Research
History of trailers:
Different type of trailers:
Purposes of trailers
Key codes and conventions
Trailer Analysis
http://timeglider.com/t/b8cae16a905d0a011956?min_zoom=1&max_zoom=100
​The first movie theaters in the 1910s had only one screen and movie trailers only started appearing in 1913.
It’s hard to believe compared to nowadays, when movie trailers even have their own awards ceremony (The Golden Trailer Awards) and a lot of sites who compile and/or criticise these marketing-campaign pillars.
Trailer Background Research
​A trailer is actually just a short video used to promote a film or a long video. It could be a TV advert used to promote a TV show, a film used to promote a video game or a TV commercial used to promote a film.
Trailers can be under various forms:
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Standard Trailer (:90 – 2:30 in length)
This is a short film promoting a feature, combining story details, scenes from the feature, cast run, titles and release information. Typically exhibited theatrically 2-3 months before the film’s release.
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Featurettes:
Behind-the-scenes, “making-of” footage edited into a film about a film, or a TV show about a TV show. They used to be made to fill out the time slot; now they are routinely included on the DVD and at the film or TV show’s website.
Trailers are often the first chance to advertise a movie to its target audience. Starting up to a year before the release of a major studio movie, distributors run movie trailers that are precisely edited and audience-tested. The idea is to give moviegoers a taste of the laughs, special effects and plot twists of the studio’s upcoming releases, while leaving them wanting more. They are designed to draw people in and market the film. It’s an art form that’s usually handled by special trailer production houses. The teasers and trailers all come out at different times, depending on how big the film is etc. For example, the teaser for Monster inc 2 came out before they even started filming the film.
Every trailer has a variety of titles, one of them being a disclaimer, which displays which audience the film is suitable for. Another set of titles that are included are the producers and distributors of the film. These need to be included so that the studio gets some credit and it can help convince the audience so see the film if the producer or director is well known.
The main actors’ names will also come up accompanied obviously by the title of the film. Another important part of a trailer is the date the film will be out in cinemas, which is the main reason for a trailer. The order of appearance of these titles, differ with each trailer, but most of the time the disclaimer and the production titles come at the beginning, probably to make sure that no one who is unsuitable will watch it. The actors’ names usually come in the second half of the trailer and it ends with the date of exhibition, creating a cliff-hanger as the audience has to wait until then to know what happens, but also because it’s the main information, so to make sure that people remember it. However, some exceptions such as “Iron man 3” or “Star Trek into Darkness” use hardly any titles.
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Concerning sound, the most popular choice in trailers is a voiceover. This can come from a character in the film or an extra person, speaking over the top of everything in the trailer. Music is a very powerful tool in trailers; It can be used either for tension such as in the “iron man 3” trailer, or for sadness such as “The notebook” trailer. Music helps guide the narrative seeing as the trailer doesn’t give much of the plot away.
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For the editing, trailers tend to use short clips of different parts of the film to entice the audience. These quick cuts tend to be transitioned with the use of a fade to black which can make the trailer more dramatic or just make the audience want to see more as it keeps cutting away instead of showing them what happens. Another popular choice of editing is the dissolve, mixing all the clips together, once again so that we don’t understand to much of the story.
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But that’s not all, there are more tricks involved to make a great trailer. We have the “turn line” where all the music stops to hear one line of dialogue from one of the actors which can make a hard turn into action or great a very comical effect. This is usually followed by “the rise” which is a big crescendo finale. Throughout most trailers, we can hear recurrent dramatic drum “booms” called “Hits” often at the same time as the use of fades. And finally “The button” which is either the scare or the joke, leaving us one last impression on the film, ending the trailer with a scary shot or a laugh.
Titanic: drama, romance
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Me before you: drama, romance
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Grace is gone: drama
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Gone girl: Thriller
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The promise: Adventure; Realistic Fiction
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http://filmmakeriq.com/2014/03/the-history-of-the-movie-trailer/
https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/241-becoming-attractions-a-brief-history-of-film-trail/
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-marketing2.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/Nakora/a2-media-studies-evaluation-the-theory-of-trailers-narrative
A few good trailers from different genres
Trailer Research:
The jazz singer:
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Genre: drama, music, romance
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At the very first Academy Awards, in 1929, The Jazz Singer earned a special citation as “the pioneer outstanding talking picture which has revolutionized the industry.”
The trailer is 7 min long and it was the first recorded sound announcement ever made. A man talked for 1:45 minutes, saying what the film was about, who made it, and the main actors. This was followed by a few shots of different people in a crowd, whilst the voiceover of the first man introduced them to us. And then finally, this man announced that we were going to see a few extract form the film.
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Release dates: 6 october 1927 in the USA, 1928 for argentina and the UK and 1929 for other countries.
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The trailer was distributed just after the film’s premiere and there is only one version of it.
Box office: Budget: $422,000 (estimated)
Gross: $3,000,000 (USA)
No social media was involved as this film was before the revolutionary era of technology.
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Titanic:
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Genre: drama, romance
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The official trailer in 1997 was 4 minutes long and the official shorter trailer in 2014 was 1:57. They also made a 3D official trailer, a throwback trailer which was 4:18 min long and two short teaser trailers (1:38 and 2:29).
As well as that, lots of videos were posted on youtube, from “titanic sinks in real time 2:41:19” to a “titanic tribute” that lasts 5 minutes. And obviously lots of videos of the final scene music “my heart will go on”.
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Release dates: The film was first viewed in Japan at the Tokyo International Film festival in 1997. It then did its premiere in the UK and was distributed in 15 different countries in the next 2 months. The time gap between the exhibitions in each country is very small. 14 years later it was redistributed in 3D version this time, in most countries.
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The movie cost $200 million
Box Office: Budget: $200,000,000
Gross: $658,672,302 (USA)
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/trivia
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Unbreakable:
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Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
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2 different trailers were made. The original one, published in 2009, revels nearly nothing at all a part from a lot of mystery. The second one, published a few years later, is much more explicit and we understand the narrative. It is also 1 minute longer.
The film was released in 2000 in the USA and was exhibited in other countries very quickly.
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Box office: Budget: $75,000,000
Gross: $94,999,143 (USA)
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The king’s speech:
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2 trailers were made and the film was released in 2010.
There were posters, online adverts, trailers on Youtube, and things online like recommendations and blogs about the film to make it publicized. The word was spread by word of mouth, for example people telling friends about the film and when it is going to release and the adverts on TV, online adverts and posters also speeded word about the film.
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Box Office: Budget: $15,000,000
Gross: $138,795,342 (USA)
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The jazz singer
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Director: Richard Fleischer
Warner brother
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What are the key selling points in this trailer?
The modernity, seeing as it is filmed with sound. The famous actors Al Jolson and May McAvoy. And also the fact that they showed extracts of the film’s premiere, showing the big success it had and encouraging the audience to go and see it too.
How does it establish the mood?
The trailer starts with a single man up on stage, talking straight at the camera. This gives the impression of us nearly having a conversation with him, as he uses some rhetorical questions to involve the audience. We then are more likely to listen and trust what he’s saying.
How does it use generic codes?
The music shows straight away that this film will be about romance and music. This trailer is much longer than conventional trailers, as it is 7 minutes long, and is in many ways much different to all other trailers. However, it does show a few clips from the film, not in a chronological way and generates mystery and interest.
What representations are used? How? Why?
The first clip is of a young man being very nice to an older woman (possibly his mum), showing the representation of a kind and caring gentleman. The second clip shows a man putting black makeup on his face, in order to look like a black person. So ethnicity is represented in this trailer and we also see a very elegant woman with a sparkly dress and quite a lot of makeup which must be the girl he has a romance with.
What is the expectation of the film?
We expect to see a man playing jazz and we assume he will get the girl at the end, but that is all that is given away by the trailer.
What ideology does the trailer establish?
It shares the ideology of a very nice man being kind to his mum and kind to women, and a very beautiful woman who we know will end up falling in love with him.
Which elements are particularly successful in the trailer? Why?
The fact that we are told and shown how successful the premiere of the film was. The intriguing shot at the end where we see he’s disguising himself as a black person and we want to know why. It’s quite a cliff-hanger.
Which elements are least successful? Why?
First of all, this trailer is too long to capture the audience’s attention. And secondly, it only shows two parts of the film, so we don’t really know much about the narrative.
Does the trailer meet the expectations of the target audience of this film?
Both the trailer and the film have the same target audience, which is very broad, as at that time, people didn’t have that many films to choose from.
How is the audience explicitly targeted in the trailer?
They used the fact it was a warner bros movie, said all the different famous actors and the director, trying to show us that if we like them, then we’ll love this film.
Titanic
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What is the institution for the trailer and the institutional codes employed by the institution?
Paramount movies created the film and put their logo at the very start, showing this film is American but also showing that it obviously is a very good film.
What are the key selling points in the trailer? Give examples
Quite a few things are key selling points in this trailer, we have the very famous director James Cameron, the world famous Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and the very powerful Celine Dion’s song.
How does it establish the mood?
The trailer starts with quite calm and mysterious music, accompanied by shots under water, relatively short and with a long fade to black between them. We then have a voiceover speaking in a soft voice about the titanic. This then changes to lots of happy shots with some uplifting music, people dancing and laughing.
How does it use generic codes?
The music and shots show that it starts off being a really fun film with romance involved and about half way through the trailer, we see why it’s also a drama and a really sad but beautiful film. The music changes and we hear the beginning of the very famous “my heart will go on” which stops when the water starts coming onto the boat and we only hear the screams of people and the dramatic sound of bells at the same time as each title comes up followed by a very quick crescendo that stops completely when we see the ship sinking for good with all the lights off. We hear a woman say “god all mighty” which is the “turn line” of the trailer. As conventionally, this turn line is followed by “the rise” which is a big crescendo finale. Here, it is expressed by the theme song that comes back on, but this time at the most powerful part of the song whilst the water floods in the boat. It finishes with rose’s really sad line “I will never let go”.
What representations are used? How? Why?
We see the difference between rich and poor, between Irish and Americans, men and women and relationships beyond social classes.
What is the expectation of the film?
For this film, we know that the ship will sink in the end and that most people will die, but for those who haven’t seen the film, we can’t tell if our main characters will die or not.
What ideology does the trailer establish?
It conflicts with the ideology of that period in time, when people from the upper class stayed only with rich people and vice versa with people of the 3rd class.
Which elements are particularly successful in the trailer? Why?
The moment where all the music stops and the screen fades to black just before the really quick crescendo leading to the strongest moment in the song “my heart will go on” is the best part of the trailer in my opinion. The way all the water comes flooding in at the same time as this really emotional song just makes the trailer so sad and moving, it’s really effective. The sounds of bells echoing as each title comes up (near the middle part of the trailer) is also very effective and so is the crescendo as the water is flowing in and the way that it stops as the “like never before” comes up. Finally, rose’s last phrase “I will never let go” at the end is really emotional and has a great impact on the audience.
Which elements are least successful? Why?
Maybe the fact that they are running in smoke smiling, just after we see all the water coming in the boat, which gives the impression that they don’t really care, when actually that’s not what happens in the film.
Does the trailer meet the expectations of the target audience of this film?
Yes, in this trailer we can see that it will be sad at the end, so people who don’t like sad films are well warned.
How is the audience explicitly targeted in the trailer?
They tell the audience that this is the most beloved and acclaimed film, which tells them that obviously they are going to like it too and they also say that it’s from the same director as avatar, linking the audiences from those two films.
Unbreakable:
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What is the institution for the trailer and the institutional codes employed by the institution?
Unbreakable was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and produced by Touchstone pictures.
What are the key selling points in the trailer? Give examples
The main selling point is that the director M. Night Shyamalan is very well known for his film “The sixth sense”, so it makes the audience think that if they liked that film, they will also enjoy this one. The unconventional story line is also a key selling point because even though we don’t really understand what happens to the main character, we can see that it is something quite unusual.
How does it establish the mood?
At the beginning of the trailer, we hear noises before we see anything. The noises are sounds of people talking and other hospital sounds. Lots of fades to black are used which adds to the mystery of this trailer, as the shots keep fading away. There is also a very unpleasant noise like the sounds of train wheels on a track which makes the whole opening of the trailer, uneasy and mysterious.
How does it use generic codes?
This film fits in the categories of a drama, a thriller, a Mystery and a Sci-Fi film. We can tell this by the eerie music, the thrilling plot that we don’t know too much about (thriller and mystery), the fact that this man has survived a train accident when no one else did (sci-fi) and that he is going to find out why that happen and in what way he is special (drama).
What representations are used? How? Why?
A white American man is portrayed. We also see a black person but the trailer does not give us enough information to understand what role he has. He seems to be a very ordinary man, not very attractive, which is probably done to target a wide audience showing that this super power that he has, anyone could have it.
What is the expectation of the film?
Trailers are most of the time criticized for giving away too much of the plot, but in the case of “Unbreakable” the opposite applies as we don’t really understand what happens in the film. But on the positive side, we have no idea how the film is going to end.
What ideology does the trailer establish?
This trailer gives the ideology that people might be more than just ordinary and might have some strange powers.
Which elements are particularly successful in the trailer? Why?
There is a lot of mystery in this trailer, which could count as both good and bad, as it draws the audience in and makes them want to know what happens, but at the same time, it doesn’t give enough information to know what’s going to happen in the film. A passage of the trailer that I find very successful is when we hear the doctor’s voice say “where were the other passengers” and we then have a very quick editing between a few shots in a very small amount of time, in slightly fast-forwards and with no smooth transition in between. The second very good thing about this trailer is the sound of glass when every title appears, accompanied by a piece of glass recovering the words, which adds to the thrill and mystery of the trailer.
Which elements are least successful? Why?
I feel like this trailer doesn’t sell the film well enough, as we don’t know enough of the narrative to decide if it could be a good film or not. Knowing the whole story, I think there are some other things they should have added which could have influenced more people to see the film.
Does the trailer meet the expectations of the target audience of this film?
This trailer does not say what the age limitation for this film is, which is surprising. On the other trailer it says 13+ but I don’t think this first trailer meets the expectations of the target audience, as once again, we don’t know enough about the film and it doesn’t show any of the violence that occurs in the film.
How is the audience explicitly targeted in the trailer?
The audience is explicitly targeting by the writing “from the writer and director of the sixth sense” which shows the audience what kind of genre and style this film is going to be like, and links the audiences of these two films together.
Teasers:
These are typically released 6 months to a year ahead of the film, intended to promote awareness. Often, these short, conceptually ambitious “announcements” lack footage from the film itself, since the film itself hasn’t yet been shot or edited.
TV Spot:
Short trailer designed for TV exhibition immediately before and during the period of the film’s release. 10-60 seconds typically.
Long Trailer:
The Motion Picture Association of America allows each major studio to produce and exhibit one 4:00 minute trailer per year. The long trailer is usually produced for the distributor’s most high-profile release.
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DVD trailer:
These appear before a DVD starts, usually connected to the genre of the DVD so the chances of people wanting to watch it increase.
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Bloopers & Out-takes:
Materials from the production that will not be used in the feature, but which capture some entertaining or interesting aspect of the shoot itself.
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Internet trailer:
Produced exclusively for the Internet or movie homepage may include cut scenes.
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EPK’s (Electronic Press Kits):
Interviews with production staff and cast, intended for the promotion of the film and distributed to journalists.
