By creating a film trailer, it seems to be one of the most effective and most popular production within the film industry and studies. The purpose of a film trailer is to want an audience to want to go and see the film through watching the trailer. Theorist John Ellis suggests that a trailer presents a narrative image of the film (basically telling us what the film is like but also giving us an idea) he says- "decidedly less than the whole film- it is the promise (of the film) and the film is the performance and realisation of that promise". Trailers along with the other film posters and marketing materials e.g. Billboards need to produce something different opposed to the other films coming out to be successful. If we are going to find a film pleasurable it needs to be different but at the same time building up our knowledge and experience of other films, even franchise films such as the Fast and Furious or Iron Man series will promise something new and different to the previous films building on the franchise and developing our understanding of all previous films.
A trailer creates a number of mysteries and enigmas which can both only be solved by seeing the film, the audience are usually left questioning who is that character? Why does that happen? What's going to happen next?
You need to consider two things whilst constructing the trailer:
A film distributor has to decide how the film will be presented to the potential audience. They need to decide what sets the film apart from all the other films that are released, the thing they look for the most is the unique selling point. For example: A distributor is handling an action adventure film, they will need to look aspects of the film which set it aside from other action films. By deciding what the USP of a film is a distributor needs to look at the story-line and how it differs from other films and elements of the other story-lines. They will also look for things like, who are the stars in the film? Are there special effects? Who is the director?. By taking all of these into consideration the distributor then needs to decide how the position of the film will stand in the 'market place'. By having a USP of a film it will help potential audiences come to an understanding of what they might expect when they go to see the film, the visual campaign will also help the USP e.g. posters, trailers etc. But ditributors need to consider gender, age and lifestyles as they are important.
Distributors of films also need to consider the target audience of the product. A target audience is a large group of people who might want to go and see the film, the target audience will affect the 'how' and 'where' of the marketing campaign, these are the things they will consider:
Even with these things considered the distributor will always try to attract as wide range of audience as possible. They will often refer to films a 'cross over' or 'break out' films which can attract the initial target audience but also more people who go to the cinema.
A film trailer is the most effective advertising technique available in the film industry. They are usually shown on websites or TV spots with moving images and can reflect to an audience what they might want to see at the cinema. A trailer works through a combination of moving images, graphics, soundtracks and voiceovers (these are used to give the audience a sense of the 'narrative image'). It also gives the audience a sense of the genre, what the sotry line is, who is in the film and also the release date. A trailer can be very powerful and moving as it can affect an audience in coming to see the film and also coming back to the cinema to see another.
Trailers consist of many elements to make it successful, a trailer is known for short, fast pace cuts but also building a climax from start to end. Most trailers use the same components that audiences expect, but also use different types of ways to intregue the audience into going to watch the film.
Here are some elements you expect to see in a trailer:
When creating a trailer yourself there is a man point that you need to have completed and that is knowing what your story/plot is. In the film indusrty an editor would need to be able to watch the whole film and then select scenes, moments or pieces of dialouge to involve and contribute to the trailer. By making a trailer successful you need to be able to have sense od what the whole film is going to be about even though you are not making the film.
There are some things that you need to consider to make a good trailer:
When creating the trailer you need to give the audience many recognitions to what is in your film/movie e.g. introducing your characters, ensure that your genre is recognisable and to also show key moments of your story line to make the audience want to see the film. By making the trailer you need to create dialouge for your characters to say because of the you not being able to make the wheole movie and a trailer need 'scenes' from the film.
The most important thing about he trailer is the edit. By having a trailer that is successful you need many shots taken because of the editing being made easier and also giving yourself many options. Another thing to consider also is to use short cuts because of long/medium shots being uninteresting to an audience because they are seeing to much. By making you cuts short it gives an oppurtunity to use close ups, long shots, tilts etc. The music for your trailer is also important because of it needing to suit you genre, when you know your genre it is best to pick the music before you start editing because of it being easier for the shots to be edited together. With all off these components together the trailer created will be more than successful.