Film Trailer Discussion.

When we were put into our groups, we were asked to discus what we would expect to see in trailers and what intrigues us to go and watch a film in the cinema. Here are the results:

We decide to go and see a film at the cinema because:

- good critic reviews

- friends want to go

- based on the hype

- how it’s advertised

- the cast involved

- could be a sequel

- adaptations

- based on a particular genre

The main jobs that film trailers do are to:

- excite the audience

- to give the audience a preview

- to encourage them to watch it

- build anticipation

- identify the genre

- basic understanding of the film

- best scenes in the movie

- who’s involved (the actors and actresses)

Film trailers are usually shown before films at the cinema/ before and during films on TV because:

- gives audiences an opportunity to see what’s coming out – similar to the genre

- people won’t leave the cinema until after the film

- to keep audiences entertained before the film starts

Other methods film companies use to promote films:

- posters

- leaflets/ magazines

- promotional tours (premiers, interviews etc)

- internet

- radio

- merchandising

- images

- music videos

- competitions

- mobile phone apps

Effective film trailers you’ve seen and reasons for their effectiveness:

‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ – what excites me about this trailer is that at the beginning of the trailer, you don’t see anything but darkness and there’s complete and utter silence until the end of the trailer. You get to see a glimpse of the ‘horror’ within the film.