2. Film Trailers
What are film trailers?
Trailers are an important part of a film’s marketing campaign. They are a main advert for a film as it shows the most
important/exciting parts of the film. Trailers inform potential audiences about a film with the purpose of
encouraging people to go and see the film when it comes out at the cinema. Trailers and film posters are designed
to complement each other.
Why are they made?
There are several elements to a marketing campaign for a film, from the trailer itself to posters in the street or on
public transport, to online and viral marketing. The marketing campaign is designed to raise audience awareness
and interest in a film in advance of, and during, its cinema release. Trailers give an insight into what is going to
happen in the film and what it is about, they also help audiences understand the genre of a film.
Who are they for?
Trailers are generally aimed at the same audience as the films they publicise. Different types of people like different
sorts of films and whilst everyone is an individual, there are certain features that will have a wide appeal to specific
groups of people.
How do they work?
As well as using genre to gain peoples interest, marketing campaigns also show how the film is different to others in
the same genre: USP (Unique Selling Point) of the film. For example:
•The innovative use of special effects
•An unusual mix of genres
•A popular star
Where do we see them?
We see them advertised in the cinema, on the television, on social networking/film sites and on DVD’s.
When are they released?
The timing of a trailer campaign is important: it must be shown far enough in advance to generate excitement about
the film’s release, but not so early that people forget about the film before it even comes out.

3. “We no longer simply consume marketing
campaigns; we’ve become active participants in
them, as can be seen in the recent trend in
transmedia storytelling. Today, the movie
released in cinemas is just one part of a wider
narrative jigsaw that stretches beyond the
confines of the theatre and across other forms
of media.”

4. Battleship is a 2012 American science fiction naval war film based on the children's game.
The film was directed by Peter Berg and released by Universal Pictures. The film stars
some big names such as Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna. On its opening weekend, it earned
$58 million.
Why was the Battleship campaign so successful?

5. There was a huge poster
campaign to advertise the
film, these were released up until
the theatrical release. The
majority have the headline ‘the
battle for earth starts at sea’.
They all have a very similar
layout and style creating
continuity between the products.
A lot of the posters had an image
of the featuring actors/actresses
in order to utilize star persona
and use the stars to sell the film
as they will appeal to difference
audience segments.

7. The trailers were designed to catch the potential
audiences attention whilst linking them to the films genre.
Different version trailers were released revealing plot
points of the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDMXkPfxjOc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbx9dxcLsiQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7N-33PbR-g&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLHLpxnsbuY&feature=relmfu

8. http://www.battleshipmovie.com/#
The movie has it’s own website that has live twitter feeds, games and links to the
trailer. As soon as you open the website the trailer plays automatically so you are
forced to watch it. There is a link to YouTube on the website which encourages you
to search Battleships. There is also a Facebook game which appeal to a lot of people
with Facebook being massive social networking site that the majority of people are
on.

9. Conclusion
All the film posters have similar stylistic factors, they all have the same font, text
and background but each have a different image on them. The majority of the
images are of the actors in the film such as Liam Neeson and Rihanna, who
target different segments of the potential audience. The style of the posters (the
images, background and colours) portray the genre of the film which is sci-fi and
action, there are images off weapons and spaceships which strongly represent
the genre.
The trailers show the audience what to expect from the film releasing parts of
the story in each one in an aim to make people come and watch the film.
Advertising the film on social networking sites reaches a wide audience and lets
the public become involved in the film through interactive games.