Codes & Conventions of Film Trailers

A trailer is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be shown in the future at a cinema. They are shown are beginning of film, screening at the cinema.  They are also showed at the beginning of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet. A film trailers exist as a part of film promotion, telling the audience a condensed, speed up version of the film without any spoilers. The trailer features best clips from the scenes within the film, however the trailer usually is not in chronological order as this would reveal too much of the film narrative. Sometimes they use deleted scenes from the film, as they sometimes create the film trailer before the finish editing the film. Ten billion videos watched online yearly and film trailers rank number three after news and user-created video. 

Originally trailers were shown at the end of a film screening; however audiences used to leave the theatre after the films, before the screening of the trailer began. Original trailers consisted of various key scenes from the film being advertised descriptive text describing the story, and an underscore normally from studio music libraries and little narration that featured stentorian voices. Andrew J Kuehn began to create the typical trailer audiences are familiar with now.

Film trailers purpose is to generate an interest in the film to its specific Target Audience. Trailers inform audience what the film is about, without giving too much of the narrative away, building their up excitement and anticipation of the film by presenting best parts of the film. Therefore the audience feel compelled to watch the film after being teased by the visual preview of film. Trailers are regularly show off stars in a film and provide details of the production teams.

There are two types of film trailers, the first types of film trailers is the ‘teaser trailer’. It is very short, is around 30-60 seconds long, showing minimal footage and little narrative of film. Not allowing the audience to fully understand the film plotline. They usually released 6-8 months before the film before the movie is released. The purpose of teaser trailer is less to tell the audience that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype to the film’s upcoming release. The second type of trailer is named the ‘theatrical trailer’ not allow the audience to fully grasp the plotline al trailer’ which is showed in the cinema few month before it is set to be released.  Trailer gives the audience more footage and plotline then the teaser trailer, it also usually give the date of the film will be released.  A few weeks before the film is released a TV- spot is released. The theatrical trailer is edited to a maximum of 30 seconds to be advertised on television.

Most horror trailers have a similar structure. The trailer begins with the laying out the basis of the story. In middle of the story develops further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. Then the trailer usually features a strong piece of "signature music" which is either a recognizable song or a powerful, sweeping orchestral piece. Finally the last part of the trailer consists of a visual montage showing powerful and emotional moments of the film. Until a blackout the audience experience ‘The string’ which is the finial clip in the trailer which is meant to frighten the audience.

There are three other functions that trailers use to help notify the target audience of the narrative. The firstly the use of straps, they are text captions used in between footage that help the audience to understand the basic plot. They also promote famous movie stars and directors or producers which are well-known or have made a popular movie. Secondly the use of voice-overs, featuring a narrator informing the audiences about the film. The voice over is usually male deep voice speaking dramatic and slow. Thirdly the use of dialogue, the dialogue is from scenes within the film put together in a montage of shots, which help the audience understand the plot better but at the same time not giving too much away as the dialogue is not in order. 

Not all of these functions are used at the same time; it depends on the type of trailer.

Film trailers iconography such as music, lighting and mise-en-scene elements to used and make it clear to audiences what genre/sub genre the film belongs to. Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Lighting can also reflects the mood of the scene and inform the audience the personality of character. For Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer signify there is something dark and mysterious about the character.

Mise-en-scene including set design, sets of a scene it can also amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish aspects of the character. And Costume, the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colours or designs, in film are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters.

Particularly in horror film trailers, dead black-outs are used during for editing and used to dramatic effect.