A 2 M E D I A

FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES OF FILM TRAILERS

WHAT ARE FILM TRAILERS?

• A trailer is an advert for a film to be shown in the

cinema. Trailers are made to show the genre and

story line of the film in a short amount of time that

must appeal to its target audience.

• In the past years film marketing has become a large

industry, with multiple trailers being made per film.

THE FUNCTION OF A FILM TRAILER

• The function of a trailer is to promote its film

• It is created to be aimed at the films target audience

• It is used to encourage its target audience to watch the film

• To show what stars are going to feature in the film to further

encourage the audience to see the film

• To inform the audience of the genre of the film

FEATURES OF A FILM TRAILER

• Trailers are designed to grab the attention of the audience within a short space of time.

• They are deigned to make the audience excited for the film so they will go on to watch it.

• Trailers also use sound and music, as it can manipulate the audiences emotions and create a certain atmosphere, bringing across the genre of the film.

• Voiceovers are used to summaries the storyline of the film.

• The film title is normally placed at the end of the trailer with credits and reviews placed in between the action within the trailer.

CONVENTIONS OF FILM TRAILERS

The main conventions for a trailer are:

• The highlights of the film shown throughout the trailer.

• Dramatic camera angles and shots from the film.

• Credits shown between action within the trailer.

• Voiceovers to tell the storyline

• Music to create atmosphere and show the genre

• Films titles appear at the end

• Montage – again showing the highlights of the film at a rapid pace.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND FILM TRAILERS?

• TV adverts

• YouTube

• Social networking sites

• ITunes

• Cinema

• IMDb

• Internet in general

HOW IS THE TRAILER DISTRIBUTED?

• The distributors are in charge of all the functions and features

of a film and used to create a USP (unique selling point) of a

movie to show the target audience.

• A USP separates one film to another so it makes every movie

different even if they are within the same genre.