the film is in 3D could encourage the audience to watch the film, as this is could be seen
as the USP for the film.

11. Other codes
and conventions
Editing:
In trailers the editing tends to be quick cuts,
with the use of fades to black or crossfades in
order to prevent confusion for the audience.
Additionally particularly in action the pace of
the editing tends to get quicker to build
anticipation and excitement for the audience.
Dialogue:
All of the trailers I watched apart from walking on
sunshine used dialogue extracts from the film in order
to tell the story to the audience, this also allows the
audience to be introduced to the characters of the film.
The dialogue has to be carefully selected so not to
much of the narrative is given away to the audience. A
voiceover is used for the intertitles in walking on
sunshine in order to build excitement for the audience.
Music:
The music can reflect the genre of the film as well as
setting the tone of the film for the audience. The
music can also aid to reflect the pace of the film.
The music can also be a budget indicator for the
audience because if an artist has been
commissioned to make the soundtrack for the
trailer this can indicate how much money has been
pumped into the actual film.
Footage:
The clips which are shown are
handpicked in order to give the audience
a taster of the film without giving the
entire plot away. A trailer is a compaltion
of all the ‘best bits’ of the film, you could
link this to the hypodermic syrine theory
because the producers are persuading
the audience to watch the film by
‘injecting’ them with footage which will
encourage them to go onto watching the
film.