CONVENTIONS OF FILM

TRAILERS By Amber Ellis

PRODUCTION/ TITLES Every trailer starts off with the production

information as shown below. The bigger the company the more likely it is to have a bigger budget which can be a subconscious thing to people when viewing a film, who does the cast consist of and what company has produced the film. Companies such as 20th century fox which is notorious for producing such films as Star wars, X-Men and Die hard have already earned a reputation among people which in itself can be enough for people to watch the film.

The production logo can also give the viewer an indication of the genre of film they are about to watch. Many companies stick to the same or similar dramas where as others like Sony have several different companies for different genres

The Studio information is usually shown half way through the film as that is when the audiences attention is at it’s peak. They want to promote their company to gain a reputation so people watch more of their films. The screenshot above shows Columbia pictures, which is conglomerate of Sony. They pump millions into producing there films and have a reputation for making films full of special effects.

PLOT The plot of a film has to be well structured

and interesting if it is to be successful, trailers are similar and this is why they show the most interesting parts of the film to make sure they grab the viewer and keep them engaged for the whole length. I have a couple of screenshots that show the sort of action elements trailers will show. Taken 2 is a great example from the very beginning they show action flashbacks from the film before and then moving into fast paced action with explosions gunshots and car chases.

STARS The stars are shown several times in the film as they are the

main attraction. They can sometimes bring in their ‘own’ fan base to watch the film just because they are in it and it is a marketing scheme used by the producers to gain maximum profits by pulling in huge crowds. They are also plastered over billboards, red carpet events and television programmes to promote they film, so they are the product themselves.

This is essential because an audience get pleasure from films by connecting and relating to the characters, by their individual similarities, for example if there is a prominent young female character, people from the target audience who are young and or female connect to the character and are more likely to go watch the film. Also if the film has famous actors and or actress', and the audience have enjoyed some of their previous films, or are fans, they might go watch the new film because they know that they enjoy the actor's work. If the actors are famous then they will often be accompanied by a caption with their name, so their reputation benefits the film.

Time Length Usually a film will have more than one trailer made, with different sections of the film edited together. There is always an official full trailer which lasts sometime between 1.30 -2 minutes, but often you will find, especially in horror, action or thriller films, they have shorter 10 second trailers which help build hype and will just have a short clip which may or may not have the film title shown.

SOUND One popular sound choice in teaser trailers is a

voiceover. This voiceover can come from a character in the film or an extra person who speaks over the top of everything in the trailer. Examples of a character voice over can be seen in the trailers for ‘Don Jon’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. This appeals to an audience because it helps an audience get to know more about a character before even viewing the audience.

Other choices for sound tend to be parallel mood music which helps provoke emotion in the audience. The music can be used for either tension such as in the ‘Iron Man 3’ trailer or for sadness such as ‘The Notebook’ trailer. This music helps guide the narrative along in a trailer seeing as the trailer doesn’t give much of the plot away.

RELEASE DATE This is essential for attracting a large

audience to the opening night of a film release. The release date is shown on trailers a couple of weeks before the film is released, giving time for a wide audience to have seen it, but close enough to the date that people can plan to see it soon, rather than forgetting about it by the time the date comes around. The release date is usually shown at the end of the trailer, like the film title, so that the trailer grabs the audience's attention then gives them the information they need to go see it normally, before the credit block

CREDIT BLOCK