Codes and Conventions of Trailers

Conventions of a Film Trailer

• Trailers attract the audience and make them want to see the film.
• A trailer gives away the genre, some genres are more obvious than others, but some films can have hidden genres and it can be difficult to work out which genre the film is part of.
• A trailer sells the storyline to the audience and gives them a feel of what the movie is like.
• A trailer shows the audience the main characters and what their roles in the film are, plus it can show what to expect from this character during the film.
• A trailer is put together with interesting clips from the movie that don't give too much away, but they normally give a hint of where a film is going, and allows the audience to keep guessing on what the end result of the set of clips the trailer shows them will be.
• The trailer show the beginning or just clips from the beginning that build up to a usually explosive ending.
• A trailer always shows the title of the film, as well as the date of release.
• There is sometimes a voice over from either a person in the film or a famous voice which is instantly recognisable.

Conventions of a Film Poster

• A film poster must be eye-catching, and be alerting, making people stop and view it.
• A film poster contains the name of the film, as well as the date of release.
• A film poster must be easy and quick to read.
• A film poster must have an image of something related to the film. This can be either a main character or well known actors who stars or costars, or a scene which shows the location or a set.
• It must attract the correct and chosen target audiences, decided upon in the planning process.
• Famous and instantly recognisable actors are normally located on the poster, to make people aware that this star is in the film, and pull in the star's fanbase.
• There is always a tagline located on the poster, which must be either a quote from the film - such as the 'Why so serious?' quote from the Batman series of films, or a slogan which has been deliberately chosen for the film during the planning process.
• A film poster will normally contain a billing block which showcases the main actors names' as well as the name of the director. Sometimes names of famous stars or well known directors can attarct the star's fanbase, and increase the overall audience reach and viewership of the film.

Conventions of a Film Magazine Front Cover

• The magazine's name is clearly shown on the top of the cover, usually located within the magazine's masthead, this always makes the title of the magazine obvious and normally the font used will make the name instantly recognisable, like the logo used in 'Total Film' and 'Empire' magazines.
• The image used on the front cover must be attractive and eye-catching to the target audience for the film, which was chosen in the planning process.
• Famous actors which star in the film will be shown prominently on the front cover, to attract the star's fan base into buying the magazine.
• The price, date, and bar code will located either on the front or back of the magazine. The bar code is on the product so that the customer can purchase the magazine from the retailer, and the price and date is purely for the information of the reader.
• Other conventions of a film magazine front cover can include the genre, captions, the name and/or logo of the production company and close ups of shots used in the film.

Trailer Terminology

Plot Summary
Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a feature-length film. They start with a beginning (Act 1) that lays out the premise of the story. The middle (Act 2) drives the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. Act 3 usually features a strong piece of 'signature music' (either a recognizable song or a powerful, sweeping orchestral piece). The last act often consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film and may also contain a cast run if there are noteworthy stars that could help sell the film.

Voice-over
Voice-over narration is used to briefly set up the premise of the movie and provide explanation when necessary ('In a world...'). Since the trailer is a highly condensed format, voice-over is a useful tool to enhance the audience's understanding of the plot.

Music
Music helps set the tone and the mood of the trailer. Usually the music used in the trailer is not from the film itself (the film score may not have been composed yet). The music used in the trailer may be:

• Music from the score of other films
• Popular or well known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric or lack-there-of, or recognisability
• 'Library' music previously composed specifically to be used in advertising by an independent composer
• Specially composed music
• Songs, which may include knock-offs of recognizable (but expensive to license) songs

Cast, Crew, and Studio Information
A cast run is a list of the stars that appear in the movie. If the director or producer is well-known or has made other popular movies, they often warrant a mention as well. Most trailers conclude with a 'billing book', which is a list of the principal cast and crew. It is the same list that appears on posters and print publicity materials, and also usually appears on-screen at the beginning (or end) of the movie.

• Studio production logos are usually featured near the beginning of the trailer. Until the late 1970s, they were put only at the end of the trailer. Often there will be logos for both the production company and the distributor of the film.

Technical Elements

• Sound Mix: many movie trailers are presented in Dolby Digital or any other multichannel sound mix. Scenes including sound effects and music that are enhanced by stereophonic sound are therefore the focus point of many modern trailers
• Video Resolution: movie trailers, preceding feature films are generally presented in the same format as the feature, being in the general terms 35mm film or a digital format. High bandwidth internet connections allow for trailers to be distributed at any resolution up to 180p

The Purpose of Marketing

Film Trailers

Toy Story 3 Film Trailer

A trailer is an advertisement of a film that will be shown in the cinema at a future date. Film trailers are the number 3 watched online video after news videos, and user-created videos. Trailers are designed to tell the story of the movie is a highly condensed format, so that the movie has maximum appeal to the widest possible audience.


Film Magazine Front Covers

'Total Film' - Inception Front Cover

'Empire' - Iron Man 2 Front Cover

The purpose of film magazine front covers is to advertise and promote a film to an audience. The front cover is specifically designed so that is attracts an a high readership for the magazine itself too, because with an interesting or unusual front cover more people will buy the magazine and readership will be expanded. Film magazine front covers are designed to sell the magazine to the consumer.


Film Magazine Posters

'Wanted' Film Poster

'Cloverfield' Film Poster

'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' Film Poster

The purpose of film magazine posters is to advertise and promote an upcoming film. Film posters are part of a film's marketing campaign which is designed to create an awareness of the film and an excitement (or hype) over the release of the film. Information is given on film posters such as the name of the film, the rating of the film (from the BBFC), the release date of the film and the names of well known actors/actresses in the film. All the information is given with an image relating to the film in the background, usually containing an image of the well known actors/actresses.

Introduction of A2 Coursework

In this blog I have to record the process of making a trailer with my group. We have to produce a trailer, a magazine front cover and a poster to try to promote it to the prospective audience. In this process we have to hire actors, collect our own mis-en-scene and film it ourselves. It has to be a two minute long trailer and we have to try to show the codes and conventions of what trailers normally have today, so it can make the trailer which we produce appear more realistic. I will record the full process of the creation of the trailer, poster and magazine front cover, so to my involvement in the project is shown.