Film Trailers
Film trailers
The main purpose of a film trailer is to promote the full ‘feature’ film using a
‘teaser’ or a longer ‘theatrical’ trailer. They are also to establish the genre to
attract the audience. They hint at the storyline, characters, action and
resolution by using fast editing clips and finally film trailers also advertise the
a-list actors , recognisable film studios and film reviews from newspapers or
magazines.
The genre conventions of a film trailer is to clearly establish the genre to
entice the target audience and show the hybrid genre by iconography to
establish what it is e.g. ‘snatch’ is a crime genre but show comedy clips from
the film.
Conventions of a trailer
Genre: The genre is clearly established throughout the trailer to entice the target audience.
Hybrid Genre: A hybrid genre is a movie with the best conventions of two genres in order to make a
‘hybrid film’ such as a rom com.
These films offer greater iconography to help establish genre or perhaps will keep the niche audience
guessing.
Finally to establish the genre through it’s iconography.
In our film we have a ‘Post-Modern Cowboy’ as our main protagonist and he will be thrown into danger
constantly and wears skater ‘lazy’ clothing throughout the film. This is key iconography. We took this
influence from28 days later.
Narrative structure in film trailers
This is Todorov’s theory
Equilibrium
(Harmony)
Disequilibrium
(Disruption)
Realisation
New
equilibrium
(can’t go back)
Trailers may not always follow this structure. Some may hint at Part 2 or 3
first. This is a Postmodern idea. E.g. 28 Days Later.
For my dystopia trailer it will start with disequilibrium (disruption) and
throughout the trailer give hints of the realisation and solving the problem.
However not to show an new equilibrium because it will make our target
audience wonder if it will end up ok, but might put in clip of a love interest
to keep the audience engaged.
More on Narrative..
• Not all trailers will follow Todorov’s theory of narrative structure. This is
because the directors want to break conventions in order for their film to
stand out. A good example of this is 28 Days Later. Which hints at part 2
and 3 before part 1. this is very much a postmodern idea although very
effective.
• Our film ‘The Hunter’ will follow Todorov’s theory on narrative, however
we intend to have a postmodern spin on it. We are not too sure how at
the moment but our narrative order may be changed as our ideas progress
over time.
Other conventions
Voice-over/Narration: anchors the key points of the narrative or characterisation
within the film. Often using a powerful, dramatic tone.
Sound: sets the mood using non diegetic ambient soundtracks and effects. Often
complimented by an original or recognisable soundtrack. E.g. Jackie BrownBlaxpoitation.
Title/onscreen text: Title usually appears at the end to stick in the memory. Text
anchors key meanings of the narrative or characterisation. E.g. 28 Days and Snatch.
Cast: Prominent stars usually feature early in the trailer helping the audience decide
how appealing it is. Starring…
Director/studio/reviews: Director usually mentioned if considered an ‘auteur’ or
successful. ‘From the makers of..’ helps promotion followed by logo.
Trailers influences
IROBOT
The film trailer of IRobot introduces hints about narrative throughout the trailer. The effect of
this makes it easier for the audience to understand and follow the narrative, which makes it
more enjoyable to watch. This influenced me to possibly use the 3 act treatment and give hints
about the narrative so our target audience will tell if they would like it or not.
Also I the trailer I found the editing really interesting. I like how the editor included small clips of
action and narrative and fast editing because it gets the audience excited and engaged to watch
it. I think fast editing works because using big action sequences of some of the most exciting
parts of the film would give away too much of the film and wouldn’t have anything exciting and
shocking for the audience.
The titles in IRobot are really bold at the end of the trailer, I think it works because it’s the last
thing the audience see to remember the film. I also think it’s a good place to have the title as it is
the final advisement of the film. For our trailer we will do this with bold, obvious and something
to stand out to relate to our film by using interesting fonts.
INSIDIOUS
The film insidious is a horror film, even though our genre is dystopia there are elements of
horror in out trailer as people become possessed. In the film trailer they show antagonists
who are possessed in old fashion clothing. We are going to try this with people, however
have them in normal, up-to-date clothing for a post modern element and keep it relevant.
To get the audience to believe that the actors are possessed we will use pale face make up
and blacked out eyes with also sound effects to make the actor look as possessed. In the
trailer the antagonists do creepy close ups of the smiling which creates tension and eerie
feel for the audience. Because our possessed actors wont be as realistic as insidious we
will use fast shots of the antagonists and close ups of the protagonists reaction. The music
works well with trailer as it is eerie and freaky, we will this for the parts of the possessed
scenes as it will show contrast with the other music.
28 DAYS LATER
28 days later is our biggest influence for our film Possessed. One part of the trailer I liked is
when the protagonist walks through the empty streets of London wondering what has
happened. To create this scene we will get our protagonist riding along Brighton beach early
in the morning when no one is around. What I thought made a big impact in the film is how
the show famous landmarks. I think we will use Brighton Beach and show famous landmarks
in Brighton e.g. the pier and also film when no one is there on a nice day which will shock the
audience and something is up like the streets of London in 28 days later. I also liked how the
characters are shown within the trailer for example the protagonist is a ‘Postmodern Cowboy’
which is shown very clearly by highlighting the difficulty the character has to survive the
zombie invasion, I think this would be an easy thing to show in our trailer and would also be
effective.