Trailers

Here are some short Q+As about Trailers!

What Are Film Trailers?
Film trailers are sections of a film put together into a sequence to convince people to go see the film in the cinema.

Why are they made?
They are made so their target audience will go pay to watch the film. It is a form of advertisement (instead of posters, magazine articles etc.)

Who are they for?
They are for anybody, often shown on TV and are shown at a certain time on certain channels, in order to appeal to their target audience, e.g. Horror, Late Night on E4- aimed at teenagers who like horror films- pretty convential (hollywood)

How do they work?
They show the best parts of the film to hook people in, e.g. Comedy films- show the bits that are funniest in the film.

Where do we see them?
Cinema, TV, feature websites, advertisements on internet. Can be seen repeatably on Youtube.

When are they released?
Depending on the type of film and budget, if it's a sequel, big production such as Batman, the release of the trailer tends to be a year before the film is actually out. A smaller production that has trailer advertisement, tends to be around 3 months before the film is out.

Trailers are multimodal texts- They make meaning through a powerful combination of different modes of communcation:
*Music
*Sound Effects
*Spoken Language
*Written Text on Screen
*Moving Images


What 'ingredients' make an effective trailer?
*Title Screen
*Got to apply to the genre
*Not to show everything (reveal main plot twist)
*Music Match
*Editing
*Star Factor
*Director
*Enigma Codes
*Mise-en-scene
*Icongraphy
*Narration/Voice Over
*USP

An awareness of who the target audience is and use; sound, language, recurring images, themes and symbols which are appropriate to that particular audience.

Soundtrack- Adds to and supports the narrative, also is often in sync with the fast paced editing.

What is the difference between a teaser trailer and a trailer?
A teaser trailer tends to be released ealier than a full length trailer, usually due to the fact that the film needs to be edited still, but it is often after the majority of filming is done. A teaser trailer allows the audience to want more, and will anticipate the film more, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered!!