My research into what makes a typical trailer

1. What makes a typical trailer?
A movie trailer is defined on Wikipedia as
‘an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film
that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema.’
Therefore, a movie trailer is created to entice people to see a
film, the same way as an advert on TV for a products aims to
increase the number of people who buy it

2. What are the main formal elements?
• Trailers start off with
ratings card at the
beginning [1]
• The title of the film is
generally at the end
(before the end
credits) of the trailer
or near the end just
before a final
memorable shot [2]
[1] Trance ratings card
[2]City of God title

3. • End credits to show
that the trailer is
over [3] with a
release date at the
end so people know
when they can see it
(may not be an
actual date) [4]
[3] City of God end credits
[4] Star Wars Episode II release date

4. How are trailers structured and
paced?
• Trailers generally follow a structure where
the pace is slow at the beginning, with slow
transitions to establish the characters etc.,
it then speeds up towards the middle into a
montage to allow the audience to see what
they should expect from the film before
slowing down at the end with a memorable
shot that the audience will probably
remember [5]. This can be seen in trailers
such as Star Trek into Darkness and Iron
Man 3.
• Inter titles are often used in trailers to help
get the story across such as in the 28 Days
Later trailer [6]
[5] Star Trek last shot
[6] 28 Days Later intertitle

5. How is sound used?
• Dialogue is often used in trailers to establish a relationship between the
characters and the audience so they become interested in seeing the film.
• Dialogue is often done through the use of 'L cuts' where the dialogue audio
continues to play whereas the visuals are different. This is often done to
help explain what is going on through the film without giving too much
away. This can be seen in trailers such as Star Wars Episode II.
• Voiceovers are often used to set the feeling of the film and I summarise
what is going on to the viewer so they know enough to decide if they'd like
to see it but not too much that the story line is ruined. Voiceovers are used
in trailers like Star Trek into Darkness.
• Sound effects are often used to help the audience get the feel of what the
film will be like. For instance, 28 Days Later uses emergency services sirens
and zombie sound effects because it’s a horror film and these help give the
film of the zombie horror genre

6. How much is narrative is used?
• Enough narrative is explained in the trailer so they
know what genre the film is, what themes it will
incorporate and what you expect to see from it but
not in too much detail, otherwise the storyline will
be ruined so people won't want to see it.
• e.g. The 28 Days Later trailer lets the audience know
that there is a zombie infection outbreak and some
people survive but, it doesn't say what they will do to
continue surviving etc..

7. How does it act as an advert?
• Trailers work at lot like adverts as they get the
film title known, lists positives of the film (e.g.
Famous actors in it/big action scenes etc. like
the Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Trailer) and it also says when it's out. So it does
hold many features, the same as an
advertisement for any other product

8. What I've learned from this research
• I now know the structure and pace for film
trailers, how much narrative I should be looking
at using when I come to making my trailer and
also, how much and what type of sound I should
be using
• Overall, this has been a successful piece of
research as I have learned many important
lessons to do with the creation of a movie trailer

9. Trailers used for this research Task
• Trance- http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3196102169/
• City of God-
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2529034521/
• Man of Steel- http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2458822425/
• Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZQqGs6PwMA
• Star Trek into Darkness-
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3004278553/
• Iron Man 3 - http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1265935385/
• 28 Days Later -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eunaclr-WgU