Forms and Conventions of Film Trailers

When are film trailers released?

When it comes to releasing a trailer for a film, the distributors must think wisely when it is they release a trailer for said film. If they release a trailer too early, by the time the film is released the hype that people once had for it would have disappeared, but if they release a trailer too soon then the waiting time would be too short that the audience wouldn't have enough time to develop a high amount of anticipation and excitement in order to see it.  Films tend to be released around specific times of the year, usually around half terms when children are out of school and adults get a week or two off of work, so this gives an indication to the trailer distributors when to release the trailer. The first trailers are usually released when a film is still in its editing phase so it is unlikely for there to be a release date at this time, however if a film was to release additional trailers months after the first, the second trailer would likely feature a release date as they would have progressed through the production of the film and would have a better idea as to when exactly it will be released. 

There are things that the distributors of trailers must consider when releasing the trailer, one of these can be whether another film trailer has been released in the same week, this could cause problems if one of the film trailers are for a high-concept blockbuster film and the other is a small independent, the attention would obviously be drawn to the blockbuster as it would have a higher budget put into it for promotion and a more famous cast so it would therefore draw a bigger audience, leaving the independent film with a smaller chance of getting noticed. 

As mentioned before, the opening weekend placement of a film's release tends to be around half terms when it's audience are likely to have plenty of free time, but films can be released on specific days as well, for example a romance film or chick-flick might be released on valentines day, or season specific films like Christmas, Easter or Halloween would be released around a similar time. When is comes to season-specific films, a trailer for the film might be released at a closer time to the release date of the film. This is because festivals like Christmas, Halloween and Easter are only a 2-3 months apart, from each other, so if you released a trailer for an Easter themed film in November or December, it is likely no one will be interested in it because there would be too much competition as people would be more interested in celebrating Christmas at this time of year. Horror films are likely to be released around October in preparation for Halloween as this time of the year is all about scaring people. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension came out on October 23rd 2015, when the trailer for this film came out on the 23rd of June, only 3 months in advance. At this point in time there was no other national festivities coming up other than Halloween, so it'd make sense for them to release the trailer at this time of year.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Jy2T0uQ9Y

Generally, a film's trailer is released around 5-7 months in advance before the full feature film is released, especially with superhero genre films, for example the film Deadpool's first official trailer was released on YouTube on August 4th 2015, when the film itself wasn't released for another 6 months on February 10th 2016. Blockbuster films have a tendency to release multiple trailers for one film, releasing a trailer about 2-3 months after the previous one. Deadpool did this as 20th Century Fox released the second trailer for this film on December 25th 2015, 3 months in advance to the official release. Creating multiple trailers and releasing them months apart from each other is almost like a reminder for the audience to help them remember that the film is coming out. The additional trailers feature new footage to help build up the hype even more. 

Deadpool Trailer #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xithigfg7dA

Deadpool Trailer #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz4AqfIAqnY

Examples of film positioning: 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens was released on December 18th 2015. The producers were tactical in choosing this date as this was the same day that UK schools broke up for the Christmas holidays, meaning that school pupils now had two weeks free to be able to go see this movie, and with Christmas just around the corner, many people would have received spending money in place of a Christmas present. The Force Awakens is a blockbuster film, and Star Wars is now owned by Disney, this meant that it was highly likely that it would attract a large audience. As Star Wars is a household name, a new instalment in the franchise would help with gaining a profit as fans of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy would very likely want to see what this film had to offer, as well as spark a new generation of Star Wars fans.This film was released on the same day of Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie, a family film, and Sisters, a film targeted towards teenagers and young adults, both of these films are both part of the comedy genre. This would be in competition with Snoopy and Charlie Brown for a young audience if they were not interested in seeing this film as it would feature a lot more comical elements that might be easier for a younger audience to understand. 

The very first trailer created for this film was released as a teaser trailer on November 24th 2014, over a year in advance to the official release, with a second teaser trailer being released on 16 April 2015. The official trailer wasn't released until 19 October 2015, only two months before the film was brought into cinemas. It is likely that they released the teaser trailer so early in order to make the audience excited for it's release as Star Wars is such a popular franchise, and they wanted to show of Disney's use of modern CGI and special effects to show both old and new fans what they should be expecting within the next year. As I stated before about blockbuster films releasing multiple trailers months apart, Star Wars released its teasers and the official trailer 4-5 months apart from each other to serve as a reminder to the audience that this film is coming out and with its highly advanced special effects.

Inside Out 

Inside Out is owned by Disney Pixar and is a film targeted towards children and families. Much like The Force Awakens, this film was released on July 24th 2015, a week after the summer holidays started, which gives its audience all of the summer break to go see it. The film revolves around a girl names Riley who has five emotions controlling her mind, and one of the emotions, Sadness, accidentally corrupts one of Riley's memories and in the process makes Joy, another emotion knock over her core memories, giving them the quest to go find the core memories and help Riley restore who she is. The narrative is simple and relatable for young audiences and families as the main themes are about emotions and growing up. Two other films were released on the same day as this one, these being Maggie and Southpaw. Both of these films are targeted towards 15- 24 year olds so it was unlikely for this film to have much competition as the target audiences were for different maturities. 

The first two trailers were released back in 2014, around October - December, with a third being released on March 10th 2015, which again shows that they release multiple trailers to keep the audience reminded of the films release and plot. The regular releases of the trailer especially helps younger audiences remember as they do not have a long attention span. The third trailer was released only four months before the film's official release, letting younger viewers know that they have something to look forward to once school is over.

Release date source -Pearl and Dean :http://business.pearlanddean.com/films_guide 

Where are film trailers shown?

In order to help promote a movie, film trailers are shown on a range of different media platforms such as in cinemas before the film starts, on television channels during the commercial breaks or on DVDs before the menu screen shows up. Trailers are made in order to help get the word across and gain recognition for the film so that people will go and watch it either in a cinema or they will purchase the DVD in order for the makers of the film to gain a profit back from sales to cover production costs. 

TV Adverts:

As most families own a TV at this point in time it would make sense to advertise a movie during the middle of a commercial break as there is a good chance that the audience will see this. One of the disadvantages of using this method is that not everyone pays attention to the adverts on television so they would miss the advertisement for the film. Certain film trailers will only be shown on specific channels that the targeted audience would watch. For example a high-profit blockbuster film would likely be shown on channels such as BBC or ITV as they have a very generic audience, and blockbuster films are usually have a universal appeal because the plot is simple to understand, and the BBC and ITV channels are the main television channels on every British TV. A children's movie might also be advertised on one of these main channels, as well as other children's TV channels. Trailers for film genres like horror or thrillers will more likely to be seen late at night so that young audiences are not disturbed by the content and because older audiences are usually at home from school or work at this time to relax and watch TV. If a film belonged to a certain company and it had its own television channel then they would likely only advertise films from that company, such as Disney. BBC advertise in a similar style to Disney as they usually only advertise programmes or films that are BBC made.

Cinema Adverts:

When film trailers first started to be made they showed the trailers at the end of the film screening, however they discovered that many people left after the movie was over so they decided to start showing trailers before the actual screening began so that people would have to watch trailers. Many people go to the cinema early in order to get a good seat so this would mean that they would sit through all of the trailers, however there are still a number of people who decide to arrive later in order to skip watching through all of the trailers. There is also the case that many people prefer to wait and watch the films on TV instead of going to see them at the cinema when they are released so they would not see the films advertised before the full feature screening.

DVD Adverts:

When someone purchases a film DVD, there will almost always be adverts before the start of the film. There are some cases where you cannot skip through these film trailers, meaning that they will have to watch all of the advertisements. In many cases these days you are given an option to skip these trailers and go straight through to the title menu. Another disadvantage of this is that people these days prefer to watch films online, whether it be pirated or through a site like Love Film or Netflix, this way they can avoid adverts altogether and they do not have to purchase a number of films individually.

Radio Adverts:

Radio adverts are not the most common way of advertising a film as you can't see any of the footage of the movie considering how radio only has sound so the audience wouldn't be able to see any of the USPs if they were the special effects, such as Avatar (2009). The advantage of this platform is that many people listen to the radio at home or whilst they are driving so they will have a good chance of hearing about the movie being advertised. Examples of films advertised this way are Nerve (2016) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).

Online Adverts:
Other ways trailers can shown is through streaming websites such as Youtube or Vimeo, or through social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. These are good ways to advertise a film as many people use social media and can share the trailers with their friends to help spread the word around about the film. With adverts being online,the audience can choose when to watch them and how many times they want. The disadvantage of this is that they do not have to watch the trailers and can easily skip them if they do not wish to watch them. There are also people who re-upload the trailers unoficially on these sites, meaning that the original owners could potentially lose profit from a revenue stream. There is also the chance of someone posting a fan-made or fake advert for a film which would also make the company have a loss in revenue. However fan-made advertisements can also benefit the original creators, if a viewer was more intrigued by the fan-made advert than the original, they could be persuaded to go and buy the film advertised.

How do trailers help to market a film?

Trailers help to attract an audience to a film as they can play around with elements of the film's genre that are familiar to the audience in order to make the film look unique and enticing, making the audience think that that particular movie is like nothing ever seen before in the genre, having a fresh and unique take on the genre by contradicting common conventions. By doing this the film is showing off its unique selling points (or USP). These can be elements such as a big-name actor playing a lead or important role, an unusual mix or hybrid of genres or state of the art special effects. 

Avatar (2009, Directed by James Cameron) 

The main USP of James Cameron's Avatar is the special effects as the CGI is some of the best ever seen at this point in time as the film has entirely computer generated environments and characters. The trailer shows many scenes of the human using their state of the art technology like giant mechanical suits, and the life-like well animated Na'vis, the race that inhabits the planet Pandora as well as other alien species that inhabit the world.  The main stars of the movie aren't exactly well known but the movie does have Sigourney Weaver (portrays Grace in the film) who was casted as the protagonist of another popular sci-fi movie, Alien (1979). As Avatar is a sci-fi genre film itself, the fact that Weaver has a role in this film means that they are using her as the star appeal as fans of Alien might want to see if her acting is as good as it was in the latter film.  What also sells this film to fans is the fact that Terminator 1 (1984) and 2 (1991), Titanic (1997), and Aliens (1986) were mentioned on the trailer as they are all successful well-known movies that James Cameron also directed, in this case they are not just using star appeal to promote the film but also director appeal. Interestingly, Sigourney Weaver played Ripley in Aliens once more, so this is not the first time Cameron has worked with Weaver on a sci-fi film, so this fact gives fans an even better idea on what type of character she would be playing in Avatar. 

Cowboys & Aliens (2011, Directed by Jon Favreau) 

As the title of the film suggests, the film is about  the battle between cowboys and aliens. This is a hybrid genre movie, combining science fiction and the historical period of the wild west. The genre choice alone is a USP for this film as there has been no other films that combine these two genres in a film on such a big scale as this. This film also relies on star and director appeal in order to get promotion as the protagonists of the film are played by Daniel Craig (famous for playing James Bond), Harrison Ford (famous for being Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise and Indiana Jones in the self titled franchise), and Olivia Wilde (famous for playing Quorra in Tron: Legacy). The trailer states 'From Jon Favreau ... The director of Iron Man' using the director's success at the 2008 film to help make the film appeal to the audience. Though it is not features as heavily as Avatar's trailer, special effects does play a part in the film's USP as there are a number of explosions and alien mechanics showcased to show how action packed the film is and how realistic the CGI is. 

Battleship (2012, Directed by Peter Berg)

Again like Avatar and Cowboys vs Aliens, Battleship uses star appeal and special effects to draw in an audience. One of the biggest stars featured in this trailer is the singer Rhianna in her acting debut, the trailer makes it seem as if she has a main role in the film. Another famous star that is shown in the trailer is Liam Neeson, famous for his roles in the Taken trilogy. There are many scenes showing the destruction of cities as they are being blown apart, cleverly constructed by highly realistic CGI. There are plenty of explosions to show how action-packed the movie is as well as scenes where characters narrowly make it out of a near-death situation that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats. This film also has an unusual mix of genres as you wouldn't expect aliens and battleships to be in the same movie. The company who made this film use their success of the Transformers film franchise to their advantage and mention this in the trailer as it states 'From Hasbro the company that brought you Transformers'. For the people who enjoyed the action in Transformers, this would be a selling point to them as they would have an idea what the action might be like in this film. 

What are Film Trailers and who are they made for?

What are film trailers and why are they made?

Films trailers are a type of advertisement in order to promote and gain publicity for a film months in advanced before the film is released in cinemas. The trailer effectively is a compilation of the film's best moments abbreviated down into approximately a maximum of a 2 minutes and 30 seconds video (this rule was appointed by the MPAA), but refraining from showing any major plot revelations or giving away the narrative. The trailer should give the audience an idea about the film's plot and what the characters personalities are. Trailers can sometimes be misleading, tricking the audience into thinking a major star is one of the main characters in a film in order to convincing the audience to go see it because of the particular star, when in truth they are just a minor character. There are cases in trailers where some of the footage shown is made for trailer-purposes only, and do not show in the full film. 

How do they work?

As trailers are made to advertise a film, their purpose is to engage the audience and make them want to see the featured film. Trailers are commonly structured into three parts. The first part gives the audience an idea of the plot and introduces them to the characters, the second part dives deeper into the plot by revealing the disruption in the narrative and ends on a climatic note. The third part often features a well known piece of music that the audience is bound to recognise. 

Where do we see them? 

When films trailers first started to come out, they were shown at the end of a feature film screening, whereas now they are shown before the start of the screening, this way the audience is bound to see the the advertisements while they are waiting for their movie to start. Trailers would be shown before films of a similar genre, so action movie trailer will be featured before the screening of a full feature release of an action movie as the targeted audience would be the same or similar. You can also find film trailers on popular sites such as YouTube or Facebook, or they will be showed on TV channels in the middle of advertisement breaks. 

When are they released?

Film trailers usually nowadays are released 2-6 months in advance before the film's release date. This is likely to be done in order for the audience to gain an enthusiasm and anticipation for the movie's actual release, so that when the film is finally in cinemas the audience will be hyped up to see the movie. Some films create multiple trailers and release them at different times, sometimes months or weeks apart in order to show new footage to excite the audience with. 

Who are they for?

Trailers are made for people who like to watch films, be it at home or in a cinema. The trailer is usually made for a specific audience depending on the genre of the film for example an animation, family genre film is usually made for children to want to see, whereas an action genre film with lots of violence is made for people in their mid-teens and onwards. The trailer's audience also depends on their gender, a chick-flick would appeal more to females and a superhero movie would appeal more to a male. 

Here are some examples of film trailers that apply to three different audiences:

Big Hero 6 (2014, Directed by Don Hall, Chris Williams)

Big Hero 6 is clearly targeted towards children, one of the main facts that indicate this is that the movie is animated, like most children's films. A majority of the footage shown is of the film's most comical moments of the character Baymax, showing the audience this is a very light-hearted film. The character of Baymax himself is portrayed to be a hug-able, instantly likable robot that every child needs in their life. The trailer has the song 'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark' by Fall Out Boy playing over the top of the footage. This is a well known song that has gained commercial success worldwide therefore it should be recognisable. Fans of the band would also be attracted to the trailer in order top hear the song featured. There is a point in the trailer where it says 'From the creators of Frozen and Wreck It Ralph'  which can impress the audience if they were fans of these two movies, especially Frozen, and it may entice them to watch this one as it may look to be as promising as the others. There are also a few action scenes featured that make the movie look more thrilling, such as the scene where the protagonists are in a car escaping the wrath of the kabuki-masked antagonist. Even though the film involves action elements, they do not show any violence, so it will be appropriate for those of younger ages. As the cast is primarily male this might appeal more to young boys, however the trailer is made to appeal to both genders as there is no favouritism shown. 

The Avengers (2012, Directed by Joss Whedon)

This trailer would appeal more to a teenage audience for the use of action shown in the footage as there are many scenes that show explosions going off and various fight scenes. This film would also appeal to those who have a general interest in Marvel comics as this movie is an adaptation of one of their stories and features a number of their most iconic characters teaming up to defeat the ultimate evil that threatens the peace of the world, also known as Thor's brother Loki. Unlike Big Hero 6, this trailer does show violence and characters getting hurt therefore this film would be too upsetting or inappropriate for younger audiences, so this will be better suited for a more mature audience. The fact that the CGI is realistic for its time is a selling point for the movie, and would appeal to people who watch films for escapism rather than complex storytelling. They use big name stars in this movie such as Chris Evans, Robert Downie Jr., Scarlet Johansson and Chris Hemsworth so fans of these stars may be convinced to watch the movie because of these actors in order to see their talent of acting in action. 

The King's Speech (2010, Directed By Tom Hooper)

The King's Speech is likely to attract an audience of an older generation as it is a period drama film about the royal family. The trailer reveals the plot of the movie, showing that it is about King George VI who is made king, though he is reluctant about it as he is plagued by a stammer in his speech, and the film goes over how he seeks unorthodox therapy to get over it. As younger audiences are more interested in action and comedies, the older generation typically are more interested in watching a story progress without the distractions of explosions and fist fights. As the movie takes place during the second world war, this attract elders who remember living through that time period.The actors involved in the movie are big names who have won or have been nominated for academy awards, such as Colin Firth who plays the king, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. The fact that there are big names in the movie will help attract an audience. The trailer is made to be gender-neutral so that it will attract both males and females. 

Analysing Genre