A trailer is a small vehicle that carries a load, either in the form of people or goods. It is typically attached to a towing vehicle and may include a ramp or other loading devices. Trailers are often equipped with special braking systems and suspension to ensure safe transport over rough or high-speed roads. A trailer may also be used as a temporary storage container.
When it comes to movie marketing, the trailer is usually the first contact a potential audience member has with a film. As such, it is the opportunity to make a positive impression and convince the viewer that not only will they enjoy the film but that it is worth their time and money.
The modern trailer is a complex machine, leveraging an array of psychological tactics to shape the audience’s expectations and drive engagement. They can be funny, dramatic or suspenseful, and use a combination of scenes from the film and new content created specifically for the trailer. They can also manipulate dialog and add music that is not part of the movie soundtrack. The best trailers, like the memorable scenes from classic films such as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Dracula” and “Apocalypse Now,” have become cultural touchstones.
In the early days of cinema, there were few ways to advertise films beyond the printed poster. By 1913, Nils Granlund had introduced montage trailers that could be displayed before a feature film. The concept was so successful that cinema owners and studios started to create their own trailers, which became known as teasers. The National Screen Service was created in 1919, and enjoyed a virtual monopoly on trailer production until the 1960s, when auteur filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick began to cut trailers for their own films.
Traditionally, movie trailers are two to three minutes long and play before the feature film in a theater. They are usually presented on the same format as the film being shown, whether it be 35 mm or a digital version.
Today, many movie trailers are released while the film is still in post-production. The resulting trailers frequently have incomplete VFX, but many people believe this is a worthwhile sacrifice in order to ensure that the final film will be of high quality.
Trailers are generally edited in a similar fashion to music videos, with the main focus being on evoking emotion through the use of imagery and music. The most famous example is probably the “Mad Max” trailer, which matched every line of dialogue to a visual that was either action-oriented or related to the word being said.
Another common technique is to include a scene from the film that is both iconic and exciting. This is especially important for blockbusters, as the trailer is the only way that audiences will have a chance to see the action on screen before the film is released. For example, the opening shot from “Alien” is instantly recognizable, as is the pulsing heartbeat that is heard throughout the trailer.