Codes and conventions of film trailers

Production companies logo

The production logo symbolises to the audience the budget of the film they are about to watch, and who has created it.

If the production company is well-known and liked, or have produced other successful films, people may want to watch films produced by these, so including the logo on the trailer may encourage more people to watch the film.

Film logos may give an indication to the genre of the film, as they are sometimes changed to look like the chosen genre. For example, the Warner Bros number usually looks like this. However, for the ‘Inception’ thriller film, it looks like this.

Certification from the British board of film classification

The British board of film classification determine the minimum age allowed to watch certain films, determined by their content. This tells the viewers of the trailer the target audience so they know if the film is suitable for them.

Introducing cast and crewIn film trailers the names of actors and actresses involved are usually included, to entice potential audience members. For example, Brad Pitt is a well-known and loved actor, therefore people who like his work may be encouraged to watch the film purely because he is in it.

Sometimes in film trailers, it will also say ‘from the director of…’ which is another way of enticing audience, as if people like a certain director, they are likely to enjoy watching more films by them as they will assume the content is similar to those they have enjoyed before.

Different pacesIt is common for a lot of film trailers to be fast paced, in order to show as many clips of the film as possible in order to give an idea of the narrative. However, sometimes the trailer starts slow paced and becomes faster, in order to build up tension throughout, whilst building up to a climax. For example, in the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ trailer, the beginning shots are commonly long, to show the fancy dresses and scenery which contrasts to the rest of the film due to the dark and eerie mood that is created. By having the beginning shots slower and building up the pace it creates more of an atmosphere.

Shot lengthThe length of shots varies considerably, from less than a second, to a few seconds, to a longer period of time. Although a few seconds does not seem long, in a film trailer each second counts. If there is a shot that is intended to build up tension, for example in a thriller, you could have a shot of somebody heavy breathing, this could last longer to build up the suspense. However, you could then have a shot of less than a second showing a scary figure jumping out at the person. The effect of the shot length being short in a thriller is that usually these have the potential to make you jump, especially if it is before a long take, where the audience aren’t expecting it yet. Short shots usually show mini-clips of things in the film that may be important to the plot, whereas longer shots may be there to give more information about the storyline.