2. When seeing any film trailer the company who has produced the film will be featured. In
most cases within the trailer the production company will have its theatrical intro
featured. However in some cases the logo is shown within the trailer credits. If the trailer
has a specific appearance in terms of colour, the theatrical intro is commonly coloured
to look like the rest of the trailer. For example Lionsgate has its standard colour intro
which is changed to a red colour when used within horror films fitting in with the genre of
the trailer therefore meeting the codes and conventions of a Horror trailer. Also the
production company intro or logo is good way for the audience to signify whether it is a
high budget Hollywood production or a smaller more independent company. Also
featuring production companies within the trailers may attract an audience, for example
if it is made by Warner Brothers, people who have seen films produced by Warner
Brothers such as Harry Potter which was a very successful film might attract the attention
of the audience.
Standard Lionsgate Intro
Lionsgate Horror Intro
3. When seeing any trailer the trailer itself will always put emphasis on actors which
feature with in the film. This in itself is one of the key ways of trying to produce an
audience to watch the film. It is commonly done within a trailer to have on screen text
of the actor then follow up by showing a clip of them. As well as just having there
name, it is even better to see whether they have won awards for example in the
Lincoln trailer when we see the on screen text for Daniel Day Lewis, it sais Academy
Award Winning above his name which is an indication to the audience that a film
featuring him will possibly make them want to watch it more due to the fact they have
put emphasis on the fact he is a Academy Award Winner. Apart from including Actor
recognition it is common to feature the Director as well. This again is a good way of
attracting an audience. For example if the trailer features the Directors name, this will
attract those who like the Directors work. It may also feature “From the Director of”
and list a film which the Director has previously done.
4. One other convention which has only recently been featured within film trailers is
social media links. In film trailers today, it is common to see parts within the trailer
which relate to social media, for example at the end of a trailer it is common to see a
# with a saying next to it or even the title of the film which is a way of getting those on
twitter to find out information via the social media website. Also as well as featuring a
twitter hashtag they may also include a Facebook address which is another way of
gaining an audience through the largely populated social media website. The
advantage of including a Facebook link and a Twitter hashtag is the amount of
people who go on these websites, It also can broaden he age range of the
audience due to the range of ages who use Facebook & Twitter.
From Homefront
trailer (2013)
Homefront
Facebook page
5. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) place a certificate on all
films within the UK . This provides a guideline for the target audience
age. Film certification is very important because it can give indications
of what the film might feature due to its certification. If a film is given a
certificate of a U, this means universal which means people watching
the trailer will know that there isn’t anything bad in the film therefore all
ages can watch the film, where as a film which is given a certificate of
an 18 will make the viewer think there is going to be parts in the film
which will feature typical 18 classified codes for example heavy
violence, blood and gore etc.
6. The pacing of a film trailer will depend on the genre of the film. Commonly in
most trailers the pace will vary, however there is slight differences depending on
the genre. My groups trailer will be an action crime thriller. Upon deciding the
genre I was able to look into existing films of this genre and look at there trailers.
The common pacing of this hybrid genre is that the pace of the trailer would start
of slow with tension building music. Towards the middle of the trailer the pacing
increased and led to more of the action pact scenes involving fight scenes and
chases etc. In some trailers the ending would finish of slow and in a sense led the
audience on a cliff hanger, where as in others the ending would be a mixture of
pace varying from slow paced clips and then cutting to fast pace clips. From
looking into existing trailers which are classed as the same genres as ours this is a
good piece of research which we will look at again when editing our trailer
Drive (2011)
A clip from the
beginning
A clip from the
middle
A clip towards the
end
7. Commonly a film trailer is made before the film is even finished. A
film will tend to have more than one trailer and can include a
teaser trailer. There is always a full trailer for the film which lasts no
average between 1:30-2:30 minutes. It is important when
constructing the trailer to try and include as many shots as possible
and varying the location.
