RESEARCH: WHEN ARE TRAILERS SHOWN?

 Trailers are shown at the same time as the film is being produced. Seasonal changes can affect when trailers are shown. A horror/thriller film is likely to be released throughout the halloween period and other light hearted films might be released throughout the spring/summer seasons.

Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 is a sequel from Walt Disney and Pixar It has an established fan base and loyal followers. One of the first things to stand out is the theme song You Got Friend In Me by Randy Newman. It is able to retain followers easily by using the nostalgic characters throughout the film, whilst also attracting new audiences by introducing new, unseen characters as the sequel develops. American audiences are able to connect with the film as it is based around a summer road trip. Massive names within the industry such as Tom Hanks voice over, attracting large amounts of new audiences. It will appeal to young audiences due to the animation elements while it also being child friendly. Boys are able to connect through the main characters like Woody and Buzz Lightyear, whilst girls are able to connect via Bo-Peep as she is a strong and independent woman. Adults are able to connect via The Beach Boys song God Only Knows.

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Yesterday

For Yesterday, it is a film about a man who has woken up from injury. The film gives off a festival vibes from the constant music. The music throughout the trailer is relentless giving off the vibe that the full film will be the same. Famous faces in thee music industry appear at times like Ed Sheeran. From these guest appearances they are able to bring in new audiences from the music industry over to the film audiences. 4 ways in which it is a summer feel good film is because it is about The Beatles. The Beatles music also features multiple times throughout the trailer. The trailer gives off a summer/feel good feeling that encourages people to go out and enjoy summer. The film creates excitement for audiences. More guest audiences from people like James Corden they are able to attract brand new audiences to the film. The film would appeal to both younger and older audiences as everyone can connect through music and I believe that the target audience is very broad.

The Brink

The Brink, a film from Dogwoof is about Steve Bannon who has anointed himself the leader of 'populist movement.' He travels around North America and Europe spreading his hard-line anti-immigration message. The film targets a right wing audience. The Brink offers big names within the industry like Steve Bannon, Nigel Farage and Piers Morgan. This film was released soon after elections were held meaning that information would still be fairly fresh in audiences heads. This is attractive for potential audiences as it offers behind the scene footage and unseen evidence which is interesting for lots of people. The trailer perhaps doesn't create enough buzz for audiences. It doesn't challenge enough but instead it just observes over everything happening. 

RESEARCH: WHERE ARE TRAILERS SHOWN?

Trailers are shown at the cinema, on TV and online with poster campaigns and radio campaigns also giving wide coverage for new film releases. Dedicated trailer sites and official film websites often carry trailers that have been cut for a general audience and are suitable for viewers of any age, whereas trailers shown in the cinema usually correspond to the classification of the film being screened. When people watch live TV people usually tend not to watch or concentrate during the adverts shown. This is because people only tune in because they want to watch the show and they have no interest in the adverts and trailers screened. Often it is not important to them and they tend to go off and do other things or are distracted by other forms of

technology. Overall, people tend to watch TV more than going to the cinema. This could be due to timing difficulty or some people prefer to just watch TV series rather than watching one individual movie. If a trailer for a film is cut for a general audience viewing could be dissatisfying for older audiences. This is because people who want to watch 18 rated films are signing up for watching some sort of violence or things you tend to see in 18's. If there wasn't this entertainment that they wanted to watch is is likely to dissatisfy the audience. When people watch a DVD people often fast forward to the beginning on the film and ignore all the previous adverts and trailers. This is because people signed up for watching the film and they don't care about anything else shown, they want to get straight into the action.

The Teaser Trailer:

Is a shorter and faster paced version of the trailer that is released prior to the full trailer. It is used to excite audiences and attract audiences. It is normally the first form of marketing that is released. The point of the teaser trailer is to give audiences a brief story line and only small elements of the movie are actually screened.

The Main Trailer:

Main trailers give audiences a more detailed plot of the story line including a lot more narrative giving audiences more information about what is going to happen in the movie. Often they are slower paced than the teaser trailer but it depends on the genre. Sometimes action and dramas are fast paced in editing but others are much slower and detailed.

TV Spots:

TV spots are much shorter version, are often not story focused and are more focused on creating an impression. They either last 10, 20 or 30 seconds. They appear on online services like Netflix. They contain the most exciting lines and shots that will be in the movie.

Using Graphics:

There are two types of graphics that are used in trailers. One being 'copy' and the other being 'pedigree'

Copy - will help tell the story of the movie. Some trailers have lots of copy in the. This is often used when the story is quite complicated to tell so the copy helps point to certain aspects of the story that are important.

Pedigree - graphics from the studio and are about things like distributors and companies. (Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox)

Trailers in the Digital Age:

Trailers in the digital age are more about visual elements and sound quality. The producers are aware that things will sound different on different devices. A trailer will sound better if it was screened at a cinema rather than on a mobile or laptop. Production companies are also adapting trailers to suit a variety of devices.

SOCIAL MEDIA & WEBSITE ANALYSIS

 

Analysis still by Finn Hanley

RESEARCH: HOW TRAILERS HELP FILL CINEMAS

 The FDA resource 'Teaching Trailers' suggest that whilst a film should clearly signal a genre in order to help audiences make decisions about whether they would like the film, but the marketing campaign and the film trailer should also offer audiences new experiences that make the film fresh and different from others in the same genre. This is known as the unique selling point or USP.

Given three trailers, I identified what was the USP in each:

Lion King

USP - Film consists of only talking animals and offers extremely high quality and realistic animation.

Late Night

USP - Film consists of star talents, Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson with the main focus being on women and femenism.

Spies In Disguise

USP - Film consists of extremely well known stars within the industry, Will Smith and Tom Holland. High quality animation is also present.

RESEARCH: WHO ARE TRAILERS AIMED AT?

 I watched the trailers for three films: VITA AND VIRGINIA, FROZEN II and APOLLO 11 

Trailers are generally aimed at the same audience as the films they publicise. Different types of people like different sorts of films and whilst everyone is an individual there are certain features that will have wide appeal to specific groups of people. I analysed the trailers and attempted to match the potential target audience to the categories below:

Vita and Virginia - is aimed towards all couples, aged 35+ and a more prestige audience. It seems to be better suited for an older age group. It appeals to socially aware women who are interested in the history of women's powers and what it was like for a woman in the 1920s. Admirers of The National Trust may also be interested due to the high production settings of gardens. Viewers can also notice the exquisite housing and mise-en-scene in Sissinghurst. Vita and Virginia is based on a 1990 stage play.

Frozen II - is aimed towards children under 13 and families taking their children to the movies. This is due to the style of animation used and the fact it is produced by Disney. This film appeals to the audiences who are interested in action and adventure as the trailers shows constant action. This film is a traditional Disney family friendly, feel good movie. The film is bright and bursting with colour which is attractive for the younger audiences.

Apollo 11 - is aimed towards families and teenage boys and girls. The trailer straight away shows their accolades which also interests more prestigious audiences. It is a documentary type production which also interests the older and prestige audiences. It attracts any audience who is interested in history, documentary and outer space. A long side this it can attract an American audience that is interested in the Apollo 11 operation. It consists solely of archival footage which makes it so convincing for the audience. Recently i have watched the trailer for Gravity which appeals for a different kind of audience, people that like drama as it is more unsettling however Apollo 11 feels like the movie is going to reach a justified conclusion.

RESEARCH: WHY IS A FILM TRAILER MADE?

 

I looked at three trailers on the Teaching Trailers Resource supplied by the FDA online in order to further my understanding of why trailers are made and how they signal the film's genre.

The trailers that I viewed:

The Mustang

Came across as a Drama. The main character is a violent prisoner, in the movie he is tasked to train with the Mustang. The film also looks like it would fit into the western and fantasy genres due to the fact that there are western elements like cowboys and it is set in Nevada.

Fast & Furious

Came across as an Action Adventure film due to the fast paced editing and the stunts shown throughout the trailer. The upbeat non-diegetic music also helps present the genre. The 'childish' stunts also helped show the genre and it showed that the target audience is varied. It can attract a lot of younger audiences however there will still be adults that will want to watch.

Artemis Fowl

Came across as a Fantasy/Sci-Fi filmed with a very young target audience due to the fact the central character was a child who seemed to swagger his way through the scene. The film exploited children's love of magic and adventure in its beautiful sets and its scenes of fantastic transformations such as the magical set-piece scene in which an old woman tranforms into a 

RESEARCH: WHAT IS A FILM TRAILER?

I have started further research into trailers using the FDA, Teaching Trailers online course, from which these resources come,

I watched the trailer for Booksmart before considering the following questions about trailers in general.

The marketing campaign for a film is the different ways in which the film’s ‘message’ is presented to potential audiences.

1. What do you think are the major elements of a film marketing campaign? Taking as example, the marketing campaign for Black Panther, marketing covered a huge spread, from all the convergent links on the BP film website such as social media links, as well as merchandise, film formats like DVD, BluRay film trailers, posters and connected events such as star appearances.

2. Where might you expect to see each of the different parts of the marketing campaign? In cinema (trailers) and on TV; online (film website with convergent links to twitter, instagram, youtube, blog posts by influencers and fans; TV and chat shows; newspaper reports and features; P&A (quad posters, fleet media, cinema lobby posters); radio shows; magazine articles.

3. What factors make you want to go and see a film? How do you decide which films to see? For me the trailer plays a big part in whether i want to go and see the film or not. Having a gripping trailer will either make me watch it or push me away. The genre conveyed through the trailer also helps with my decision. Posters also play a big part to see certain directors and actors that are starring in that particular film which will lure me in to watch it.

During my study of the film industry last year, i learnt about how both Hollywood majors and UK independent films created different marketing campaigns to reach and engage their audiences. A film marketing campaign may cover many different ways in which the film's message is presented to potential audiences.