2. DEFINITIONS
Trailer
A trailer shows the ‘best bits’ of an upcoming film
to create hype and exciting for its target audience
before it is released. They are shown often before
a similar genre film is shown in a cinema allowing
them to directly target the genre specific
audience. Trailers are usually around 2:30 to 3
minutes long including the film title, credits and
idents within this time. A trailer is made to show
the storyline or idea of an upcoming film and
show its genre and its USP. These are important
to include in a trailer to show the audience what
the film will be like and how good it will be, often
in more high budget films well known actors are
shown in the film trailer to attract the audience as
they know the actors playing in the film which
appeals to them.
3. SHORT FILM
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered
a feature film and is an original motion picture that has a
running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits.
Shorts can be either amateur or professional productions
however most commonly short films are made by low
budget producers are for this reason are distributed to
local or niche audiences.
4. CODES AND CONVENTIONS
As I have already stated the timings for a trailer are
around 3 minutes and a short film is no longer than 40
minutes long.
Both include;
Credits/title
Sound/sound effects
Narrative
Character introduction
5. GENRE
Ideas for genres:
Horror
Thriller
Drama
Romance
Romantic comedy
Comedy
Action
Sci-fi
Adventure
Animation
Documentary
Western
Genre dependant each trailer
shows different codes and
conventions to emphasise the
genre to the audience to
attract them. Different sound
effects, film edits, shot and
character types are used
depending on which genre is
chosen. Without the correct
codes and conventions the
genre is not obvious to the
viewer and therefore can not
target a specific audience type.
This is why codes and
conventions within a short film
