Research on film trailers and their genres

1. Logos
It is typical, at the beginning on a trailer, for a logo to be shown – including the
production and distribution companies that have worked on the project. This can
effect the viewers immediate judgment on the trailer as they may have previous
opinions of these companies which could be either negative or positive. The showing
of the logo at the beginning also prepares the audience with the type and possible
genre of film with some companies being associated with certain genres (for example
a DreamWorks logo shows a large budget and suggests the film to be family friendly,
as that is a reputation of there's.

2. Title
This is a vita part of the trailer and is often shown at the end to ensure it is last
noticeable and memorable element of the short clip so the audience can research into
the film. The colours, background and font of this piece is usually a vital clue to the
genre of the film with horror using fragmented text with black and white colours
unlike comedy films which usually have a less serious font to expose the humor.
Yellow colours are friendly and
3D element of text highlights
its humour.
Black and red colours to
illuminate dark atmosphere
and simple sinister font to
suggest horror genre.

3. BBCF Certificate
All films include this important information in the trailer so as to guide the
audience into their decision to see it – possibly in the cinema. It informs
those of a younger age that some films may be off limits while other are
more suited to their age. It also addresses what other content may be
included in the film, for example if the film is rate as a 15 the audience can
expect some violence or sexual content which may be more understandable
during the viewing of the trailer.

4. Social Media
This is a relatively new addition to come trailers, particularly for more independent
films that are shown on YouTube as it is easier and more efficient for the audience to
consume the trailer in one tab of a browser and open up a link shown in the trailer
which allows immediate audience involvement in the film and it’s promotional
strategies.
Links are added to propt the
viewer to look at the sites

5. Character Introductions
Often associated with romantic and comedy films, character introductions help the
audience establish how successful the film ma be and how much faith the producers and
companies have in it as hey have bee able to cast these actors.
Avid fans of the actors my watch the film purely for their inclusion which is also a benefit
for the film. Usually only Hollywood films can afford them so they need fan bases like
these to add success to the film.

6. Music and Voice Overs
Diegetic and non-diegetic sound in trailers are vital to it’s success. Soundtracks used
can make or break them which highlights its importance. They can pace the films and
encourage certain lengths of shots with cuts in time to the music. Scores to actual
films are often commissioned by the production companies to specific artists which
can be used in trailers – for example the classic Jurassic Park theme is iconic and is
memorable, hence why the similar – but new score – was included in the Jurassic
World trailer.
Voice overs can be a real assets to trailers with them being able to guide the audience
through the plot a well as characters in the film. In a trailers case a voice over can
either be a separate voice recorded and overlaid in post production or a piece of
dialect taken from a scene in the film.

7. Name Captions
This is is a popular trend, especially for big block buster films that can namedrop big
directors like Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. This can effect an audiences view of
the whole film and attract a specific group that may in following directors work. The
name captions help the viewers prejudge the atmosphere and genre of the film and if
it is something they may like to watch.
Sometimes makers of trailers trick the audience by increased the text size of the
famous names however add, in much smaller print ‘endorsed by or which causes more
people to watch the film, allowing it to gain profit, while being mislead into the real
input of the film. It is a clever way to attract an audience without including big
Hollywood starts in the actual film.

8. Time Length
The traditional length of a full length trailer for a film is between 1.30-2 mins. Teaser
trailers are much shorter and are often released to raised hype – sometimes in years
advance from the films release. These trailers are much shorter, near 20 seconds.

9. Release Date
The release date is almost always shown on full length trailers to give the audience
awareness of when the films will be made available to them and encouraging them to
see it which will makes money for he film. With trailers that are released before a the
films release a few months in advance they often include the month, sometimes the
season if it’s even more in advance.
Conventionally the release date is usually shown at the end of trailer so it is
memorable to the audience and attracts their attention. If it is at the end it often
follows the films title, these two elements are the two pieces of information that are
vital to selling the film.

10. The genres along with
elements:
• Music (diegetic some lyrics some not, non
voice over(drama
• Camera shots
• Colours used
• Editing – cuts and fad eto black transitions
• Frequency of shots

11. Action
Conventions:
- Sound: Dramatic music, drums, non diegetic music is staccato to illuminate the chase
and adrenaline. Sometimes big dramatic singe beats, like a beating heart, showing
isolation and often accompanied with a slow motion shot.
- Editing: fits with music, bass and drum sections. Fade to black fits the theme of black
colours.
- Camera Shots: Short shots, in fight sequences to show pace – often included in
trailer to build suspense and anticipation
- Colours, MES: Dark and mysterious colours.

12. Conventions:
- Sound: Lagarto non diegetic music with instrumental that becomes lyrics half way
through the song. Often a known song which the audience can relate to – engaging
with a wider audience. Also common to have non diegetic voice overs from a min
character to expose plot of narrative.
- Editing: Cross dissolves are common to show time passing or relation with other
scenes. They are also a soft transition, opposite of action.
- Camera Shots: Two shots to show relationship and magnatism of it.
- Colours, MES: Saturated colours to expose love and hope, reflecting the weather as
perfect.
Romance

13. Comedy
Conventions:
- Sound: Humorous music, well known song, lyrics, or non diegetic joke voice over.
- Camera Shots: Some classic shots that are purposely put in for humor, to poke fun at
them eg. A Hitchcock Dolly Zoom for isolation in a humorous way.
- Colours, MES: Props that writers have included to make the audience laugh eg. In this
poster the sunglasses on the baby. Colours are usually vibrant in most scene to
elaborate joy and humor – not too serious.
- Editing: A mixture of short and long cuts, whatever the editor believes brings the
most humor and taste of the film out to the audience.

14. Horror
Conventions:
- Sound: Tense staccato music, scary, strings, high pitch or deep tones, increasing pace
to add tension and suspense to the film trailer.
- Camera Shots: Dolly Zooms, and quick camera movements are common in
expressing the chase in the scene.
- Colours, MES: Dark disturbing costumes and lots of blood (depending on the
narrative). The colours are often very very desaturated, sometimes completely black
and white and the lighting is carefully positioned to get the most suspension from
the shots.
- Editing: Similar to action, quick pace cuts to expose adrenaline and rush.

15. Documentary
Conventions:
- Sound: This case promoting material from the artist the film is about, if that is a
music artist. It creates audience attraction and instant recognition and fits the theme
well.
- Camera Shots: Often lower angles to give the subject authority, depending on the
context and issue addressed in the film and trailer.
- Colours MES: Natural, if not slightly enhanced colours to show authenticity of
subject and their surroundings.
- Editing: Simple, some fade to black for drama, cuts for effect. To illuminate the
normality (more human, not superhuman).

16. Drama
Conventions:
- Sound: Similar to romantic, little more up beat and possibly melancholy music, may
not end happily. Common non diegetic voice over the set scene and narrative in
trailer.
- Camera Shots: A mixture of action and romantic conventions – depending on the
narrative. Often angled shots at different points depending who the character is
meeting and their relation with them, if they have authority or not.
- Colours MES: Colours can change depending on scene, a more larger threshold than
romance in this areas. For example could be very saturated in one scene and in the
next quite dull.
- Editing: Dramatic use of cuts to emphasize drama, often quite but can be steady too.