A trailer is, in essence, a mini-movie. A well-crafted one can take viewers on a story journey that introduces characters, sets the tone and mood of a film, and teases a bit of the plotline to be followed up in the full-length feature. Whether you use the utilitarian standby of Apple’s iMovie or more sophisticated video editing software like Adobe Premiere, there are still some basic movie trailer making principles that you need to keep in mind.
While the movie trailer maker software gives you the tools to make a great looking and sounding trailer, it’s your creativity and the footage that starts with that will do most of the work. You should always have a strong understanding of your film’s story and what it is you are trying to convey with the trailer. It’s also helpful to see other produced trailers in the genre of your own film. Watching them will give you ideas for what works, what doesn’t and how to create your own version of the trailer that paints a picture of what your film is all about.
The most common mistake that is made in a trailer is having a scattershot focus that bounces between hyping up the stars on screen, showing as many cool moments as possible and explaining the plot in more detail than it should. As a result, too many modern trailers end up feeling cookie-cutter and uninspired. It’s a shame that such an important piece of marketing is often so poorly executed.
Another key element of a successful trailer is keeping a consistent tone throughout. This is especially important if you are planning to mix the tone of your film — for example, an action and comedy. One of the more successful early examples of this was the first Inception trailer. It pioneered the use of a simple, repeated, cinematic sound effect (akin to the old Don LaFontaine voice-overs) that was used as an underlying musical cue for every shot in the trailer. This gave each visual a certain dramatic weight that was missing in too many other modern trailers.
Similarly, in this same Inception trailer, the editors did a good job of pairing the film’s climactic line (“Human beings are a disease”) with a shot that shows or evokes humans. This is a much more effective way of connecting the dialogue with the visuals than the current trend of trying to match every line with a shot that sort of makes sense.
Finally, the trailer should finish with a cast run and studio production logos. This includes the name of the director and a list of the main stars that will appear in the film. Usually, a film will have several actors and actresses that deserve to be mentioned, but it’s often best to only include those who are likely to attract the most audience attention.