The film trailer has been around for nearly a century and is an important component in marketing in the film industry, as well

as a key feature to the moviegoing experience.

The first movie trailer came from the Loews Cinemas company in 1913 for a film called "The Pleasure Seekers." It was a short promotional that played before the film.

The practice was adopted and used in all of the Loews theaters and later caught on throughout all cinemas.

The early trailers were made of key scenes from the film cut with text. The company that created these trailers through the 1950s was the National Screen Service.

The purpose of a film trailer is basically to make you want to see the movie, and there are a number of techniques that are employed in order to tantalize the viewer. They have to be executed within two

and a half minutes, which is the limit imposed by cinemas.

Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Usually the music used in the trailer is not from the film itself. The music used in the trailer may be:

•Music from the score of other movies.

•Popular or well known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric or lack thereof, or recognisability.

•Specially composed music.

• John Beal is one of the most famous Hollywood Trailer music composers, credited with creating the musical voice of contemporary trailers, who began scoring trailers in the 1970s and, in the course of a thirty-year career, created original music for over 2,000 movie trailer projects, including 40 of the top-grossing films of all time, such as Star Wars, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Aladdin, Brave heart, Ghost, The Last Samurai and The Matrix.

Starting in the early 1960s, directors became more involved in the trailers, leading to more stylistic versions, such as montages of scenes, silent or sparse music as well as the thrilling, over-the-top promos we are now used to and the newer trend of the "teaser trailer" which is often released a year before the film is set to be in theatres and often only provides a teasing glimpse, image or logo of the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f-MYl-HzNw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_FfHA5whXc&feature=channel

As you can see a teaser trailer gives little information about the film, enticing the audience without giving anything away.

This is the opposite to the official full trailer which gives quite a detailed description of the films plot. This can either attract or put off an audience based on what they view as a ‘good film.’

One of my favourite trailers is the one for ‘The Box’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFHa-ygkF_M

It uses popular conventions yet still manages to achieve an enticing and gripping trailer

Starting with a simple setting of an ordinary family, it slowly builds up, getting more and more tense.

The trailer doesn’t give a lot away but is still really interesting and makes the audience want to go and see it

It also doesn’t appear to have a specific genre as it was released as a 12 yet also has some elements of horror mixed with a thriller

The main influence for my trailer is the film ‘The Crazies’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMZwQulT1Q

My film idea is a zombie trailer and this influence is similar

The characteristics of this trailer that I can use is the faint murmuring music that creates an eerie feel

The shots such as inside the house can be recreated easily so my trailer will have a professional finish

The fast-paced screen transitions are simply yet effective, this builds up tension and makes the trailer appear more ‘scary’

The slow music towards the end challenged conventions by not being fitting music for the chaos of the trailer, yet gives it a different edge, proving effective