The purpose of a trailer is to promote a film before its release, the trailer markets the film to the general public who if they enjoy the trailer will come to watch the film in the cinema. The trailer however mustn't give away too much of the story line and it must also be entertaining enough to attract an audience.
Length
Trailers usually last between 1 minute 30 seconds and 2 minutes 30 seconds. The trailer definately does not want to exceed 3 minutes in fear of either giving away too much information or the audience becoming bored and loosing interest in the film. On the other hand the trailer shouldn't be any shorter as the viewer might not have enough time to become fully engaged with the film thus not being enticed to watch it in the cinemas.
Narrative Exposition
Usually films follow on with Todorov's theory of an equilibrium followed by a disruption and the ends with a resolution. The narrative exposition of trailers however end at the disruption in order to cause suspense and mystery which would make the audience want to find out what happens.
Titles
Trailer typically contain titles to convey information to the audience about the film in which they may not manage to understand from just watching the clips. Titles also break down the trailer so that the audience is aware that they are watching a teaser to the film and not the film itself.
Titles generally include the name of the movie which is usually placed at the end of the trailer so that the audience remembers the name.
Sometimes the titles display a sentence or two directed towards the audience, for example in the trailer for 'The Wolf of Wallstreet' in between clips it says 'More is never enough' this is a catchy slogan that might inform the viewer that the movie will be about wanting more and more and never stopping.
Title sequences also include further information such as:
- Production logos
- Actors involved
- The director
- 'From the makers of'
- The billing block
- Release date
Shots and edits
Typically in trailers the edit pace is faster than usual in an attempt to keep up the energy and excite the audience, however this can vary depending on genre. A horror movie for example would use a slow pace of editing to build tension and then suddenly quicken the pace to release adrenaline and fear.
Specific shots will be chosen in order to establish the movies story line but without giving away too much information. Shots will be chosen in a certain way to evoke particular emotions, for example a romance would choose shots from a movie where the characters are holding hands or standing looking at a sunset.
(Example taken from 'The Great Gatsby'.)
Whereas a horror would be more inclined to choose shots of the victim in fear and running.
(Example taken from World War Z)
Sounds
A common convention of a trailer is to use non-diegetic sounds from the movie itself, these will be intelligently selected to help pursue a particular emotion or mood felt by the viewers. For example in the opening sequence to the fantasy movie 'Maleficent' there is a slow non-diegetic soundtrack which connotes emotions of peace and calmness, this is during the opening equilibrium section of the trailer, however later on when the disruption is established the soundtrack turns quite ominous and eerie.
Sometimes trailers use a monologue to help convey the story of the trailer especially is the story is hard to grasp simply from watching the clips.
Genre
The genre of the movie should be easily distinguished by the trailer, this is established in many forms for example colour schemes used for titles or the colour palette used within the actual clips. A romantic film would usually use soft focus with autumnal colours whereas a horror would use dark, chiaroscuro lighting and the title would usually be written in blood.
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