To start my research, I looked at trailers in general and what are the typical codes and conventions.Trailers are used in the film industry by production companies to give the audience a glimpse at an upcoming film, so they a definite must when advertising a film.
There are 3 types of cinema trailer;
1)The teaser – This is predominantly for larger scale films of which their production company can afford a range of advertising methods. It often doesn’t give you too much information about the plot of the film, but it just makes the target demographic aware that there is an upcoming film suited for them.
2)Main Theatrical – These are mainly shown in cinemas before feature length films. They can also be watched on the internet. Trailers are often around 2 minutes or more, so they show the basic plot of the film without giving too much away.
3)Short Theatrical – These are often similar to TV spots, which feature a shorter version, similar to the teaser but faster paced and it shows all the key elements that the main theatrical trailer does as they are often made after the film has been completely filmed so it can include a lot of imagery from the film. They are shorter but they definitely try to pack all the important details from the other trailers.
THE TITLE
Typical of film trailer of all genres is to have the movie title towards the end of the trailer. This keeps the audiences interest and then leaves them with the film’s name so it’s easier for them to remember and research if they want extra information. RISE OF THE GUARDIANS has the title towards the end of the trailer with an extra clip from the film at the end.
PRODUCTION LOGOS
Production companies need to advertise the fact that the film belongs to them and that they made them. The logos are often found nearer to the beginning. In the majority of film trailers I have seen, the logos are shown before any clips from the film such as SHUTTER ISLAND; the trailer for this starts with the Paramount logo and then leads onto clips from the film.
However the film trailer for the upcoming film SERENA starts with a film clip and then progresses onto the production logos.
CAST
A film needs to have a solid cast to make the audience what to see this film. The trailer tends to show the main cast members to grab the audience’s attention. I looked at the trailer for 12 YEARS A SLAVE, a big blockbuster film of 2013, the trailer shows a cast members name and then a short clip from the film of said actor in action in the film.
In the film trailer for VALENTINES DAY the cast are introduced a bit differently, as the film includes an all-star cast; a cast members name is displayed on half of the screen with the adjacent side showing a soundless clip of them in the film.
When I watched the trailer for SERENA, I noticed that as the main actors were introduced as ‘Academy award winner/nominee’ this makes the audience aware that the film has professional actors that are good at what they do. Having not only one but two people who are critically acclaimed actors is good for an upcoming film, the cast can be a selling point for some audience members, the story line of a film may be good but sometimes without the performances of good actors, the film may not be received well.
THE RELEASE DATE
The release date is critical for a film trailer. Whether it gives the audience an exact date or just a rough time. Often films are due to come out at a set time as the production companies know that it will be a successful time for films of that genre. Films more suited for a younger audience are often to be released in holidays such as Christmas time or summer time. For example Disney’s Frozen was set to be released just in time for Christmas 2013 and is now the 5th highest grossing film of all time.
Films more suited for an older audience such as movies in the horror genre are more popular in the autumn season, especially around October due to Halloween for example, OUIJA.
For some films the release date can be predictable, this depends on the genre of the film. The film VALENTINES DAY already had a predictable release date just from the title alone, not even needing to watch the trailer. During the trailer, the release date is mentioned in the middle of the trailer briefly ‘this February’ and it is repeated at the end of the trailer.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS’ trailer gives the release date at ‘This Thanksgiving’ in the middle of the trailer, this clearly states that it is an international trailer. Later in the trailer ‘November’ is displayed on the screen, this gives extra information for the audience, even if it’s not a specific date it still makes the audience aware of the film’s time of release.
ICONOGRAPHY
Iconography is often used in teaser trailers more than official final trailers. It is also popularly used with film sequels. Often in superhero films, iconography is ideal to make the characters more recognizable to the audience. In the trailer for SPIDER MAN 2, the iconic spider symbol is used as it carries with it recognition that helps the audience. They immediately know its part of the franchise and it draws in the fans. As for the updated SPIDER MAN films, THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN, the spider is used as an iconic feature but it has been reworked to become updated just as the films have.
In the SOCIAL NETWORK trailer, the iconography that is used is linked to the social 
etworking site Facebook. The title for the film uses the same iconography as the Facebook website, this makes a connection with the film and the website.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The social media aspect of a film trailer is a necessity to fully advertise the film’s upcoming release. In the advertising campaign for THE DARK KNIGHT, a website called whysoserious.com was used, the site gives information about the film, it’s not a normal website because it doesn’t show information about the film itself but it’s as if the website has been taken over by the films villain. The film THE SOCIAL NETWORK is all based on the website, Facebook so by watching the trailer you realize that it’s not simple to have a million dollar company.
SOUND
For a full on blockbuster movie such as PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 an epic soundtrack is needed to bring in the audience and keep the action going. Due to this film being a sequel, people have high expectations of the films and know that due to the action, the music needs to fit perfectly with the scenes in the trailer. The music gradually gets louder and faster paced as the trailer progresses to build the tension.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, features the classic INDIANA JONES theme song. This shows the audience what they are in for and they immediately know what to expect as the franchise is so popular.
Often in horror or sometimes thriller trailers, the music is eerie and fits to a scene in the trailer in particular. This is sometimes used to build up tension and suspense and as the trailer progresses the volume may increase as well as the tempo. So trailers often get a slow start and as the action on screen increases in speed as does the audiences heartbeats. Horror films want their audience to feel the adrenaline pumping through them, the trailer is what does it for them.
INSTITUTION DETAILS
I have found that in many trailers that I have looked at, at the end of it shows a screen with text on, it gives all the extra information for the audience; the release date, cast, website, production logo, director and other important features to a film. A good example of this is VALENTINES DAY.
In the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 trailer, at the end of the trailer all the details for the film include the key cast members names, the production company ‘Walt Disney Pictures’ it gives reference to the crucial parts of the film, such as the music ‘music by Hans Zimmer’.
REFERENCES
As in all film trailers, clips from the film are used, often in conjunction with voice overs coming from a clip to be shown soon. If the film has been created by someone very successful and popular often their name will be dropped to entice the audience such as in SHUTTER ISLAND, ‘A Martin Scorsese picture’ is shown on the screen as it wants to attract an audience, if people are familiar with his work then they would consider seeing this film.
Similarly in the trailer for VALENTINES DAY it says ‘From the directors of Pretty Woman’ this comes after the clip with Julia Roberts and as fans of the film would know that she starred in Pretty Woman so it makes a link with the cast.
‘From acclaimed director Steve McQueen’ this phrase is features in the 12 YEARS A SLAVE trailer. This uses the success of the director to entice an audience to watch this film.
Alisha Hussain Media Blog 