2. WHAT IS A TRAILER?
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for
a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema.
The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been
shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did
not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theatre after
the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now
shown before the film
3. Movie trailers have now become popular on DVDs and
Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet and mobile devices.
Of some ten billion videos watched online annually, film
trailers rank third, after news and user-created video.
4. Up until the late 1950s, trailers were mostly created by the
National Screen Service in the USA and consisted of various key
scenes from the film being advertised, often augmented with
large, descriptive text describing the story.
5. The 1922 film Nosferatu is an example how trailer were made in this
time. The trailer is fairly basic in that it uses the key scenes from the film
and the sound is music which is used to create emotions for the audience
such as tension and fear. This contrasts to modern trailers that have lots
of dialogue. It also suggests audiences at the time were dependent on the
visual look of a trailer, this is largely due to technology of the time where
there was nothing to create dialogue thus creating silent film. Trailers in
this time were for the exclusive few and where only shown at cinema
screenings highlighting the film industry had a small demographic at this
time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-DrKgjit4I
6. During the 1960s the concept of a trailer had changed to a similar
style to its modern counterpart. techniques such Textless, montage
trailers and quick-editing became very popular. These earlier trailers
were much shorter and often consisted of little more than title cards
and stock footage.
7. The 1960 film Psycho indicates these characteristics as there are range
of scenes and only the title card. Sound has radically changed, this is the
period where the trend of a male narrators voice became the norm and
dialogue from the film was being used more often. In this time audiences
of films were rising as more cinemas opened and drive through cinemas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz719b9QUqY
8. In the 70s the National Screen Service’s lost its control of making
trailers and Studios and individuals became responsible for making and
distributing their own trailers. This was a time when TV advertising
began to have a larger role in the style of trailers, therefore trailers would
have to constantly evolve in synch with television advertising in order to
keep up.
9. The 70s was a time when a narrator developing the
narrative was in the increase, however some films such as
Piranha indicate that the use of dialogue and fast paced shots
was beginning to become the norm, Similarly in this time the
narrator would repeat the title of a film multiple times. Often
actors with the staring role would also each get their own
intertitle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoCKGvVlNYM
10. The 80’s was a period where the film industry was rapidly
increasing and so was the use of trailers. The invention of the VHS
allowed upcoming film trailers to be put before a film starts, forcing
audiences to watch it. Similarly this was a time when more people had
disposable incomes and access films.
11. This was the peak of when trailers had narrators forming the
narrative. In the 1984 trailer for The Terminator there is a voice of a
narrator both at the beginning and at the end. The trailer roughly has
the look and feel of a modern trailer for example the fast paced
,action pact camera shots and finally the use of dialogue from the film
that forms the narrative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHz95RYUbik
12. This decade is where trailers rapidly increased. In this time trailers
became the norm due to the internet and video sharing websites such as
YouTube where it can be watched for free.
Trailers are now a part of mainstream society, viewed by millions of
people. Trailer are still shown on traditional devices such as TVs and
Cinema screens but now also on convergent devices such as Smartphones
and tablets.
In the early noughties DVDs were in demand and this is where people
would also watch trailer, now due to digital technology film brought as a
digital copy from ITunes and Flixsters UV. Trailers also now have a
synergy with posters and websites to create a brand for a film.
13. After 2000 film trailers evolved due to the rapid increase in
demographics being a able to afford to watch films. Trailers are
now made for specific demographics and use sound and the
visual appearance to encourage audiences to watch films.
