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Conventions of trailers- Both

Generally

  • Film production logo near the beginning

  • Film title usually at the end: font, colour, back drop gives the idea to the film genre

  • Age certification shown at the end

  • Website, twitter hashtags- social media encourages the audience to find out more about the film- effective advertising campaign

  • Character introductions- audience get pleasure from films by connecting and relating to the characters.

  • Music- show pace of film, genre & budget

  • Voice overs- guide the audience through the film plot and characters

  • Name captions- actors names, directors names or producers names

  • Usually more than one trailer- official full trailer 1:30-2 mins- teaser trailers 10-30 seconds- helps build hype

  • Release date is shown couple of weeks before the film is released- shown at the end

  • Titles- disclaimer which displays suitable audience for the film

  • Producers and distributers of the film

  • Parallel mood music which helps provoke emotion in the audience

  • Short clips of different parts of the film- cut transitions with fade to black

  • CU show emotion-helps with narrative.

Horror

  • Camera- CU/ECU

  • Low key lighting 

  • Colours- red,black,white

  • Cut transitions

  • Low angle/high angle- connote fear

  • Minimal talking

  • Good vs Evil

  • Death

  • Abnormality

  • Music builds tension

  • Creates enigmas for the audience- entices them

  • Isolated areas

  • Dark, dreary atmosphere

  • Dramatic camera angles

  • Setting-woods, cabins, abandoned houses, graveyard

  • POV shots 

  • Handheld shots

  • Ambient diegetic sound

  • Iconography- lighting is expressive & non naturalistic 

  • Props/motifs- knifes, dolls 

  • Protagonist- victim/hero

  • Themes- depression, religion, childhood issues, revenge, supernatural, madness, insanity

Script for video

 

The function of a trailer is to make the audience go and see the film by giving you an idea of what the film is about. It is a major part of the films advertising process. They are multi-million pound artefacts used to generate interest and make a profit. A teaser trailer for the film can be released up to a year before the actual film is released. This trailer is approximately 30 seconds- 1 minute long and is used to generate interest. It is only short because the production company has not finished filming yet therefore there is not as much to show and post production takes around 5-6 months.As you can see in this example from the film Frozen the teaser trailer does not include all characters that are in the film as th The things that are shown in the teaser trailer are not necessarily used in the film as a preview of the film is shown and if certain parts do not receive the reaction the company want they will re film and re edit those particular parts. 

 

The beginning of trailers usually show the   which tells the audience the certified age rating of the film. Next is 'from the creators of...' followed by other films that the director has made. This creates links between with other films that the audience is likely to have seen and they are able to make connections. The star names are important to have at the beginning of the trailers as they are the most important selling point. They are vehicles for selling the film as the audience know who they can expect and they usually just go to see the film because their favourite actors/actresses are in them. The on screen text includes taglines- which is usually something that is associated with the film or people in it, contents, release dates and titles.

 

The content is non-linear as it does not show the beginning middle and end of the film. In connection with Torodovs theory on narrative structure for a trailer we usually see the hero/victim (A), the object of change (B), a disturbance caused by the object of change (C) and sometimes recognition of this disturbance (D) however you are not shown the ending of the film in a trailer as it allows for enigmas to be raised by the audience and they will want to know what happens at the end. Therefore in order for these enigmas to be answered they have to go and see the film at the cinema.

 

In a trailer the iconography is key to highlighting the genre. For horror trailers this iconography includes: low key, expressive and non-naturalistic lighting, props such as knives, old fashioned dolls are conventionally used. At the beginning of a horror trailer there is usually a sense of normality created despite this the horror genre is prominent mainly because of the non-diegetic and enhanced sounds that create fear because even though it seems normal the music adds a sense of the unknown and doubt in the audiences mind because they are waiting for something to go wrong. The clips at the begining of the trailer are longer with fade to black transitions in between this allows the trailer to flow calmly. The clips usually consist of establishing, long and medium close up shots however towards the end of the trailer once the equilibrium has been disrupted the clips change more frequently and instead of fade to black transitions they are separated by quick cut transitions. These clips usually consist of more intimate shots that put the audience on edge such as close ups and extreme close ups as well as handheld shots. The angle of the camera also alters and usually becomes higher up making the audience feel inferior. 

 

Settings are key to emphasising the genre in trailers. For horror generic settings are usually woods, derelict houses, open areas These typical settings are used as they create a sense of the unknown for the audience.   

The title of the film is a must in every film trailer so that you know what the film actually is that you're watching. These titles normally appear at the end of the trailers so that you're more likely to remember it.

The fonts used in film trailers are usually selected and based upon the genre of the film, e.g. in a Horror film trailer the fonts are more likely to be bolder and heavier, and not necessarily bright and colourful or swirly.

Transitions in film trailers help the film to continue smoothly, moving from one scene to the next in a continuous movement - it makes the story of the trailer make sense and also creates a more interesting look to the trailer. Transitions can also be used for flashbacks or technical features in trailers. 

Every film that has or is going to be released in the UK is given an age certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), this is normally shown at the end of the film trailer to let people know who is suitable to view the film when released. It is a very important aspect of films as it gives an idea of the content of the film and therefore who it is suited to.

The lighting in a trailer can set the whole scene for the film, it can again give the audience a feel for what the genre is and it can also attract and build tension, suspense and also emotion, if the lighting is dark it can make you feel wary, whereas if it is bright and natural it can make you feel safe and secure/even calm. 

A voice over within a trailer can either be (diegetic) sections of dialogue from the actual film itself, or can be  (non-diegetic) a voice over added to the top of the film. 

When researching a number of different film trailers for a variety of genres, I noticed that they all had a roughly similar length of running time, mostly 2/3 minutes. The reason that the trailers are only running for this amount of time is so that they can show enough to entice and attract the target audience to want to watch the film, but also so that they don't give away too much of the whole film to ruin the ending. 

The music is a key feauture of the trailer as this also gives the audience an idea of what the genre is. The music often matches the pace of film, such as horror movies normally have fast pace movies when something intense is about to happen as it builds up suspense and emotions. 

Like the age certificate, the release date is normally shown at the end of the trailer as well, the intention is that it will attract the target audience's attention, persuading them to go and see the film. I also believe that it is at the end of the trailer so that it is more likely to stick in your head and you are more likely to remember it as it will be the last thing that you see, alongside the title of the film. 

Social networking sites are quite usually placed at the start and end of a film trailer to enable a larger target audience to be reached through the internet. 

For example people on Facebook and Twitter can follow the process of the film if they are interested in it, through these social media sites and keep up to date with release dates and such. Social media sites are one of the most beneficial ways of reaching a wider target audience and gaining more publicity.

At the start of every trailer there will be a shot that displays the film production logo, this can benefit the trailer as a previous film of theres may have been a top hit with their target audience - giving the impression that this film will be able to have the same effect.

 

It does also create an idea for the audience watching, to figure out the genre of the film and also what it could be based upon - linked to their previous films.

 

There is an extensive number of shotsin every film trailer, no matter the genre, the shots used in a trailer can help a lot to tell the story and also give an idea of the genre - close-ups and fast pace cuts can imply horror and tension, whereas slower cuts and long shots are more likely to be used in comedy or romance trailers.

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