The purpose of trailers

What is a marketing campaign and why is it needed?

Films need to sell and make money, therefore a reasonable amount of takings at the box office to pay for the expensive filmmaking business, the takings from the box office will pay for the production costs, pay the investors and make enough more for the next release. Previews of films (trailers) only have a timed lime allocated to interest the audience and become a “box office hit” this is why viral marketing is very successful in attracting an audience. Viral marketing is successful as it informs the audience about the film and encourages the audience to return to the cinema to see the film previewed. There are many different roles behind the film industry, distributors are certain people who distribute the film around the country, they and loan the film to the cinema to show it for a fixed period of time to create a successful profit. To make sure the film turns out a profit, marketing campaigns are started to create a buzz and raise awareness and allow the film to be advertised on many different media platforms. Different media platforms, web 2.0, interactive platforms, YouTube, Facebook are all ways to inform the audience, there are many different elements in a film marketing campaign, it informs the audience of the release date, the genre of the film, clips of certain scenes in the film all in aid to attract the audience into seeing the whole film. The audience will see a film depending on how well it is sold and advertised to them, if it looks presentable and contains all relevant information, a link is then established as an audience will be attracted to certain films based on their likes for certain genres.

Why is a trailer important?

Trailers are a successful approach in the marketing campaign approach to attract the audience, viewing a trailer in a cinema creates a certain effect, the combination of visual images running parallel with surround sound creates a cinema experience and allows the audience to get lost within the trailer and create an exciting experience and gives us a “flavour” of the film, allowing the audience to become hooked and determined to watch it all. Posters are used to inform, to show the audience what they haven’t seen yet; however they cannot capture the excitement and energy unlike a trailer. The titles of certain films can automatically tell the audience what the film is about, “Prom night” tells the audience that it is based on the younger generation and their end of year prom, as it is based on the younger generation it will be targeted towards teenagers and young adults as it will sell more. knowledge of other films can also be linked in with the title, eg: paranormal activity 2, this is a the second release of paranormal activity 1, this title gives the audience the clue that it will be the same genre as its previous one; supernatural horror, if a certain group of audience like the first release then automatically they consider watching the second release. When watching a trailer the title usually ties to trailer together at the end in big clear font located in the middle of the page, the font of the title can reveal a lot about the genre, for example: f the title is slashed and has blood dripping from it, it indicates to the audience that it is a horror trailer, however is a curly fancy writing is shown, it could perhaps be for a fairytale. Visual images and sound are usually both present within a trailer, in my opinion both are important and sometimes one element is more effective is a certain situation, for example: if enigma is created then there usually isn’t any clear image; however there will be sound of the characters, presenting abnormality and creating excitement for the audience. Images are used to allow the audience to see and understand characters and show mise en scene allowing the audience to try and piece together what the trailer is about, making it user interactive.

When is the trailer produced?

• When a film is edited for viewing at cinema a trailer is created and produced at the same time. A trailer is viewed on many different media platforms, cinema, internet, online, and television, a trailer is released before the film is shown in cinema to allow a sense of excitement to be created. The timing of release of a trailer must be taking into consideration; if a trailer is released too early then the audience will forget about it before the film is shown. A “Teaser” trailer is also done part of a marketing campaign to allow people to get a ‘taster’ as to what the film is about and create a buzz. Teaser trailers are often viewed online on social network sites such as YouTube. After all the excitement is created, a Theatrical Campaign which is shown in cinemas is done to increase the excitement just as the film is about the air. From my own experiences, i usually new trailers on YouTube as they are free, quick and easy to access, however i have also viewed trailers in cinemas before the showing of a film, this increases my interest and creates a sense of excitement about watching it. Different locations can affect your response to a film, for example: if the trailer you are watching has poor quality sound and continuously flickers, this will automatically lose the attention of the audience, however if a trailer is viewed in a cinema on big screen with surround sound then it will automatically interest the reader as the atmosphere is more exciting and real, drawing the audience in as they then become lost in the trailer.

Global Releasing:

• A film maybe shown in a range of countries, therefore trailers need to be adjusted to suit its audience, there might be a range of release dates depending which country the film is shown first at. Many US films are shot in US therefore trailers have American vocabulary and American voiceover, sometimes a trailer can be re-edited for certain countries, the language may need to be changed making it universal or a different accent for voiceover may need to be used. As technology has evolved, seeing films before their release date has become very popular, this is due to “Pirated” copies of films being visible over the internet or sold to customers. Individuals record the film in cinemas and then upload it on the internet and through social networking sites. This can reduce the potential box-office profits as the audience can watch it for free and in advance of the release date, therefore the film company are not making any money from the audience going to watch it in the cinemas. Films are not normally released around the same time in all countries to avoid this problem as it will reduce pirated copies.

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