The history and conventions of movie trailers

Key Conventions of Film Trailers• Key moments from the film shown unchronological so the plot is not revealed

• The title is not usually revealed till the end of the trailer

• The name of people starring in the film are shown early on in the trailer to attract a fan base

• Sometimes the names of the director/producer are included helping the audience recognise previous successful films

• Many mainstream films will use a powerful voice-over that draws attention to key point in the film

• On screen text gives important information, including stars, director, title, release date

• Music is essential in trailers as it can suggest genre, style and plot of the film

Film production logos

These feature at the beginning of a trailer. This can help the companies reputation and may make people more interested in seeing the film if they recognise the logo, and have enjoyed one of their previous films. It also gives the audience an insight to what type of film it may be, for example seeing the DreamWorks logo may lead people to believe it is a high quality (due to a larger budget) family film.

CharactersIf popular or well known actors feature in the film they are usually shown in the trailer. This is to attract viewers who will recognise the actor/actress and that might be an incentive to go and watch the film.

Also revealing parts of a characters story or personality in a trailer intrigues and therefore attracts audiences to the film.

An age certificate This provides a guideline to the target audience age. But any film that is released in the UK has to have an age certificate, and the age certificate is usually shown near the end of the trailer.

More modern conventions.Using social media to promote the film has become increasingly popular. For example the use of hashtags. This is an easy way of the audience finding out more information about the film, while also promoting it, making more people aware of the film and generating a larger audience.

For example in the trailer for the conjuring, there is a twitter hashtag on the screen at the end of the trailer. A release date is essential to inform viewers when the film will be available to watch.

This is not an aspect that would have featured in the earliest film trailers.

The history of film trailersAndrew J. Kuehn ‘’A trailer has but one goal, to get people out of their homes and into the theatres.’’

1913 would be the suggested year for the origin of movie trailers. Nils Granlund, was an advertising manager for a theatre in New York. He produced a short clip that contained footage from show rehearsals, promoting a Broadway play.

Around the same time Col. William Selig noticed the popularity of series in newspapers. He approached a newspaper and the result was a 13 episode series entitled ‘’The adventures of Kathleen’’. More like a comic strip, leaving a cliff hanger each week, keep the audience returning.

Cultural ChangeThere was a change in both films and therefore their trailers in the 60s. This was a time where people felt more free and were more liberal, so this caused the type of films being created to differ from that of previous ones. There were new styles being used in trailers, which resulted in them being viewed as unconventional

Previously before the existence of trailers there were just posters and advertisements that were used to draw in an audience. This reveals to extent of change the film industry and therefore trailers also have changed dramatically over time.