A trailer is a type of vehicle used to transport cargo or materials. It has a hitch on the back that connects to a tow vehicle. It may also have rails, allowing it to be pulled by a train or truck. Depending on the material being hauled, a trailer can be an open car transporter or a plant trailer, both designed to haul vehicles and mobile equipment, or it may have fully rigid sides creating a weatherproof compartment and be called a furniture trailer, cargo trailer, or box van trailer. Other types of trailers include dump trailers, flatbed trailers, landscape trailers, and livestock or machinery trailers.
Trailers have become a major component of film marketing, able to lift even the lowest-grossing films into the spotlight. In the 1960s, auteur filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick cut their own trailers to promote their movies. Today, trailers are a large industry in their own right, with companies and editors dedicated to them, massive websites devoted to cataloguing them, and even an annual awards ceremony.
One of the keys to making a good trailer is knowing your audience. Different audiences will respond to a trailer in very different ways. For example, some trailers for movies will have very little dialogue, relying on music and visuals to convey the story. Other trailers will be very dialogue-heavy and rely on the voice of an actor to sell the movie. In the end, it’s all about giving audiences a reason to see your film.
Trailers are often highly edited and may include scenes not in the film itself. The best trailers are short and tightly focused, allowing the viewer to experience a small slice of the movie without spoiling the plot. They introduce viewers to the main characters and set up the central conflict in the film, then end on a cliffhanger leaving the viewer wanting to know how the movie will resolve that conflict.
The most effective trailers are also memorable, and many use a song or theme tune that is repeated throughout the trailer, building anticipation for the film. They also make use of a call-to-action, either asking viewers to buy tickets or visit the film’s website to learn more about the movie.
In addition, some trailers feature a “special shoot” – footage created specifically for the purpose of the trailer that is not used in the final film. For example, the trailer for Terminator 2: Judgment Day showed an elaborate scene of the T-800 Terminator being assembled that was never included in the actual film. This technique is also common in action and horror movies, where special effects or stunts are filmed for the trailer but then not included in the film itself. In the past, some theaters aired programs of nothing but trailers for exploitation genre films.