Film trailers have become a huge part of the film industry, with trailers either making or breaking a films initial success, as trailers are the often primary reasoning as to why the mass public choose to view a film. However, films also get publicity from other areas of media, for instance from magazine articles on the films, as well as coverage from the events such as the films premiere, the coverage often coming from major news stations. Film trailers mainly incorporate various story sequences into a small amount of time, giving the viewer a basic view of the plotline, narrative and characters of the film, as well as showing the genre of the film, while also showing the viewer’s various scenes of action taken from the movie itself. A film trailer set the tones for the film, establishes the various main characters and gives a clear oversight of the films tone, genre and even its narrative films.
Film trailers will bring a basic overview of the various main characters in the film, while also giving snippets of information about the plotline of the film, such as in the trailer for “The Incredible Hulk”, where the audience of the trailer is given background information on the character of the Hulk, with a voiceover taken from the film put over the top of various shots of the character of Bruce Banner, the man who becomes the Hulk, showing what made him change and making us sympathetic with the “hero” of the film. Film trailers also contain very quick shots of sequences from the film, edited quickly to incorporate everything into the trailer. Film trailers incorporate conventions such as voiceovers and music overlaid onto the trailer, which helps create the feel of the film, as well as using dialogue from the film put into the trailer so that the dialogue not only establishes the characters but what their motives are in the film.
The title shots of films are given in all film trailers, showing not only the logo of the film but also gives plenty of information about the companies and the people involved in the production of the film, such as the director, or a production company such as Universal Studios. When film makers or studios are referenced by a trailer, the trailer may also state “from the makers of…”, the idea behind this being that if the company has also produced a previously successful film, then viewers of the trailer may become drawn to see the film as they have previously enjoyed the film the company had made before. These titles will also give the age rating of the film (unless that is yet to be confirmed) as well as the details of the release of the film, for instance stating “coming next summer” or in fact giving the real release date if the film is much closer to being released. Often there are two trailers that come out for a film, a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer. The teaser trailer often comes maybe a year or up to 6 months before the official release of the film, just to gain interest in the film early on. The full length theatrical trailer is released around 3-1 months away from the release of the film, and will feature much more footage of the film, and this will then also garner much more support for the film and create “hype” around the film for when it will be released. The titles of the film will also state the web address for the film as well, so that interested viewers of the trailer can visit the website and see more information about the film.
Each genre of film brings its own trademarks and conventions to its film trailers. For instance, Action films often incorporate various set pieces taken from the film, such as the trailer for the film “The Dark Knight” showing a variety of car chases and explosions, as well as a few action shots of fighting sequences, to show the audience that the production of the film has invested into some spectacular stunts to take place during the film. Thriller films also sometimes incorporate action sequences into their trailers; however thriller trailers also contain more shots of characters, as well as trying to create a more mysterious and darker tone to the film. Darker images and much more editing are used in thriller trailers, such as in the trailer for the film “Sin City”, which was edited to be completely shown in a black and white akin to the style of a comic book (the film is a graphic novel). The film is a Crime Thriller as well as a noir film, so we are shown lots of shots of police men in action, as well as showing dark scenes of the characters of the film standing in various rainy scenarios, and close up shots of the characters eyes and on their weapons. Comedy films also incorporate into their trailers various action sequences or comedic sequences, so that their target audience of the film will see if they find the trailer comedic and can then go and watch it themselves.
Trailers for films give a huge amount of publicity to a film’s release as the production companies can distribute the trailers to cinemas, so that a wider and more varied audience can see the trailers.
Television also plays a huge part in the promotion of a film, often showing the full trailers for films, as well as short teasers. The shorter brief trailers often merely hint at the films storyline or characters in a much briefer way than the actual full length theatrical trailer. These small trailers are often incorporated into websites which promote the film, or shown in small trailers before videos on youtube. Websites are also often created to promote the film, sometimes focusing on information of the film and on the background story of the film. Some films also incorporate alternate reality games upon the internet, which sometimes don’t seem to focus on the actual events of the film, but reveal information about the films storylines, and use the idea of the online community banding together to try and figure out how to complete the alternate reality games to ultimately reveal all the information possible about the film. These online games go over many different types of multimedia, ranging from information taken from newspapers or online through websites or even on social interaction sites such as Facebook. An Example of this is “The Beast”, an online game which promoted the film “A.I: Artificial Intelligence”, and focused on characters in the film and forced members playing the game to unravel a mystery around the characters involved.
Trailers can also garner publicity for a film through showing the viewer’s which stars will be appearing in a film. With the inclusion of a big star into a film (and therefore trailer), fans of the star will wish to see the film due to the film having the star in it, who is possibly their favourite actor. Blockbuster films often have big stars attached to the film so that they can generate a profit still, after using much of the films budget in the production of the film and paying the actors wages.
Films also will receive publicity from various media outlets and websites such as IMDB, a popular website that serves a database for information related to films, television shows, and video games, keeping the trailers for films as well as advertising them. IMDB is not alone in acting in this way for films, but is the most high profile website. Other websites and magazines also run film sections, showing the trailer if it as a website, as well as featuring articles in the run up to the film’s release documenting it’s production and providing information about the film, as well as giving a review of the film upon its release date. Examples of such websites and magazines include IGN (www.ign.com), Total film, Empire and Sight and Sound (which is supported by the British Film Industry).
With the release of a film, some companies use horizontal integration which in turn creates more publicity for a film. Companies release various interlinked products across a variety of media platforms, with the different products creating public interest for the overall product and film. For instance, when releasing the film “Spider Man 3”, Sony pictures released a video game adaption to coincide with the release of the film, due to Sony putting out the Sony Playstation 3 games console. When the game was released, the Playstation 3 version of the game received special bonus content. Sony also released the official soundtrack of the film on Sony’s own record label, and had an official song released for the film. All of these contributed to a much wider scale of publicity and public interest, and therefore more money is received for the film.
Film trailers will bring a basic overview of the various main characters in the film, while also giving snippets of information about the plotline of the film, such as in the trailer for “The Incredible Hulk”, where the audience of the trailer is given background information on the character of the Hulk, with a voiceover taken from the film put over the top of various shots of the character of Bruce Banner, the man who becomes the Hulk, showing what made him change and making us sympathetic with the “hero” of the film. Film trailers also contain very quick shots of sequences from the film, edited quickly to incorporate everything into the trailer. Film trailers incorporate conventions such as voiceovers and music overlaid onto the trailer, which helps create the feel of the film, as well as using dialogue from the film put into the trailer so that the dialogue not only establishes the characters but what their motives are in the film.
The title shots of films are given in all film trailers, showing not only the logo of the film but also gives plenty of information about the companies and the people involved in the production of the film, such as the director, or a production company such as Universal Studios. When film makers or studios are referenced by a trailer, the trailer may also state “from the makers of…”, the idea behind this being that if the company has also produced a previously successful film, then viewers of the trailer may become drawn to see the film as they have previously enjoyed the film the company had made before. These titles will also give the age rating of the film (unless that is yet to be confirmed) as well as the details of the release of the film, for instance stating “coming next summer” or in fact giving the real release date if the film is much closer to being released. Often there are two trailers that come out for a film, a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer. The teaser trailer often comes maybe a year or up to 6 months before the official release of the film, just to gain interest in the film early on. The full length theatrical trailer is released around 3-1 months away from the release of the film, and will feature much more footage of the film, and this will then also garner much more support for the film and create “hype” around the film for when it will be released. The titles of the film will also state the web address for the film as well, so that interested viewers of the trailer can visit the website and see more information about the film.
Each genre of film brings its own trademarks and conventions to its film trailers. For instance, Action films often incorporate various set pieces taken from the film, such as the trailer for the film “The Dark Knight” showing a variety of car chases and explosions, as well as a few action shots of fighting sequences, to show the audience that the production of the film has invested into some spectacular stunts to take place during the film. Thriller films also sometimes incorporate action sequences into their trailers; however thriller trailers also contain more shots of characters, as well as trying to create a more mysterious and darker tone to the film. Darker images and much more editing are used in thriller trailers, such as in the trailer for the film “Sin City”, which was edited to be completely shown in a black and white akin to the style of a comic book (the film is a graphic novel). The film is a Crime Thriller as well as a noir film, so we are shown lots of shots of police men in action, as well as showing dark scenes of the characters of the film standing in various rainy scenarios, and close up shots of the characters eyes and on their weapons. Comedy films also incorporate into their trailers various action sequences or comedic sequences, so that their target audience of the film will see if they find the trailer comedic and can then go and watch it themselves.
Trailers for films give a huge amount of publicity to a film’s release as the production companies can distribute the trailers to cinemas, so that a wider and more varied audience can see the trailers.
Television also plays a huge part in the promotion of a film, often showing the full trailers for films, as well as short teasers. The shorter brief trailers often merely hint at the films storyline or characters in a much briefer way than the actual full length theatrical trailer. These small trailers are often incorporated into websites which promote the film, or shown in small trailers before videos on youtube. Websites are also often created to promote the film, sometimes focusing on information of the film and on the background story of the film. Some films also incorporate alternate reality games upon the internet, which sometimes don’t seem to focus on the actual events of the film, but reveal information about the films storylines, and use the idea of the online community banding together to try and figure out how to complete the alternate reality games to ultimately reveal all the information possible about the film. These online games go over many different types of multimedia, ranging from information taken from newspapers or online through websites or even on social interaction sites such as Facebook. An Example of this is “The Beast”, an online game which promoted the film “A.I: Artificial Intelligence”, and focused on characters in the film and forced members playing the game to unravel a mystery around the characters involved.
Trailers can also garner publicity for a film through showing the viewer’s which stars will be appearing in a film. With the inclusion of a big star into a film (and therefore trailer), fans of the star will wish to see the film due to the film having the star in it, who is possibly their favourite actor. Blockbuster films often have big stars attached to the film so that they can generate a profit still, after using much of the films budget in the production of the film and paying the actors wages.
Films also will receive publicity from various media outlets and websites such as IMDB, a popular website that serves a database for information related to films, television shows, and video games, keeping the trailers for films as well as advertising them. IMDB is not alone in acting in this way for films, but is the most high profile website. Other websites and magazines also run film sections, showing the trailer if it as a website, as well as featuring articles in the run up to the film’s release documenting it’s production and providing information about the film, as well as giving a review of the film upon its release date. Examples of such websites and magazines include IGN (www.ign.com), Total film, Empire and Sight and Sound (which is supported by the British Film Industry).
With the release of a film, some companies use horizontal integration which in turn creates more publicity for a film. Companies release various interlinked products across a variety of media platforms, with the different products creating public interest for the overall product and film. For instance, when releasing the film “Spider Man 3”, Sony pictures released a video game adaption to coincide with the release of the film, due to Sony putting out the Sony Playstation 3 games console. When the game was released, the Playstation 3 version of the game received special bonus content. Sony also released the official soundtrack of the film on Sony’s own record label, and had an official song released for the film. All of these contributed to a much wider scale of publicity and public interest, and therefore more money is received for the film.
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