Film Trailer Distribution

1. Film Trailer Theory
By Katie Hall

2. Film Marketing
Film making is a very expensive process and
films cost a lot to make. The huge budget of
these films requires them to make a lot of
money at the box office, in order to make back
the money spent on production and pay the
investors. In order to make back this money at
the box office, the film has to have good
marketing to encourage as many people as
possible to go and see the film.

3. The Trailer
The trailer is one of the most important ways of
marketing the film. It is an easy way to show people
what the film is about, and try to get them
interested enough in the film so that they will go
and see it. Using a trailer can convey to the
audience the ambience and excitement of a film in
ways that posters and websites cannot. The moving
images and sound create an atmosphere similar to
that of the film, whilst giving a synopsis of the film
as a whole, but not giving away the whole story so
that people will be interested in what happens next.

4. Target Audience
One of the key aims of the trailer is to give the
audience information about the genre, story line
and star actors. The genre is important as it gives
the audience an indication of what films it may be
similar to, giving the audience an idea of if it is the
type of film that they will enjoy. The audience
decodes the trailer, recognising conventions to
decipher the genre from the images. For example,
my film is horror, and I will let the audience know
this by using conventions such as low key lighting,
shadowy figures and sad music with raising tension
through the duration of the trailer.

5. USP
Whilst the trailer must try and show the audience
the genre in order to attract them to seeing the
film, the trailer must also show how the film is
different from others in the genre, and why it
stands out from the rest. This is known as a unique
selling point (USP). The USP could be anything that
makes the film unique, for example it could have an
unusual hybrid genre, or it could have superior
special effects or a certain star actor/actress. The
USP sets the film apart from it’s rivals and makes
the film more appealing to the audience.

6. Distributing the Trailer
Usually a trailer is produced at the same time that
the film is being edited so that relevant clips can be
chosen and used. This helps to avoid using clips in
the trailer that have been cut from the final edit of
the film. The timing of the trailer release is
important, as it needs to be out in enough time to
generate excitement and popularity, but not so
early that people forget about the film before it
comes out. The short version of the trailer know as
the teaser trailer is normally released first to show
the audience a sneak peek of the film, then the full
cinematic trailer is released closer to the release
date.

7. Global Release
If a film is being distributed to many countries, it
may have a range of different release dates. This
means that different versions of the trailer will
need to be made with country specific
information. The trailer may also have to be over
dubbed with the speech in a different language
if it is being shown in a country which does not
speak English.