Codes & Conventions of Film Trailers

By Mohamed Bushra

Production Logos• Every film trailer starts with a

disclaimer which shows which audience is suitable for the film, films have to show this so that anyone who is not suitable to watch the film can stop watching.

• Followed by the production companies. These logos at value to the trailer as most of them have big reputations among the audience for producing excellent movies.

• Additionally, the audience can determine the genre of the film by looking at the production logos e.g. COLUMBIA Pictures produces animation, action, adventure etc. film genres.

Narrative Text• This is narration text which

helps the audience understand the storyline. For example in ‘The Women in Black’ the text warns the audience about ‘the women’ but also gives them the clue that she put a ‘Curse’ on them.• The text doesn’t tell you the

whole narrative, but teases you into wanting more.

Name Captions• Name captions are used to introduce the actors,

producers, directors and etc. This attracts the audience as each of them has his/her favourite actor, director and producer so when seeing their name they will go and see the film.• However, film trailers use a technique that allows

them to use a famous director’s name e.g. ‘Endorsed by Michael Bay’ while in reality he only agreed to have his name mentioned. This technique attracts a large crowd while it may not be produced by a famous director and producer.

Music & Sound• Music is very important in a trailer as it sets the

mood and creating a certain atmosphere, which helps the audience determine the genre.• For certain genres e.g. horror, action, adventure

it is used to increase the tempo, scare the audience, get them excited etc. • Some trailers have sound overs/narrators, which

seems as a guide to help the audience understand the storyline.

Introducing Main Character

• Film trailers also introduce the main character in the film. They will be in most of the scenes in the trailer and this builds up a relationship between the character and the audience before watching the full film.

• The actor’s name is always shown in the beginning of trailer, this is important as the audience might decide to watch a film only for the actor.

• When the main character is introduced the audience can identify the genre of the film, as with some actors you know which film genres they act in. For example Bruce Willis, the majority of his films are action packed films (Red & DIE HARD) .

• Another example is Channing Tatum, who is also an action and adventure actor. He worked with Jonah Hill who is a comedy actor and together they produced an action-comedy film. When seeing these two in a trailer the audience expect comedy and action in the film.

Editing & Time Length• Film trailers contain popular editing techniques such

as the use of fast paced editing and transitions (fade outs).• The transitions are used to show key scenes from the

original film, these scenes are usually in chronological order. However, not all films follow this as sometimes the trailer starts with the disequilibrium part of the film. • The length of a trailer is usually between 1.3 & 2

minutes, however this is for the official trailer. After the official trailer you will have additional trailers being released, containing different scenes from the film.

Title of Film• In every trailer the title of the film is

shown. This usually happens at the end of the trailer, as this helps the audience to remember the name after having seen the preview.• Here are some examples• As you can see all of them are shown at

the end of the trailers. • The font of the titles matches the film

genre e.g. ‘The Equalizer’. The is similar to ‘IMPACT’ as this is a heavy font suggesting that this film is tough and may contains violence.

Release Date • This is similar to the film

title, the release date of the film is shown last. However, some trailers don’t release a date put simply put ‘COMING SOON’ the effect on the audience is that they will keep checking for new information about the film.• Here are some examples

from trailers.