This slideshow shows film trailer codes and conventions.

1. FILM TRAILER CODES
AND CONVENTIONS
Rebecca Sheeres

2. Although there are many different codes and
conventions of film trailers and all trailers and
different, they all seem to tend to stick to a general set
of rules within trailers. This is because they have been
tried and tested many times and can almost guarantee
a successful trailer if used well and correctly.
Over the years, film trailers seem to have changed and
developed in addition to their audiences and films
themselves evolving as well.

3. Film Title
The film title is shown in every trailer so that you can know the name of the film if you want to
watch it. It is also usually shown at the end of the trailer because then it will be the last thing you
see and will then therefore find it easier to remember the name of the film. The film title can also
give you a good indication as to what genre the film is. For example, horror film title usually have
a black background with a scary-looking font and darker colours, whereas a light hearted movie
would use bright colours for their font and background as well as a more friendly font.

4. Music and Voice over
The music and voice overs in a trailer play a key role in helping to tell the story of the trailer and
can make or break the film trailers. They can show the pace of film, genre and sometimes even the
budget. An example of this is that a film may sometimes ask an artist to create a soundtrack
specially for their film, and the bigger the film budget, the bigger the artists on the soundtrack e.g
Ed Sheeran made the song I See Fire for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug. People usually
associate a bigger budget with a better film. Voice overs are important to explain to the audience
the film plot and what the characters are like. A voice over can either be an external voice which is
added on top of the footage, or the voice over can be sections of dialogue from the actual film.

5. Film production logos
The film production logo is usually seen at the very beginning of the trailer, and if it is a well
known and admired company it can be used to immediately establish to the audience a sense of
reputation. This can benefit the trailer and work to the trailers advantage because if somebody
has previously seen a film made by the production company that they enjoyed, they might be
interested in watching another film made by that same company.
In addition to this, the film production also gives a feel of
the kind of film the trailer will be trying to sell. An
example of this is that films made by the film production
company DreamWorks tend to be high production films
and have a reputation of making films suitable for
families.

6. BBFC Age Certification
Every film that has been released in the UK has been awarded with an age certification by the
British Board of Film Classification, and the age is shown towards the end of a film trailer. This
provides a guideline for the age of the target audience. E.g if the film is awarded with an age 18
certificate, it will attract adults only. It also means that people younger than the age certificate
won't be lead or misguided into thinking that they can watch the film in the cinema. Film
certification is also very important because it can hint at the content of the film. If a film has a 15
certificate, the audience can guess that there may be moderate to higher levels of violence, sexual
scenes and bad language, so if the audience member doesn't enjoy that type of film, they won't
go to watch it, and vice versa they might enjoy that type of film.

7. Social Media
A convention that is relatively new to film trailers is adding website URLs, twitter
hashtags/accounts, or Facebook pages. This convention allows and encourages the audience to
find out more about the film by following and accessing the films social media sites. Adding
social media options in the film trailer also allows the audience to be able to talk about the film on
social media if they choose to, meaning that they are advertising through word of mouth and can
be very effective, especially for example if a hashtag trends on twitter because so many people are
talking about it.

8. Characters
Characters in the film trailers need to be introduced so that the audience can begin to understand
what the plot is about and so that they can connect to the characters in the film. The characters
might also be played by a well-known and respected actor/actress and could therefore attract
their fans to then go on to watch the film if they see that they are in the trailer. The famous actors
and actresses also benefit the film because usually when thy appear on the screen, their name
accompanies them.

9. Captions of Names
There are captions in every trailer, and these can be actor's names, director's names or producer's
names. This is an important part of the trailer because it allows an audience to be able to see a
director or producers name which they are either fans of, or weren't. Some directors have
particular filming styles (i.e Tim Burton), and their name can allow the audience to decide if they
think they will like the style of the new film, and whether they will are going to watch it as a result
of this.

10. Time Length
The time length of a trailer can differ due to films usually having more
than one trailer made – there is always an official full trailer ranging from
a time length between 1.30-3 minutes, but often in some films they have
teaser trailer which last a very short amount of time to help build a hype
and excitement around a film.

11. The Release Date
The release date is essential for attracting a large audience to the opening night of a film release.
The release date is often shown on trailers a couple of weeks before the film is released, which
allows time for a wide audience to be able to see it and can plan to see it soon because it shows
the release date as soon, rather than accidentally forgetting about it the film by the time the
release date comes around. The release date tends to be shown at the end of the trailer, similarly
to the film title, so that the trailer grabs the audience's attention then gives them the information
they need to go see it.