There are guidelines need to be applied in order to be classified as an official trailer of a film. The codes and conventions are:
- Disclaimer
- used at the beginning of the film including the age certification by BBFC or MPAA based on the targeted audience.
- Film Production Logo
- Film production(s) logo conventionally showed within first part of the trailer. This can be displayed in form of static or moving logo. The production logo is significant in trailer in order to show the audience which company is producing the movie especially when the audience enjoyed their previous film(s). This help to widen the popularity of the production company as well as the film produced
- Most of the production companies usually produce a lot of films with a variety of genres. Production logos may appear differently depends on the genre of the film. This can be seen clearly below:
Production Logo in ‘How To Be Single’ Official Trailer
Production Logo in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 2’ Official Trailer
For ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 2’, the logo appears to be darker due to the storyline of the film as well as genre and ‘How To Be Single’ film has more brighter logo production since it is a romantic comedy film.
However, they can also be recognised to have a genre that they often created which is an iconography of the production. For example: Universal Pictures is more to action films, Walt Disney Pictures is more to fantasy films, Blumhouse Productions is more to horror films and Touchstone Pictures is more to romantic comedy films.
- Film Title
- The film’s title is the significant thing for the audience to know in order to watch the film if they are interested after watching the trailer. Most of the film titles are conveyed in the trailer at the end of the trailer. This is because if they appear at the beginning of the trailer, that is the first thing the audience see which make them forget easily. After watching intense and chilling trailer and the audience like it but the forgot the title of the film, they need to refer back to the beginning of the trailer and that is inconvenient especially if you are watching through the television where you can’t replay the trailer. Therefore, the title is displayed at the end of the trailer, after the audience watch the trailer and they love it they can mark the title at the end.
- Film title are conveyed through titles (word on screen) with simplicity and different effects depends on the plot of the film. If the audience like it and they remember the the film title, this can be spread through word of mouth or social networking sites as a bonus in advertising.
- Examples of film title:
- Plot Summary
- The plot of the film has to be interesting and well structured in order to grab the audience attention and their interest. Who would watch a boring trailer for the whole 2 and a half minutes? This can be conveyed through the rapid succession of shots in action trailer or just fast paced in most of the trailer in order to build up the tension. Obviously the ending shouldn’t be shown in the trailer or else no one would watch the film and to include the enigmatic code is the best way to grab the audience attention as they feel disorientated and increase the eagerness to know the answer.
- Main Setting
- Main setting usually show within the first part of the trailer in order to inform the audience where is the film takes place. Most of the main settings shown in form of panning shot of a city in the trailer especially in romantic comedy and action films due to the conventions of the genre.
- Time Length
- The average time length for the official trailers are usually 2 and a half minutes. The time length are in between 1-2 minutes long.
- Music and Voice Overs
- Both give the audience a better understanding of what’s going on and also to help set the mood and pace of what is happening on screen. Non-diegetic music is a must for the background music of a trailer. Romantic comedy film has softer music and a bit more upbeat as the atmosphere is in cheerful side. Action genre has loud and fast music to emphasise what is happening and engaged to the audience at the same time.
- Voice overs help to narrate the plot of the film as short as possible. This can sometimes be replaced by titles on screen being conveyed to the audience. Voice overs are usually use in rom-com trailers.
- Videos below are the examples of how the type of music used in different trailers with different genres:
- Cast and Credits
- The cast is used to display the actors that are involved in the film. The main actors usually will have more privilege compared to other actors by showing their name separately and largely in the trailer alongside to the shots of the character that they are playing in the film. The main cast will also appear most of the time in the trailer because the storyline is focusing on him/her. The cast is usually well recognised and this is the main reason that captivates the audience to watch the film other than the storyline itself.
- Credits will be given to those who helped in the production of the film and this will be credited in order to show the gratitudes of their hard work. Credits are usually for the director, producer, make up artist, composer etc.
- Release Date
- Release date are important to audience as they will set the date if they are interested in the film. The exact date should be shown in the official trailer or else it will be classified as a teaser trailer. Different genre has different season. Rom-com films are usually in spring season and horror films are usually being exhibited in October during the Halloween.
- Social Media
- This high technology modern media, having a social networking site is a must to promote the film even further. Social media such as FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter are the most famous one to use as platform of advertising and engaged with the audience by giving them more information about the film.
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