The purpose of a Trailer

A trailer is an advertisement for an up and coming film that will be shown in the cinemas in the near future. They are often played in the cinema, so the audience is watching the trailer on the screen in which the film will eventually be played. Alternatively they can be shown on the TV and are either watched at homes or in public places with access to TV/ TV advertisements, or people can view them on the Internet. Initially trailers where played at the end of a film, this is where the name of them derived from. Due to viewers walking out at the end of the film and not actually watching the trailers, companies then began to play trailers before the film begins, to capture the audience’s attention.

A trailer is part of the campaign in which the film distributor creates. The campaign is made up of print and media elements, print including posters, leaflets, banners etc. and media elements including games, trailers, advertisements on WebPages etc. As the purpose of the film is to attract the audience, normally the funniest/ exciting/ noteworthy parts of the film are used and this is why normally the scenes of a trailer don’t fit chronologically together. The maximum length of a trailer is 2 and a half minutes (this is the time limit theatres have set) therefore the trailer has to capture the audiences attention and sell them the film in this time. Each film distributor or studio is allowed to exceed this limit once a year if they feel that the film is worthy of it.

For American companies they often create the trailer before they create the film, this is why you often see scenes and actors in the trailers that don’t occur in the actual film. This is different to the way in which British and European countries make their campaign as normally they begin the campaign after they have made the film and therefore use actual shots from the film in the trailer. Some trailers also use 'Special Footage' which is footage that is made purely for advertising and does not actually feature in the film.

Production logos often feature at the beginning of the trailer. These include the distributors and the production companies logo.

Teaser trailers are similar to trailers, but they do have some differences. The most obvious difference is the length, teaser trailers are shorter than trailers. They also include less footage and information about the film itself, or the footage is shot specifically for the preview. Teasers sometimes are created before the initial filming begins. Trailers mostly feature clips from the film itself, it usually gives a outline to what the film is about, and are often created at the end of filming when editing is about to be completed. Teasers are released 4-12 months prior to the film being released, but on average they are released between 8-12 months prior to the film being released. Trailers are generally released generally 2 months prior to the film release date.