Q9). Theatrical trailer VS Teaser Trailer

Teaser Trailer

•Shorter than full theatrical trailer,

lasts about 30 secs-1 minute.

•Doesn’t reveal a lot, sometimes just

one character is shown.

•They are used to entice the niche

audience and to leave the audience

questioning what the film is about,

when it is coming out and who is

starring in it.

Full Theatrical Trailer

•Lasts for about 3-4 minutes.

•Releases more information.

•Reveals more of the plot.

•This entices the niche audience and

more.

Teaser TrailerThe Blair Witch Project Teaser Trailer

•‘This Summer’ – is the only information released on the teaser trailer to indicate when the film is coming out.

•Only told basic information a group of teenagers filmed in a documentary and there footage was all that was found.

•Only footage we see is at the end of the teaser trailer of the top half of a female character’s face while they are crying – this makes the audience question “why she is crying?” this starts the audience to wonder about the film and creates a hype between fans for the film.

•The text shown at the beginning which is the only part of the trailer which explains the plot line says;

“In October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary.A year later their footage was found.”

This roughly explain what happens in the film but doesn't give too much information away but gives enough away to attract the niche target audience.

•Can hear someone murmuring, but it is unclear what exactly they are saying; could be praying or apologizing, but the audience doesn't know what for. This is used to create a mysterious feel and make the audience question why this happens in the film. It gets the target audience talking and creating a hype about the film before it is released.

Full Theatrical TrailerThe Blair Witch Project Full Theatrical Trailer

•Date was changed to Halloween to maximize audience, so says the real release date which is ‘26th October’

•More information released in the text shown on the trailer

•See more footage of characters, see them recording with their camera, see the setting more; the graveyard and woods. This helps the audience to understand more information about the film. It sets the scene partially.

•The text shown at the beginning says: “What was supposed to be a fun trip” it is then followed by some footage then it says “becomes a hunt” then some more footage is shown then “you are the prey”. The next text to show isn’t until the end of the trailer when it says: “be prepared 26th October”, this is the new release date for the film.

•Humming noise builds suspense then nearer to the end of the trailer a heartbeat starts pumping. There is no voice murmuring/crying/praying in the full trailer though where as the teaser trailer did.

VS

• Can hear someone murmuring, but it is unclear what exactly they are saying; could be praying or apologizing, but the audience doesn't know what for. This is used to create a mysterious feel and make the audience question why this happens in the film. It gets the target audience talking and creating a hype about the film before it is released.

• Also see text saying ‘The Blair Witch Project’ with a logo underneath it. This shows the audience the title of the film. It is shown towards the end of the teaser trailer to make target audiences have to watch the whole trailer and get more of a feel for the film before they can find out what it is called.

• After the title and season has been released they now show a website where fans can go on to look at perhaps behind the scenes footage, there will be forums/chats for people to speak about the film etc and they would also be more information on the website released.www.blairwitch.com

• The website then fades mysteriously and then there is pure black screen and silence to leave the audience wanting more and feeling adrenaline possibly.

This is from part of the full trailer which shows that the film is all created from lost footage and that all the footage was filmed on a hand camera like the one this man is holding above. It also shows the age of the characters in the film; young, American students. This is drip feeding the audience information about the film so they can begin to put pieces of information together and try to work out the film before they actually view it at the cinema.

This is part of the full trailer, it shows some of the footage from the film and helps to set some of the scene for the audience. This is also releasing little bits of information to drip feed the audience about the film before they see the film, it helps to attract their attention.

This is part of the full trailer. It helps set the scene and show some of the footage from the film itself. This is all useful information for the audience’s to see if they would enjoy the film or if it’s not to their tastes and enjoyment.

Releases information about the film in general to entice the audience. This information is shown because it’s the full trailer and these release more information than the teaser trailers.

Releases information about the film in general to entice the audience. This information is shown because it’s the full trailer and these release more information than the teaser trailers.

Releases information about the film in general to entice the audience. This information is shown because it’s the full trailer and these release more information than the teaser trailers.

‘Be prepared October 26th’ – This is shown in the teaser trailer. It tells the date of release and adds ‘be prepared’ for dramatic effect t o show the audience that it is a scary film.

This is the first thing we see in the teaser trailer. It shows the company who helped produce the film’s logo. This shows the audience that the film was produced by a good company.

This is the next part of the Teaser trailer. It releases some information highlighting the outlines of what the film is about but it doesn’t release information or footage of all the characters or settings etc.

We then have a pure black screen for a couple of seconds to add dramatic effect and leave the audience guessing what is next.

The next thing we are shown in the title of the film with a little Blair Witch logo.

We are then shown the top half of one of the character’s face for a couple of seconds. It sounds as though she is praying, murmuring or apologising. As the audience we feel the fear for her, she is crying but the audience doesn’t know why. This is used to draw in the attention of the audience and helps to create an atmosphere and ‘hype’ about the film before it is released.

It then shows ‘THIS SUMMER’. This is a hint of what season the film will be released in. it doesn’t specifically say the particular date because it is only a teaser and the full trailer releases more information such as the exact day of release as well. Artisan Entertainment changed the date of release from creating the teaser trailer and the full trailer, they didn’t release it in the summer as planned to in the trailer (as shown above) they released in on October 26th, around the time of Halloween to attract a larger audience and it fitted into the film market better.

The website is then shown for the target audience to view and look around. There may be behind the scene footage, interviews, games and competitions on there related to the film to attract more of a larger audience for the film when it is released.