Objections to trailers

The film industry is dependent on trailers, after all they provide a free sample to grab the audiences’ attention, advertisement that is really only done for films. Regardless of this, it has been heavily criticised as deceptive for a number of reasons. “What they want you to do is see the movie they want you to see, not the movie that it is” says Mike Shapiro, a Hollywood trailer maker, and they can do this through:

Showing only the best parts of the film (which may be the only interesting parts of the film).

     

       Showing clips that are cut from the actual film.

      

       Showing the film in a different light, twisting the trailer so it looks like it has a different feel/genre, thereby  gaining interest by people who normally wouldn’t be interested in the film.

     

       Using an unoriginal score for the soundtrack, famous ones can be used in a sublimible way to get a bigger audience. 

Even through all of this, film companies and trailer makers do not have to worry about people boycotting their products, as it is very rare for someone to watch films based only on the company that made them, people will more likely watch films because of the actors, directors, plot etc. which aren’t linked up with the companies that produced them.

Trailers – A Summary

Film trailers are a montage of clips from the film, outlining the key plot and characters, without giving too much away. Trailers are created to advertise the movie to the films target audience, and show the best parts of the film to generate interest. Usually you would see trailers at a cinema or on the television, but they can be found on the internet too.

Teaser trailers are shown usually a year before, and full trailers are usually shown half a year before.

Trailers are an example of multimodal text, they create meaning through a combination of different modes of communication.

Trailers usually include iconography of the films genre, the story brief, any famous actors/directors, good editing, the films unique selling point (USP), action and enigma codes (to tantalise audience and help them read the clips), eye catching and memorable highlights from the film, a voiceover to increase atmosphere and a soundtrack which usually adds to and supports the narrative and is mainly parallel to the action.

Analysis of a teaser trailer – Twilight (Romance)

The camera pans down to the two protagonists in the middle of the woods. Bella’s asking Edward questions about him, with vague responses to create an air of mystery around him, which parallels with the images of him being a hunter. A brief summary of the plot is given with the text “When you can live forever. What do you live for?”And another character saying “She’s not one of us!” Creating interest to the audience of what Edward is, and the idea of forbidden love which is shown by clips of the protagonists looking at each other getting intimate, which is aimed at the target audience of female teenagers.

Analysis of a teaser trailer – The Hangover Part 2 (Comedy)

For the first half of the teaser trailer it presents a variety of location shots with quotes about the previous point, without saying what the film is to increase anticipation for this film, as the audience will be trying to think of what the film could be. The trailer then cuts to a low shot which pans up, slowly revealing the different characters, first the monkey which surreal presence in a film will stay with the audience. When all the characters are shown the words “The Wolfpack is back” a phrase that will have meaning to those who have watched the previous film, which makes the film seem like an adventure the audience is allowed in with. A small clip is shown showing quickly the personalities of the protagonists which will remind the audience of the previous film which is used to hopefully convince them to watch the film.

Analysis of a teaser trailer – Puss in Boots (Animation)

The trailer starts off with deep iconic soundtrack parallel with bold text impacting the screen, heavily parodying the stereotypical dramatic action movie trailers (this one is most probably parodying inception) to build up tension, only for it to be subverted with close up image of Puss’ face, creating humour from the contrast. Then a well known modern song (I know you want me) is played whilst Puss moves choreographically to the song, showing his character as being suave the and centre of attention, making sure the audience like and look up to him as Puss’ celebrity status is what will make people go see the film. At the very end a surreal image of Puss riding a horse in the glaring sun is shown, and though it will probably not be in the end result of the film, it will stick in the audience’s mind nevertheless, as well as the colour orange, making the colour an icon as they made the colour green an icon for Shrek.

Analysis of a teaser trailer - Inception (Action)

The trailer starts off with a deep ominous sound (which repeats with every new image), with the warnerbros logo that includes the infamous skyline.  Christopher Nolan’s name is shown, which will create interest to people who enjoyed his other films (Batman, The Prestige, Memento). Another iconic image is shown of the spinning top, a key point to the film. Shots are shown with enigma and action codes (Who is the man being taken away from the helicopter?) with the tag line “Your mind is the scene of the crime.” The pace of the shots with the music increases, with a thud sound repeating faster and faster increasing the audience’s excitement for the film. The trailer ends by zooming away from the image of a large maze with the title embedded into it, which makes the trailer memorable for the audience.