Research- what we have learned about trailers
Getting info across to the audience
Trailers have to make sure that they tell the viewers everything they need to know about the film, as trailers are used as a decider to if we want to see that film. Certain plot points are shown in trailers that help people understand the film direction without feeling that the story is spoiled; this can be anything from a kiss to a murder scene. The genre of the film is an aspect of the trailer which is focused on heavily in a trailer e.g. “an action film” where the trailer will show a collection of different explosions and fight scenes when the actual film may not rely as heavily on, this is to attract the certain audiences.
Construction
Trailers normally consist of lots of shots to get story segments across quickly. Overall you can get as high as 40- 50 shots in one 3 minute trailer if need be. The trailer will be edited connecting lots of story points together normally cut between title slides and production companies it normally will be edited to a pace which will build up to the end of the trailer where the film name will be shown. It is normally edited in a structured order so that we know establishing the characters/cast then showing the problem they are about to face and then left on a cliffhanger as to how they are going to solve it. However, this may not be the same order as the shots appear chronologically in the film.
Use of sound
The soundtrack or song used in a trailer is normally chosen before to trailer is edited so that it can be so around the song or beat. Sometimes the music is a collection of already existing songs that the production company has the rights to edit to the trailer. Normally for dramatic films the trailer will have a very loud drumbeat that will build up through the trailer, normally with every beat the shot cuts. The sound in a trailer is very important for a professional trailer. One final important use of sound is voice normally in trailers to get across lots of information quickly. This can be through voiceover or dialogue. Often the sound is giving different info to the visual to get as much narrative as possible over in the shortest time.
Formal features
The trailer will consist of certain elements such as the production company logo / ident, the director and famous cast members. The main use of these is to make the trailer look professional so that people will take it seriously and so that it can be linked with previous successful work. The release date would be one of the few that has a purpose beyond making the trailer look like a trailer. Normally another feature of formality is the trailer certificate, not actually part of the film but people want so that there work is thought of as a real deal.
Planning- what we need to do
We need to write down all the main plot points for our imagined film and information that we feel the audience needs to know, and have taken away from are film. Once we had done that we can then story board the scenes for our trailer. Then we will have an accurate depiction of how shots it will take to tell are story in the trailer. From then on we can look into cast, props and other considerations.
Filming- what mistakes did you make?
The main issues we came across when filming our practice trailer task is that our shots were too long for a trailer, we filmed whole conversations so that we could tell our story through these conversations but it meant that it didn’t feel like a trailer. Constructing the narrative is going to be the main challenge. Also the planning was rushed so we ended up making up or creating scenes for trailer while we were filming so we didn’t take time beforehand to come up with enough shots which affected our time when filming.
Michael
Trailers Research Summary
From the research I have done into trailers I have learnt that in terms of getting information across to the audience this is best achieved through title slides and dialogue. Most of the trailers I’ve seen have been cut together in a way that the dialogue represents the action on screen and therefore the audience can follow it easier. The construction of these trailers usually contains a large number of shots, not particularly in chronological order. The editing usually consists of quick cuts and placing title slides to show actors names and fill the gaps in plot. The shots don’t usually give much away from the film but just showcase the actors and more often than not show an action scene to create some interest.
The use of sound is also important for the trailers as the voiceover helps the audience identify with the genre and actors but also helps with the trailers narrative. The music that plays under the shots is usually relevant to the genre and editing style, for example, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trailer featured lots of short shots with a heavy metal song underneath to show its ‘dark’ mystery genre. As stated before, the dialogue is close to essential for helping the narrative and giving the audience a sense of understanding.
What makes each trailer look like a trailer is the classification slide which is present at the front of each trailer and the production credits at the end which comes along with ‘coming soon’. These are the main formal features for a trailer along with quick cuts and short shots, as they’re only showing a ‘teaser’ for the film and are trying to entice the audience without giving too much away. Also the use of voiceover and music throughout state to the audience that this is a trailer as you don’t get voiceovers throughout films and one continuous track wouldn’t play during a feature.
After analysing these trailers it’s clear we need to film a large variety of shots with a big cast of characters. This is because the trailers I analysed, Girl With... and Prometheus, introduce a lot of characters just through shots rather than a vocal introduction that would happen in a feature. The shots will need to be planned out and we will need to look into locations, costume and make up as these are all important to getting the mystery genre to work. A pre-planned voice over would be good but I believe we can give the audience the narrative just through the use of dialogue. We are currently trying to organise music for the trailer as it has to be done by ourselves, this may be where we struggle the most. A script is also needed as our trailer will mainly run on dialogue. Also we need to use a certification slide along with production credits to make it seem more realistic. Whilst we produce them we also will be making an ident for ‘Starman Productions’ as this is one of the main signs that a trailer is being played seeing a production slide.
From our practice the clear mistake we made were in the amount of shots we filmed and the lack of script. We had very few shots in our practice trailer so when it came to editing we found difficulties in trying to show our story. Also the lack of script meant the audience couldn’t follow the narrative as well as we hoped. The positives from our practice are that we got the music right for the genre and the shots are edited well. We now realise that a lot of shots and dialogue are essential for our trailer so we hope to work on this for our trailer.
LukeWhat have you learned about trailers?
The trailer for a film must encourage us to want to see the film. A trailer is one of the most effective ways to advertise a film as it gives us a real taste of what it is like because it uses moving image, just like the film itself. Moving images, whatever they are, have a far better chance of catching our attention than something that is still that would be used in a poster etc. The trailer holds our attention because the images change really quickly/ the editing is usually cut quite faster in comparison to the actual film therefore we must concentrate all the time or we may miss something.
Added to this, the main feature in a trailer is the use of sound to get its message across. Diagetic music, non-diagetic music, sound effects, dialogue and the voice-over all join together to make the trailer exciting and intriguing. The combination of sound and
moving images is a very effective way of attracting an audience to go and see the film and is also key in telling enough of the narrative in a time-efficient way for the audience to know what they are seeing.
A trailer is made up of the most exciting, funny, significant or dramatic parts of a film therefore the only parts that need to be shot of the story line would be all the main significant events, and other small character building often found in a film is unnecessary. A trailer is designed to create a ‘want–to-see’ reaction in an audience. The trailer will give the audience some amount of information about a film in terms of narrative and character, but equally, will aim to raise questions that can only be answered by seeing the whole film.
Trailers also include additional information for the audience, such as the name of the film, cast and crew credits and the production company. These may make the audience want to go and see the film if they already like the film by the same director / producers for example ‘by the makers of’ and if the audience already like the film then that may persuade them to go and see this film.
I also learned that planning to make a trailer is a long process. Figuring out the plot of the film was just the beginning, figuring out what was essential information from that storyline that needs to go into the trailer, converting that onto a story board of all our shots. Also sorting out locations and actors and when to film was also a part of the planning process. In our practice version, we didn’t plan enough to make a successful trailer and when we came to edit, we could not piece our film together in a way that would make sense.
Trailers - Summary of Research
In most movie trailers, the producers try to convey a sense of the storyline and the characters to give the audience a indication of what they might experience if they see the whole film. Many trailers nowadays have steered away from giving a comprehensive overview of the storyline and try to give a sense of the main action in an attempt to get the audience's attention. Many action-based films do this.
When it comes to characters, in a trailer it is often more important to get across th idea of the role / archetype than a fully established character eg hero, villain, donor, love interest etc. Sometimes the villain shown in the trailer is just a name or an idea ratyher than a physical person.
Trailers start off with reasonably slow editing and gradually buiold in tempo, from longer to shorter shots. In many trailers, editing techniques such as L cuts and fade to black are used.
Sound in trailers is very important to convey the story. This is achieved through either voiceover or shots containing dialogue from important scenes, which often then loops under other shots. Non-diegetic music is also very important because this determines the speed and tempo of the film and its overall feeling. In some trailers, the background music and other sound effects can also convey the genre to the audience.
Trailers must include institutional information (rating card, production info, billing block etc) in order to look credible. Other elements are name of film, release date, actors etc.
Our first attempt showed us where we could easily go wrong. First of all we need to think a lot more about narrative in trailers. We haven't adjusted enough from making a film opening and need to think more about creating the story through montage editing, not through chronological sequences. In fact, I think the planning element is much more important than it was last year. Because we were creating a continuous sequence last year, we were able to pick up on some little omissions from the storyboard as we filmed because they became obvious. Because trailers are such an editing heavy task, we will have to be mcuh clearer to keep the coherence.
James
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