Trailers are film advertisements that are meant for films that will be released in the near future for public viewing. They are actually a sequence of selected shots from the films concerned. The main aim of any movie trailer is to make the audience aware of the film so that their interest and curiosity could be raised. The sequences that one finds in trailers are generally not in order, as it will appear in the film. Generally, a trailer lasts not more than two and a half minutes.
One interesting fact about movie trailers is that the sequences that one find in trailers are not inevitably to be used in the original movies. The trailers are embroidered in such a way that the audiences are charmed by its magic and makes sure that they are going to watch the film. Keeping this fact in mind the catchy, striking, electrifying excerpts of the films are taken and transformed into sequences of the trailers.
The above mentioned fact can be supported with two examples. In the film ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ the trailers included some sophisticated special effects scenes, that were never intended to be used in the film. But the trailers created a major hype among the audience and the film became a blockbuster. Hitchcock’s Psycho used this same technique in the year 1960. The trailer of the film featured that the famous director was offering a guided tour of Bates Motel and in the end arriving at the infamous shower. He throws the curtain of the shower and the chilling blood curdling scream is revealed.
Miramax’s Hero was released two years after the trailers started showing. During this period trailers were constantly broadcast in order to draw a huge audience.
Sometimes the people who make the trailers start on with their work while the film is still in its making process. This happens because the trailer editor can work right from the unedited version of the film. The editor can use any particular shot or footage that may or may not be used in the final version of the film or movie. Not only shots, sometimes the editor uses music also which is not necessarily used in the original soundtrack of the movie.
The contents of a trailer generally include the logos of the production company and the distributor, and a list of the names of major cast and crew. One can say that to some extent the trailers are the outputs of extensive market research that are conducted or based on the various locations. Now-a-days trailers are such an important part of the film publicity that one can find agencies called trailer houses that specialize in creating trailers.
Movie trailers form a very important component in the marketing of a movie. To some extent it determines the performance of a film in the box office. Like Academy awards there are two main awards that are meant for wonderful movie trailers. The Golden Trailer Award offered by the famous Hollywood Reporter is considered as one the most important award for movie trailers.