Film Trailers

Film trailers or film previews are advertisements for feature films that are soon to be released. The term ‘trailer’ comes from them having originally been shown at the end of a film. This soon changed, however, as people tended to leave the cinema after the feature film had ended. Although film trailers are popular in the cinemas, they are now even more popular on the internet because of youtube.com and other video hosting websites. Of around 10 billion videos watched online annually, film trailers ranked third after news and user created videos.
A perfect example of a film trailer being popular on the internet is the trailer for The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which is to be released on the 20th November 2009. It has already had around 20 million views on youtube.com. Also, when the trailer was released in cinemas on August 12th 2009 before showings of Bandslam, a lot of Twilight fans went to the film just for the trailer and then left the cinemas.



The first trailer for New Moon that was shown before Bandslam is 1 minute 48 seconds. The opening shot is an aerial shot over a stretch over water – this could be considered as an establishing shot showing where the film will be set. It also gives the impression of surveillance and authority. The first shot of any characters is a two shot of Edward and Bella (Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart), the two main characters in the series. They are in the centre of the shot together, indicating that the plot of the film will revolve around their relationship. In the next few shots, parts of Bella’s birthday celebration are shown. Also, if people are not aware of what the main plotline of the Twilight series is, there are various hints within the trailer e.g. Bella saying “You guys don’t even eat”, and Edwards ‘brother’ Jasper running towards Bella when she gets a paper cut and her blood is spilt. At the beginning of the trailer, Bella and Edward are shown mainly in two shots emphasising their close relationship. However, when Edward reveals he is leaving, they are shown in separate shots to reflect them breaking up. Bella is left alone to defend herself. At the end of the trailer, there is part of another big action sequence from the film shown. As Bella runs toward her friend, Jacob, she tells him to run away. Instead, to defend her, he leaps into the air, and in doing so, transforms into a werewolf. This suggests that in the film, the audience will learn more about his character than we did in the first one. Also, he is the last character shown on screen before the release date. This indicates that he will be and enigmatic character who is crucial to the plot of the film.



The next trailer has more of a plot to it than the first one and introduces a new set of characters – The Volturi. For this reason, among others, the trailer is longer than the first one (2 minutes 28 seconds). It is a longer trailer because the first one was intended to create a buzz about the film, and this one is designed to show more of what is going to happen. This also means that there will be more footage of the action sequences. As the first one was released earlier in the year, they didn’t want to give too much away, but as the release date of the film is next month, they want to make sure the trailer is fresh in people’s minds. The voiceover by Edward provides some explanation for what is happening on screen. There is a clear indication to people who are not aware of the film series of the major theme in the plot when Bella comments “vampires have rules?” There are some similar shots from the first trailer. The character of Jacob is also a lot more present in this trailer and is close to Bella when Edward leaves. There is also a voiceover from Bella, which makes us believe that Edward has left her and she has no one else to turn to. The arrangement and editing of the shots reveal the outline of the plot without giving too much of the film away. The editing also creates suspense and puts the audience on the edge of their seats. The final shots of the trailer appear to be where the story comes together, but it is unclear whether good or evil succeed. The music also builds up at the end to create a tense atmosphere.
Trailers consist of a series of selected shots from the advertised film. The main purpose of a trailer is to attract an audience to the film, for this reason, the shots that are used are likely to be more the most exciting or poignant parts of the film. However, the clever editing will mean that there are no spoilers in the trailer so that there is still reason to watch the full film. The shots that are shown are not necessarily in chronological order in order to keep the audience guessing, and also to make the film more interesting if they watch it. In most cinemas, the time limit for a trailer is two and a half minutes. Each studio/distributor is allowed to go over this time limit once a year, if they feel it necessary for a particular film.
Most trailers have a three act structure similar to a feature length film. They start with a beginning that lays out the basis of the story. The middle drives the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. The final part of the trailer features a strong piece of signature music. The final part often consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film and may also contain images of the cast if there are A –List stars that could help sell the film.
For some trailers, ‘special shoot’ footage may be used, which is material that has only been created for promotional purposes, and doesn’t actually appear in the film. One of the most famous examples of this is the 1960 trailer for Psycho, which featured director Alfred Hitchcock giving the audience a guided tour of Bates Motel after the events of the film, finally arriving at the infamous shower. At this point, Hitchcock throws the shower curtain back to reveal Janet Leigh with the equally infamous scream.



Voice over narration may be used briefly to set up the premise of the film and provide necessary explanation e.g. Star Wars. Music helps sets the tone and mood of a trailer. Usually the music in a trailer is not from the film itself. Although it is necessary in a trailer, the music could be, for example, a popular song that people can recognise and remember, or a piece of specially composed music.



There are 3 main songs used in the trailer for Fame. The first song is a remix of Irene Cara’s version of Fame, performed by Naturi Naughton, who also stars in the film. The version of the song in the trailer is more up to date that the original, but still has all the same lyrics. This suggests that the same will happen with the film – Even though the style has changed, it will stay true to the original. The song then fades into Black and Gold by Sam Sparro. This song explores religion/reality and our own existence/purpose, which, in some respect the characters in the film experience. The final song in the films trailer is Hold Your Dream performed by the cast of the film (led by Naturi Naughton). It is performed at the end of the film, and gives the a clear message from the film/story.
One of the most famous Hollywood trailer composers is John Beal who, in the course of a 30 year career, created original music for over 2,000 film trailers, including 40 of the top-grossing films of all time, such as Titanic, Ghost and Forrest Gump.