A trailer is an integral part of the movie marketing process that draws viewers into a cinematic experience. It explains the story of the film in an engaging and appealing way and often uses music to convey a particular vibe. Whether a trailer is meant to be funny, scary, or romantic, it must create a sense of anticipation that entices viewers to see the film. It is also a crucial form of marketing that can help determine a film’s commercial success or failure.
Trailers have come a long way from their beginnings in the 1930s as short promotional clips for Hollywood films. The rise of auteur filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick shifted the style of trailers in the 1960s, creating more dramatic and artistic clips. By the 1970s, blockbuster movies began to dominate and trailers became highly polished and specialized in promoting each film.
The modern trailer has become a finely tuned machine that utilizes visuals and music to convey an emotional ride for the viewer. It typically begins with a title screen and a list of the film’s principal cast members, then cuts to cool visuals from the movie. The end montage is often set to an iconic piece of music, such as Enigma’s “The Eyes of Truth,” and a voiceover that hints at the narrative.
After a trailer’s initial release, it may go through several revisions as the studio tries to tweak its message and audience appeal. Frequently the trailer is recut by a professional trailer house, which will submit it for approval from studio executives. This process can be time consuming and expensive, especially when a trailer is released before the movie itself.
Unlike full-length movies, which are generally not shown on television or in theaters until their premiere dates, trailers are widely available and can be seen for free on YouTube and other streaming sites. As a result, they are more closely regulated by the Motion Picture Association of America than are theatrical films. Studios can now release “red-band” trailers that cannot be broadcast on television and develop extensive online campaigns featuring countdowns, teasers, and footage-less promotions announcing a trailer’s release.
Trailers are also the newest and most important tool for the viral marketing of films. This enables the studio to reach a large audience for less money than it would cost to produce and air a TV ad. In addition, the trailer can be promoted on social media with a hashtag to encourage sharing and fan engagement.
Among the many trailer-related terms to know is logistics track, which are slotted aluminum rails that run horizontally on both interior sidewalls of a trailer and are used to attach load bars or logistic straps for freight cargo. These rails are welded to the trailer floor and are sometimes called “crossmembers” because they support the trailer floor latitudinally between longitudinal “bottom rails” on each side of the trailer. These rails can be galvanized to prevent “galvanic corrosion,” which is the interaction between dissimilar metals, such as steel and aluminum, in contact with water (AKA electrolysis). This is particularly important where steel trailer sub-assemblies like upper couplers or crossmembers are connected to aluminum parts like bottom rails.