2.  An important and crucial part of marketing
Promotes an upcoming release
 Smaller and earlier versions of these are called “teaser trailers” giving less information the audience but
making them aware of the production
 They usually promote big budget films
 Several versions of trailers can be created to create a bigger “buzz” ( for example the dark knight
trailers with alternative endings)
 Trailers have key parts of the film that are not always placed in the sequence they appear in or are
included at all
The title and release date of the promoted film are usually shown at the very end of the trailer, to leave
a lasting impression – making the film name memorable
Names of actors/stars of the film are one of the first aspects to appear in a trailer, immediately
capturing the attention of fans of the featured actors
 Intended to be a “sneak peak”, an exclusive introduction to audiences of a high-publicity film.

3. History of trailers
• Originally they were given the name of “trailers” as they trailed after a film had finished. This
proved ineffective as audiences would leave the cinema straight after their film had ended
and didn’t pay attention to the advertisements. Instead they were moved, still like today’s
trailers, to play before the feature film started.
• A documentary entitled “Coming Attractions” states that the first film trailer was made in
1912, an Edison Serial called “ What happened to Mary?” After each episode or
instalment, a black board would appear stating that “The next incident in the series of ‘What
Happened to Mary’ will be shown a week from now.” – the first trailer worked wonders on
audiences.
• 1950’s– Included the whole plot, lengthy, flashed sentences like “terrifying! Close your eyes!
Never before seen!”
• 1960’s - Still featured the use of bold words/phrases. Created a buzz from famous actor’s
names. Often showed ending of movie and most of plot.
• 1970’s– revealed less of plot but still included key spoiler scenes. Still quite lengthy.
• 1980’s – More attention to dramatic editing, little info about plot, no spoilers, started using
tag lines to make the films more memorable.
• 1990 to current day – Modern trailers are high in special effects, relying heavily on music
(mostly up-to-date and current to generate more interest), sharper editing with more
adventurous camera angles and zooming.

4. An Influential Trailer Producer
• Andrew J Kuehn
• Revolutionised the American film trailer in the
early 1960’s. He created a new format for the
slow-paced and edited trailers of that time. He
used this new technique (using stark, high-
contrast photography, fast-paced editing and a
provocative narration) to produce film trailers
after he started his own independent company
“Kaleidoscope Films” in 1968.
• Big Blockbuster film producers began to depend
on Kaleidoscope films to produce the best-
quality film trailers that cinema-goers would
pay attention to.
• "A trailer has but one goal: to draw audiences
out of their houses and into a theatre. To do
that you have to set up a sense of urgency. In
the process of arriving at that forced pace, we
advanced the style of editing. We really pushed
the envelope in terms of what audiences would
accept.”- Kuehn