Creating Trailers

Creating Trailers

Did you Know.....?

Trailers were originally shown at the end

of films which is where they got their

name from – they trailed after the film.

That didn’t work because everyone got

up and walked out the cinema before

they were shown, so they were moved to

being shown before the film.

Teaser trailers appear to generate audience

interest usually for big budget blockbusters.

They are between 30-60secs long and give very

little information, often relying on audience

prior awareness of the story, characters or hype

surrounding the film. They exist to ‘tease’ and

excite the audience in advance of the full trailer.

pre-trailer screens include MPAA rating card – Motion Picture Association of America, Production company screen and

Distribution company screen.

Putting your trailer together Trailers are said to have a 3 Act structure – Act 1 lays out the context of the story. Act 2 establishes the problem and ends with a dramatic climax. Act 3 often features visual

montage of key moments of the film and may have cast name screens if there are stars that sell the movie.

Trailers use Long shots at the start to establish character and setting

Fades to black that suggest shifts in time

Transitions/cuts with by booming SFX build tension

Transition screens place significant text on screen, images and shots before/after should echo the text

Short shots and quick cuts of some of the most exciting moments from the film, the ‘events’ that lead to resolution but not necessarily in chronological order

Resolution should be left out, viewers left guessing.

Music should build to a crescendo

Sudden moments of quiet and silence will have impact on mood and pace.

The voiceover and text on screen will most likely feature the film’s USP, its unique selling point.

The USP is anything that would make people want to see your film over any other films currently released. This could be at the beginning or end of your trailer.

Typical voiceovers /text or V.O/Text mix include:

'This Season'… (creates a sense of anticipation)'From the people who brought you…' (refers to established audience)'Based on the unbelievable true story…''Based on the bestselling book…‘‘Academy award winner....’

Award screens may be put before the trailer or after the title

The voiceover can also establish the narrative. Words chosen can suggest key themes and summarise the plot in a grand way to suggest the plot is timeless and universal. Some clichéd examples are:

Single words of human emotion such as ‘Love’ ‘Friendship’ Some actions............can never be undone.....They will find hope where they least expect it.....One man's destiny…She will face her biggest challenge.....It will change their lives forever!Experience a new kind of fear....In a world where....

Choose fonts and transitions carefully to match genre/narrative. They must be consistent throughout.

End your trailer with your title again and then a final credit page showing the names of the crew. The font used for this page is most commonly ‘Steel Tong’. Try to find something similar.

You should also include a final screen with official website details. And commonly today, facebook and twitter links.

• What is a genre?• What are conventions? • What is a trailer/teaser trailer? Why are they used? • How have movie trailers become more

contemporary? • What makes a good trailer? • Are independent films up to the same standard as

Conglomerates?

Starting Point on your Blog:

Pre-Production Phase1. Forms & Conventions• Genre conventions • 3-5 in-depth similar text analysis • Conclusions drawn 2. Target Audience Research• Minimum of 10 questionnaires with analysis & conclusions drawn.• Target audience research and audience theory• Contemporary media landscape 3. Subject Matter Research• Research into the artist, genre etc. with conclusions drawn. • Research into ideas / mise-en-scene, shooting & editing styles, fonts etc. you will be using. 4. Representation issues• Research into Ideology, Representation, Star Image & Power & Conclusions drawn using Goodwin’s Analysis 5. Institutional Context & Professional Practice• film company/Institutions

Worth 20% of your marks.

Research and Planning Level 4

Pre-Production Phase1. Forms & Conventions• Genre conventions • 3-5 in-depth similar text analysis • Conclusions drawn 

Task 1: 

• Research the conventions of different Genres (pick about 3)• What are the convention? What would viewers expect to see in these types of 

films? • Textual analysis of 3-5 trailers from these different genres – audience 

theory/narrative theory/ representation of characters/use of light and shadows? • Are there any similarities in the layout of these trailers? Could you sum up what it 

is that you will need in order to make your trailer 

Media Coursework TimelineSept-Oct Research and planning Detailed pre-production workNov-Dec Shooting and editing main Finish main piece Finalising planning for print/web piecesJan-Feb Print pieces produced Finish ancillary piecesFeb-March Feedback on products Evaluation

= 9 months= 39 weeks= 273 days

There will be a series of interim deadlines throughout this time.

Pre-Production Phase 2. Target Audience Research• Minimum of 10 questionnaires with analysis & conclusions drawn.• Target audience research and audience theory

Task 2: 

• Primary research into what types of films people like. • What do they expect to see in a trailer?• What about the trailer makes them what to see the film?• Think about audience theories as to why we like to watch these films • Think about different types of audiences – passive/active

Pre-Production Phase 3. Subject Matter Research• Research into the artist, genre etc. with conclusions drawn. • Research into ideas / mise-en-scene, shooting & editing styles, fonts etc. you will be using.

Task 3: 

• What genre have you chosen for your trailer?• What are the typical conventions – (Todorov/Propp)• Primary research – questionnaire into what your audience wants.• Effects your genre could have on the audience – horror – hypodermic needle/moral 

panic?  

Uses and GratificationUses and Gratification1. Diversion1. Diversion

• According to Watson (2008) we often use the media to ‘escape from routines’ or to escape our problems/stresses.

• Some people may use the media as a way of making up for the lack of something in their own personal lives.

2. Personal Relationships2. Personal Relationships• According to Watson, we tend to know more

about the characters from soaps than we know about our own neighbours.

• The mass media can be used to compensate for the lack of community spirit in our lives

3. Personal Identity3. Personal Identity• We may use the media to

help us cope with parts of our identity which are unsure-

• for e.g. a teenage boy who suspects he is gay may turn to programmes such as Hollyoaks to seek help in making decisions.

4. Surveillance 4. Surveillance

• People may use the media to obtain information about the social world.

• The recent increase in online blogging and websites where people can add their own knowledge such as ‘Wikepedia’ is a good example of this.

TodorovNarrative goes through five stages:

1. A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be).

2. A disruption to that order (by an event).

3. A recognition of that disruption.

4. An attempt to repair the disruption.

5. A return/restoration to a new equilibrium.

Todorov’s Plot Graph

1. Equilibrium

2. Disruption

3. Recognition

4. Repair Disruption5. Return/start new equilibrium

Propp’s Character TypesVladimir Propp was a Russian academic. He studied over 100 fairytales and concluded that there are 7 main character types:

1.The Hero2.The Villain 3.The Donor 4.The Dispatcher 5.The Helper 6.The False Hero 7.The Princess (and her father)

Can you identify any of Propp’s central character elements from the pictures?

Pre-Production Phase

 4. Representation issues• Representation

Task 4: 

• How is representation presented in your genre?

• Gender• Age• Ethnicity• Disability• Regional identity 

Check List:

1.Explain what trailers are.2.Analysed a range of trailers from different genres. 3.Conducted primary research into people’s interest in trailers. 4.Picked a genre you want to focus on. 5.Created more analysis for your chosen genre (this can be done between your groups). 6.Looked at theorists and where you genre challenges/conforms to this. 7.Created a questionnaire to find out what you audience likes about your genre. 8.Thought about your typical audience you want to aim at (Age/sex/location/religion/ethnicity.

Pre-Production Phase

 5. Institutional Ideas

Task 5: 

• Research different institution that typically make films for your genre. 

• How successful are they? How well known are they? 

• Research BBFC and the age ratings. 

Check List:

1.Explain what trailers are.2.Analysed a range of trailers from different genres. 3.Conducted primary research into people’s interest in trailers. 4.Picked a genre you want to focus on. 5.Created more analysis for your chosen genre (this can be done between your groups). 6.Looked at theorists and where you genre challenges/conforms to this. 7.Created a questionnaire to find out what you audience likes about your genre. 8.Thought about your typical audience you want to aim at (Age/sex/location/religion/ethnicity.9.Analysed how representation is presented in your genre.

Pre-Production Phase

• Write a treatment. That’s your idea for the sequence written down as a shot by shot account of what your sequence will look like.

Pre-Production Phase

• Script – this should be written in the correct format – see me or follow this link for the right approach to your script… you must write one even if there’s no dialogue

Pre-Production Phase

• Storyboard – this should be at least 15 panels and also follow correct conventions which essentially means including clip duration, transition/editing notes, camera direction (movement, angle etc) and a description of the action.

Pre-Production Phase• Shot list – unlike the storyboard this is a checklist of each

and every shot you will need for your sequence. If you are shooting a conversation for example you will need the whole thing from at least three different angles (master shot including both characters, and over the shoulder shot of character A, and an over the shoulder shot of character B – then you might get creative and include a low angle or canted angle to give you options in the edit)… all of these will appear on the shot list so you don’t forget on the day.

Pre-Production Phase

• Production schedule – this should be a detailed account of when you will shoot and edit the sequence and who will be required on which days.

Pre-Production Phase

• Production updates – whenever you make some progress (when you produce the storyboard or script or logo etc) update the blog – has it been done to the required standard? How does it help move the production forward? Have you learnt anything useful along the way?

Pre-Production Phase

• Test shots – if you are ready to shoot – but don’t have your actor/costume/location or can’t shoot the real thing for any other reason, do some camerawork/editing practice. Use each other or use any available person to stand in as one of your actors and test your storyboard ideas with a few test shots… these can then be used to test out colour correction or special effects in Premiere Pro – these can be posted to the blog… both I and the moderator will be very impressed with your commitment to improving your production skills!

Pre-Production Phase

• Location Recce – grab a camera, go to a couple of potential location where you want to shoot and photograph them. You post these to your blog with a couple of notes on how you might use the location, any problems you may encounter. Consider the time of day you want to use it, what the light will be like, what other people/traffic might be around… is it on a flight-path, for example, with airplanes going overhead every 5 minutes? (that will create sound-mixing havoc in the edit!)

Pre-Production Phase

• Props/costumes list. You may well decide to just use whatever costumes your actors turn up in, but you’ll get a better mark for demonstrating some prior thought to it… record your ideas for what characters should be wearing, what make-up you might need, what props you will need and how you will source them… (remember – no guns/knives/weapons in public places!!!)

Pre-Production Phase

• Soundtracks – start looking for appropriate royalty-free soundtracks. Write a post on what mood you want to create with the soundtrack, find a few and post these to the blog. You will find a couple of links in the left sidebar of this blog under ‘useful links’

Pre-Production Phase1. Forms & Conventions• Genre conventions • 3-5 in-depth similar text analysis • Conclusions drawn 2. Target Audience Research• Minimum of 10 questionnaires with analysis & conclusions drawn.• Target audience research and audience theory• Contemporary media landscape 3. Subject Matter Research• Research into the artist, genre etc. with conclusions drawn. • Research into ideas / mise-en-scene, shooting & editing styles, fonts etc. you will be using. 4. Representation issues• Representation,

5. Institutional Ideas

Planning

Planning: 

• Treatment• Script• Storyboard• Shot list• Production schedule• Test shots• Location Recce• Props/costumes list• Soundtracks (royalty free)

• Lastly – A-grade coursework productions will necessarily have comprehensive planning. While quality of your work is the most important thing, quantity is the very first thing I and the moderator will consider – if you want an A-grade (in your coursework), around 50 blog posts across the whole project including the production and evaluation would be considered a minimum for you to achieve this.