Aims: To begin to understand the purpose of film trailers.
To analyse film trailer conventions.

Online research about one of the following films:
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Sherlock Holmes
2012
Some questions you might want to consider:
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When will it be released? What is the certificate?
How many screens will be released on?
Who is distributing the film?
Are there any previews/reviews of the film? What do they say about the film?
Can you find any interviews with the directors or stars?
What do they say about the film?
Who is the demographic it is aimed at and in what ways has it been marketed so far?

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What is the most recent trailer you can remember seeing?
Was it effective?
 How would you define a film trailer?
 Trailers or previews are film advertisements for feature films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema , on whose screen they are shown.
 What is a teaser trailer?
Teasers, unlike typical theatrical trailers, are usually very short in length (between 30–60 seconds) and usually contain little if any actual footage from the film. Sometimes it is merely a truncated version of a theatrical trailer . They are usually released long in advance of the film they advertise.

 Watch this ‘teaser’ trailer for the new ‘Harry
Potter’ film and make a note of any techniques they use to:
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 appeal to their target audience.
tell us the film genre.
 http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2139556121/

 Trailers aim to give audience information about the film and to sell it to that audience.
 What type of information do you think it is important for the audience to know about?
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What the genre is.
What the story is about.
Who the stars are.
Who the director is.

 Trailers are certainly not “mini-films” – they are genres in their own right:
 This means they have their own set of easily recognisable conventions designed to capture the audiences attention in a short space of time
 They are a bit like a jigsaw puzzle:
 The audience must work out what the film they are selling is about by finding the missing pieces

 Why do you think it is important for a film to have a USP (unique selling point)?
 To make it stand out against other competing films released at the same time of the same genre
 What might some examples of USPs be?
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Unusual take on a certain genre (e.g. musical horror)
A star actor playing an unexpected role (“against type”)

 Can you name any conventions of film trailers?
 Here are some of those that are more recognisable:
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They highlight the best bits of the film
Showcase stars/director of the film
Some visual images barely stay on screen long enough for us to recognise what we are seeing (i.e. they are often very fast paced )
Conversations are often one-liners
Dramatic camera angles may be chosen to show events or characters
Action is interspersed with credits on screen
Voiceovers are used to tell the story and give credit information
Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere
Titles may not appear until the end
Trailer builds to a climax , where it ends
Narrative Their narrative structure is non-linear with the audience having to infer and deduce for themselves what the plot might be.
Editing style: mostly montage edited so they are non-linear.They also tend to build up tempo to a climactic ending. Some genres will have lots of transitions (fades to black etc).

 Looking at the following trailers and make notes on:
 What you think the genre might be?
 Who the target audience are?
 What conventions are used.
 http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3048801817/
 http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1333331737/