2. what is a film trailer?
A trailer, is probably one of the most widely used methods
of promoting and marketing a film. It gives the audience a
good perspective over what to expect if they were to watch
the film in full. A film trailer’s purpose is to make the
audience want to watch the film and pay money to go and
watch it in the cinema, or buy it on DVD when it is
available. The conventions of the film trailer will change
depending on the genre so that it appeals to a specific
group of people. For example, an action trailer will have
very fast pace music and the shots will be cut very
suddenly in order to build tension. The trailer itself will
usually contain footage that is the most exciting and the
most likely to gain the audience’s attention.
3. when are they shown?
Trailers can be shown in lots of different ways and at lots of different times. All
of this depends on the popularity of the film based on how it is marketed, the
genre of the film and if it is a prequel, sequel or part of a trilogy etc.
Some different ways of showing trailers include:
- Before a movie of the same or of a similar genre. For example, Man of Steel
could be shown before The Avengers because they are both action movies.
- On a DVD before the main title screen. For example, the trailer for The
Avengers may have been shown on the DVD for Iron Man, because the two
films are linked based on their genre and the characters in the films.
- On the TV in the adverts of a programme. These trailers are usually targeting
a very specific audience. For example, an advert for a horror film will be
advertised late at night in the ad break for a CSI show.
- Recently, there has been an introduction of playing trailers on billboards rather
than simply displaying a poster, so that it grabs your attention when you are
walking past in order to get you to stop and watch.
4. conventions of trailers
The music in film trailers always sets the mood of the film so that the audience
knows what type of film it is going to be. This is important in order for the audience
to get a good feel for what they are about to watch and to know whether or not they
will want to watch the entire film.
All of the shot types and editing techniques are used to match the style of the trailer
and to set the pace and the scene for the rest of the trailer. This is most used in
genre’s such as action and horror because they are usually the most fast paced
trailers.
Dialogue is important in order to get a feel for the characters and to know whether
or not you are going to be able to relate to the characters. This is usually very
important to the audience so that they can totally immerse themselves in what they
are watching.
Adding text in-between shots can add to the suspense and tension which is a very
common and well used feature in trailers.
The trailer is usually set in the same chronological order to the film.
6. action - mission impossible : Ghost
protocol
The trailer for new most recent Mission Impossible movie was very
much anticipated due to the high success of all of the previous Mission
Impossible movies. This particular film being the last of them all,
meant that there was a lot of pressure on the producers and everyone
involved, meaning everything had to be perfect, including the way that
the trailer was planned out in order to appeal to the large fan base.
The trailer itself has a lot of fast paced scenes due to the genre of the
film being action. Without this type of fast paced cutting and editing,
there wouldn’t be an interesting enough plot to keep the audience
entertained. The use of all of the jump cuts between the shots
matches the speed of the movie and therefore gives the audience a
good idea of what to expect when they watch the entire film.
The music in this trailer is also very fast paced to match the shots
along with the typical ‘Mission Impossible’ music that you expect to
hear whenever you are watching this chain of movies. The suspense
and tension in this music, makes you want to keep watching and
leaves you wanting to know more and more with the simple use of
some fast paced music.
The trailer moves fast enough that we still want to see the entire film,
however, we can still manage to get a good enough idea of what
actually happens in the film which is the general idea that action
trailers tend to follow. This is used to keep the audience on the edge
of their seats and so that they constantly want to know what is going to
happen next.
8. Romantic comedy -
It’s kind of a funny story
It’s kind of a funny storyThe romantic comedy trailers tend to all follow the same type of idea with the
main female and male characters falling in love and then something drastic
happens which tears them apart and then in the end they come back
together and fall in love and live happily every after. This tends to be the
way that most producers and screenwriters go when they are making
romantic comedies because they know that it appeals to a wide female
audience.
This particular trailer, follows this kind of idea, with the two main characters
being two young teenagers in a psychiatric unit. Throughout the trailer, it
gives a little inkling of their growing relationship, however the audience
would be unaware of any changes, because they want you to be left
guessing and wondering what is actually going to happen, hence making
them pay to watch the film.
The shots and editing used in this trailer are all very spaced apart and
simple, in order to keep the mood right for the genre and for the specific
audience they are appealing to. If this type of movie was to use a lot of jump
cuts, then it would not have the desired effect and it may take the focus away
from the actual storyline.
The music used in this trailer, is a lot more slow paced and in keeping with
the overall feeling of the movie. This is important if you are trying to appeal
to a specific group of people as you don’t want to push them away.
The trailer moves at a relatively average pace as it follows a very specific
storyline. If the trailer was to move too fast or too slow then the overall mood
of the film would not be as it should be which would inevitably draw in the
wrong type of target audience.
10. horror -
insidious : Chapter 2
insidious : Chapter 2
Insidious: Chapter 2, has very typical features of a horror film. There
are a lot of shots that are made to make the audience jump and they
work very well in achieving this. The way that this trailer has been
made, is designed to make you want to know the storyline of
everything that is going on so that you can try to make sense of the
occurrences. Horror trailers in particular are made to scare you which
means that you should be naturally more inclined to find out more
about what is actually scaring you. This is what most film producers
aim to do when they are making the trailer for a film.
The use of ‘creepy’ music being slowly introduced half way through the
trailer is used to build suspense and tension and to make the jumps
and frightening parts a lot more apparent as the music will get louder
and more prominent when these occur.
Usually the beginning of a horror trailer, seems completely normal and
starts out as a normal storyline, however the further into the trailer you
watch, the more you start to realise that there is a lot more depth to
what you first thought. As the trailer progresses this suspense based
around the scares, is designed to keep you on the edge of your seat
and wanting to watch more and more even though it is likely that what
you know you are about to see is going to scare you. This technique in
film trailers is designed to make you want to see the entire film which is
the basic marketing idea behind trailers.
