Trailer Conventions and Purposes

The conventions and purpose of trailers

Film trailers are an important part of film marketing and their purpose is to promote a film create immediate interest in a film before it is released. There can be several versions of trailers for one film, earlier ones are known as the ‘teaser’ trailers which purpose is to tease in the audience by only sharing a few details of the film, while later ones are known as ‘theatrical’ trailers which give more detail including the release date and key moments in the film, such as the new Twilight saga, ‘Breaking Dawn’ which didn’t show much in it’s teaser trailer; just fast moving clips and backs of the characters heads accompanied by the soundtrack, but the theatrical trailer showed a lot more of the plot and close-up shots of the main characters.

Other purposes of trailers are to get across the genre and to entertain the audience in a short period of time such as the romantic genre film, ‘One Day’ which trailer uses typical conventions such as having a non-diegetic piano playing slowly in the background and showing the main characters close together on screen, signifying a romantic film. Similar to the ‘What’s your number?’ trailer which uses voice overs and stops the non-diegetic music playing before the main character says the punch line, which is a quick and simple way to allow the audience to see it’s a comedy film. Other conventions such as high key and low shadowed lighting suggest the film is a realistic romantic film, and upbeat music connotes optimism which means the film will attract a younger audience.

Horror and thriller films such as ‘Insidious’ uses low key, shadowed lighting and eerie music in the background which creates suspense for an audience and suggest a loud noise or a scary face will pop out unexpectedly on the screen to scare them; signifying a horror/thriller film. Conventional colours used in such trailers for the titles are black and red, which connote death, fear, blood and danger.

Trailers are often directed to a specific audience to get the most out of the production, for example the new ‘Breaking Dawn’ trailer is a film targeted at fans of the previous three Twilight films and the Stephanie Meyer books. By showing the main characters and keeping the same type of lighting, setting, music and pace in the trailer, it will encourage the fans to go and see the film. Similarly, the film trailer ‘Insidious’ which starts with the title, ‘from the makers of Paranormal Activity’ which straight away is targeted at people who have seen Paranormal Activity, liked it, and so will want to see Insidious. Films are promoted this way, as well as being broadcasted on television and radio, in newspapers, billboards and bustops. Also, at the beginning of films shown in the cinema, trailers are played for the audience which are like the film they are watching, for example, if an audience went to see an action film such as ‘The Green Lantern’ at the cinema, another action film trailer would be shown at the beginning to encourage them to watch that aswell.

Other conventions audiences expect to see are things like ‘the best bits’, i.e. the main talking point of the film such as a memorable quote or joke if it’s a comedy film. Soundtracks also say a lot about the film, such as ‘Take me breath away’ from Top Gun, or ‘My heart will go on’ from Titanic. Listening to these songs makes an audience immediately think of the film they heard it from. Many modern films use the latest hits in the movies to attract younger audience that are more familiar with the charts, whereas films which are set for example in the 1950’s like ‘Never Let Me Go’ use music from that time in order to be more believable and authentic.

Other conventions we see in film trailers are the release date shown on screen at the end, a large variety of shots specifically of the location and main characters which can again encourage audiences to go and see if for example Adam Sandler, a well-known comedic actor appears in a film like ‘Grown-Ups’ which is soon to be released, if you have enjoyed previous films he has starred in, you may wish to see another film with him in. Directors and Producers names are usually shown on the screen, sometimes with ‘from the Producers of...’ again showing the connection with other well known films in order to get publicity for their new one.

Many mainstream films use powerful voiceovers that draw attention to key points of the film. Other than what we see onscreen, another important part of a film trailer is the music which is essential in any trailer, as it suggests the genre, style and plot of the film, and brings all the elements of the film together such as the drum solo in the film trailer, ‘Hop’ which shows that despite the characters being animated animals, it appeals to a wider audience that enjoys rock music instead of just children. Also, the voice over of the main character which is a bunny rabbit, is Russel Brand – a well-known comedian, which again will appeal to an older audience who are fans of him as a famous stand-up comedian.

Horizontal integration has replaced the old vertical integration of the Hollywood studios. Within the media, the content used in broadcasting television would be used in broadcasting radio as well, or the content used in hard copy of the newspaper would also be used in online newspaper website, which is another way of promoting films and reaching a wide ranged audience.