What is a trailer?

A trailer is a piece of promotional film that advertises a new film. They consist of certain selected shots which either "tease" the audience into watching the film or explains the story of the film to get viewers intrigued. Most trailer are normally 1:30-2 minutes and include features such as the date of the release, cast member, important crew members (such as director, producer and sometimes screenwriter). Movie trailers are normally viewed at cinemas and are popular on blu-ray and DVD. Trailers are also incredibly popular on the Internet on sites such as YouTube and Trailer addict.

There are lots of companies that specialise in creating trailers. Companies such as MOJO who created the trailer for The American, Trailer Park studios who made The Dark Knight Rises trailer; most of these agencies are involved in the creation of the film campaign as a whole so not only are they involved in the full length trailer but also in the teaser trailers and poster too.

The Great Gatsby

When looking at The great Gatsby trailer we see that it is 2:28, which could be argued as being a slightly longer trailer in comparison to Les Miserables which is 1:30. The trailer has an American voice over it which gives fuel to the idea that the Fitzgerald's novel is an iconic American novel. The voice over speaks if the wild lifestyle that the 'Bright Young Things' used to live. The trailer then cuts to another scene of Gatsby and Daisy which creates tension via the change in music which is quieter. the music used at the beginning of the trailer is No Church In The Wild by Jay Z; this show that the director Baz Luhermann is not afraid to pick a contemporary, maybe slightly unusual choice; this song and its rift also reflect the wild lifestyle that the character live.

When information for the film appears it is in Broadway font which is normally linked to the decade 1920s. The text also has a Art-Deco design behind it extenuates the idea of the film being set in the 20s. Via this trailer it suggests the genre of this film will be a romance and drama this via the way in which we see Gatsby and Daisy interact with each, though this romance is obviously going to full of drama and tragedy due to the end part of the trailer being full  are of short cuts which makes it fast pace and draws the audience more in. The target audience of The Great Gatsby would be people interested in The Jazz Age and the era as a whole, they are likely to be adults and probably female and finally I think people who are fans of the director will see to see if it as abstract as his work.

The Hobbit

In this trailer is shows the promotion of the film The Hobbit. The genre of this film is fantasy, adventure; this is shown via the mythical creatures such dwarf's, hobbits and wizards. Another that is implied that this is an adventure film is the background when the information for the film is appearing, this because it is a graphic map which suggests a journey, this map is also in the book the Hobbit at the beginning. The length of the trailer is 2:31 which is the longest trailer I am researching, it seems that the average length of a trailer is around the two and a half minute mark; this kind of length gives interest and curiosity for the viewer to want maybe look into the film more or even watch it. The narration heard in the trailer is of Bilbo Baggins explain to who we believe to be Frodo that he was young and adventurous once, this then leads into Gandalf intorducing all of the characters which are the 13 dwarfs that are the other vital charcters. The music in the background is of the dwarf`s singing a song from their native home, this gives the film a folk and ledgend feel to it. This trailer gets the viewers stirring to find out more about the character Frodo and most fans of Lord Of The Rings will be interested to watch the film as well.

Les Miserables

The main point of this trailer is to promote te film LesMisearbles. The way in which is archieved is by making the audience interested in the actors who going to be in it by doing close up`s of all the main characters and the actors playing them are such as Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried and. The clip seems to put emphasis on Anne Hathaway`s character as the song playing during the trailer is her singing "I dreamed a dream". This song was probably chosen due to it being the most popular song from the musical as a whole; its the most recognisable and people automatically think of the story. The way in which a song is played through suggests that the film will be a musical, another genre that Les Miserables could be thought of as a historical as well, this is shown via the costumes and setting which suggests the 19th century. One criticism I have of this trailer is the lack story telling in it, it is hard to make sense of what the films plot is and personally I like an idea of what to expect. Except for that I think this trailer gets the audience interested and fans of the musical will want to know more about it. I think that this may be the in-between stage of teaser and feature trailers so only gives away so much for the audience to want to know more.

Some Like It Hot

The length of the trailer is about average for the trailers I have been looking at and is the same as The Great Gatsby which is 2:28. The narration over the trailer is by a happy male voice, this is different to most trailers with narration as most voice overs are either dramatic or wise sounding voice. The choice of a more jolly voice may be because of the genre being a comedy, so therefore gives the film the impression of being a feel good film. this film is from 1959 which is the oldest trailer I am analyzing whereas the other trailers are all 21st century; this time difference shows an evolution from trailers having a happy voice in the 5s and 60s, to a more dramatic voice in the 80s and finally in modern day most trailers not having a voiceover. The narrative of the trailer is quite good and progressive of the events, though could be argued to give away too much about it, I believe there should be a balance of information and mystery about the film. The focal point that the trailer wants to promote is that the main lead of the film is Marilyn Monroe this is done via the way in which the voice over by saying, "Not since the Seven Year Itch, so much Marilyn", Monroe is also the first name shown on the screen and at the end it shows a clip from the film of her singing one of the songs from the film.




Sin City

When looking at the length of the Sin City trailer which is 1:50; it is one of the shorter trailer that I have been researching, this implies like Les Miserables that its a trailer that teases the audience into being curious about the film but not enough to give away the story. The start of the trailer gives a slight insight about what to expect which is done via the main character Marv who narrates to the audience he has been framed and the police are in on it. The trailer then cuts to different shots and has dialogue and scenes from certain parts of the film captivate the decent action parts but not the best. The way in which the film its self is shot is unusual; it is a modern film noir and has certain objects and people are a vibrant colours such as the blood being scarlet, the "Sin City" is bright red and a certain character being the only one who is in colour, this shows that this character must be of importance to the story. The  genre of Sin City is thriller and crime, this shown via typical representatives of the police such as the police knocking on the door saying "This is the police" and the inspector walks into the bar seeming mysterious. The information that appears on the screen which is such a way that it looks like what it is based, which is a graphic novel this is shown via the way the start looks like a panel from a comic, this also seen at the end of the trailer.