Research about trailers

Like I wrote in one of my older posts, I will make 2 trailers, so today I will make a research about what is a trailer and how needs to be an effective trailer.

What is a Trailer

Is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, the result of creative and technical work. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening.

What makes effective a trailer?

It should be gentle

Good movie trailers are the ones that don’t need critic reviews or over stated titles to tell you the movie is good. For instance, here is the trailer for the upcoming movie The Hobbit. This film is highly anticipated and could easily add on quotes from practically any critic, but instead they let it speak for itself.

It should set up the basic premise

It tells us what we can expect to happen in the movie without giving away any crucial plot points. I think the Harry Potter movies have always done a great job with this. The trailers remind us where we left off, remind us that we’re still fighting evil and then leave it at that.

Introduce some,but not all,of the main characters.

Try to focus on one or two characters that might get the audience excited instead of bombarding them with the whole ensemble. The more you keep a surprise, the better reactions you will get during the movie itself. Take the latest Dark Knight trailer for instance. We see little glimpses of good and evil, but the trailer itself doesn’t go into depth about who is who. We’re supposed to figure that out ourselves, which makes this all the more powerful and exciting.

Use awesome music

An awesome piece of music can totally make or break a trailer. It doesn’t always have to be super dramatic, either. As long as the music genuinely reflects the mood of the movie, you’ll be golden. For instance, Where the Wild Things Are featured an awesome track from The Arcade Fire. Using that band and that specific song took a movie that might have otherwise been considered a children’s film and turned it into a trip down memory lane that any 20 something hipster would love.

Capture the mood of the movie

When cutting your trailer, focus on emotion instead of plot points. Make the audience excited to enter whatever world you’re trying to sell them. Pixar does a great job of this. Every year they create worlds we have never seen before, but their trailers make us feel like we’ve been there a dozen times and can’t wait to go back for another adventure.

What is the difference between a trailer and a film opening?

Trailer:

• Shows simoltaneus scenes
• Can show the end of the movie
• Give an idea to the audience about the topic of the movie.

Film opening:

• Only shows the begining of a movie
• Never has an end