No-one is really sure when the first movie trailer was created but what’s clear is that they were text-based and came after the silent movies that so transfixed audiences one hundred years ago. And the fact that they came after, or “trailed”, the movie gave them the name that we recognize and use today.
Over the years, trailers adapted themselves to work harder to seduce potential moviegoers. It was the 1940s that saw the first bursts of creativity and the 1960s that cemented the movie trailer’s position at the heart of a film’s marketing campaign. No-one was more associated with the film trailer’s rise than Don Lafontaine. Whilst filling in for someone on a movie in 1963, Lafontaine found himself completing the voiceover for the trailer and commencing a career that saw over 5,000 trailers feature his distinctive voice and unmistakable lines.
In the 21st century, film studios have the formula perfected to a tee, even using some soundtracks time and time again in an effort to remind moviegoers of previously successful films and make the sell through positive association. However, no-one can deny that there is still an art to this unique blend of cinema magic and the advertising sell.
Nowadays, trailers even have their own equivalent of the Oscars. The Golden Trailer Awards are handed out to the industry’s best trailer makers each year in Los Angeles. With 16 categories, judged by film industry figures, the Golden Trailer Awards prove that the movie trailer will be mesmerizing cinema audiences for some time to come.