Trailers were once promotional tools, played after the main attraction at the cinema, in order to leave the audience wanting more. It featured previews of upcoming film releases, promoting the audience to return to the cinema the next week.
One of the first trailers...
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema.
What is a trailer's purpose?
The first trailer shown in a U.S. film theater was in November 1913.
It was to promote the Broadway show, The Pleasure Seekers, opening at the Winter Garden Theatre.
The man responsible for the creation of the trailer, Granlund was also first to introduce trailer material for an upcoming motion picture.
He used different slides to create a preview of an upcoming film featuringCharlie Chaplin at Loew's Seventh Avenue Theatre in Harlem in 1914
Brief history...
Over the years, there have been many instances where trailers give misleading representations of their films. Some trailers are criticised for only picking the best moments within the film and including them in the trailer, making the film often seem better than it really is.
Some people often think a trailer spoils the feature film, as it sometimes reveals more than an audience would like to see.
