Monday 20 September 2010

Purpose and conventions of a teaser trailer

Purpose of a teaser trailer
-          Entice the audience
-          Persuade them to watch the full picture
-          Advertises upcoming movie
-          Establishes the genre
Codes and conventions of a teaser trailer
-          30 to 60 seconds – keeps the audience on toes and does not give too much away
-          Name of film and release date – So they aware of the film and when it comes out
-          Suspense throughout – leaves on a cliff hanger
-          Does not give plot away, almost like a taste of certain extracts/ scenes offering a variety – keeps audience guessing (Doesn’t follow a narrative structure)
-          Quick edits used throughout
-          Style is straight cut and jump cuts
-          Typically horror or thriller
-          Typically used for major motion pictures productions
-          Often features a voice over
-          Features cast list – May attract fans of particular actors/actresses
-          Identifies the main protagonist – form a relationship with the character
-          The personality of protagonist is suggested
-          Identifies the production institutions – advertises other productions of the institutions
-          Very little text featured or clip then text format
-          Minimal dialog
-          Usually released from six months before picture is released
-          Use music and silence effecively
-          Fast paste imagery
-          Movie image shown briefly before end

Differences between a theatrical and teaser trailer?

There are many variations between the two. Firstly, theatrical trailers are typically longer, this is because they follow a strict narrative structure giving a lot of the plot away. Although this gives the audience time to become familiar with the film and its contents i would argue that some give too much away. While teaser trailers do not follow any real narrative structure or typically reveal any actual footage from the film, its purpose is not to give anything away but only to tease and entice the audience with the 'best bits' of the upcoming film. Another difference between them is that teaser trailers are released much earlier before film release. This allows the audience to sooner become aware of the film and then re-familiarises them using a theatrical trailer closer to date. Usually only larger production companies will promote their film using  a teaser. Teaser trailers are typically first distributed online, while theatrical trailers tend to be shown straight into theatres.

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