Codes and conventions in

Trailers - General

By Josephine Pobee

The title of the film occurs in every trailer. Most of the time it shows towards the end. This helps the viewer to remember the title of the film as it is one of the last things they see in the trailer therefore more likely that they will remember the film name. Here we see some examples from the films inception, Think like a man, Takers, Temptations, The Great Gatsby and As above so below. All of them have the names shown towards the end of the trailer and are designed to fit in with the genre of the film. One example shown is ‘Think like a man two’, because the film is set in Vegas and is a comedy the font and the way it is designed gives the audience an idea of what the film will include.

Title of film

Most film trailers will show the release date info also towards the end of the trailer to try and get as many viewers as possible to want to watch the film. On the left we see that the film ‘The guest’ & ‘The Phone Booth’ Both decided to put coming/visiting soon. This can help the audience understand that the film promoted is soon approaching. Not specifying the audience about the actual date like the film ‘After Earth’ and ‘The other women’ can make the audience more interested about the film as they have just seen an exciting trailer but then do not even know the actual dates of the release therefore they may be even more intrigued because they will want to know the release information.

Release Date/Info

Production logos are an important part of making trailers. They are usually the first thing that the audience see when watching a trailer. Most production company’s may have a reputation of the types of films they produce usually, therefore by having the production logo showing it can help the audience to know what to expect in the movie shown in the trailer being shown. The advantage is that if a certain production company is enjoyed by a certain member of audience then it is likely for them to want to go and watch the film shown in the trailer. The production company logo can also indicate what type of genre the film will be.

Production Logos

This is narration in which helps to explain the storyline of a trailer. It can help draw the audience in more as usually the writing is in bold and catches the audience’s eyes. Here we see an example from ‘The other women’. The text can seem like a mini narrative in which has missing parts and doesn't tell the whole story therefore it makes the audience want to see the rest of the story revealed and be resolved.

Inter-title/Narrative Text

Music is one of the very main things when creating a trailers. It helps to tell the audience what genre the film is by creating a certain tone and atmosphere. It also sets the speed for the trailer as the pace of the trailer changes therefore the music can help make the scenes more effective by making a change in pace through out. With the sounds some trailers have voice overs and can seem like a guide to help the audience understand what is happening. Sometimes it can be actual sections of dialogue playing over film.

Music/Sound

Another common convention seen in most movie trailers is having the main character/characters one of the things the audience sees. And throughout the trailer they will get the most screen time. This can sometimes help attract an audience to want to watch a certain film because of a certain celebrity/actor they know in the film and can also help them know straight away who the main character is and understand the story. Here we can see an example from the film ‘Rio’ the first character we see is him therefore the audience knows who the film is about right from the start.

Introducing main Character

Sometimes the faded transitions go into a black out (fast paced). Like the example shown above from the film ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Fast & Furious 6’ this can help create the sense of scenes are moving forward through time.

Faded transitions