A trailer is the first taste a viewer gets of your film, so it’s important to make it as good as possible. It needs to have a clear storyline, engage the audience and most importantly get them to want to see your full film.
There are a lot of things that go into making a great trailer, and it can be difficult to decide what to include. This is why it’s worth checking out other trailers and watching the films they promote to see how the directors have put together their pieces.
A good way to approach this is to create a structure sheet for your trailer which lists the key scenes in the film that you need to highlight. This will help you keep your trailer focused and allow you to plan out the shots you need to capture on camera. It’s also a great idea to watch the trailers of similar films that have been released to see how they have used visual effects to their advantage.
One of the most important aspects of a trailer is to introduce your audience to your main character and set up the central conflict of your film. This is usually done through a short sequence of shots that shows your characters in different situations. It’s also helpful to show your audience the world they are entering in the film, for example if your film is a fantasy adventure then you might want to include some shots of your character in their real world before they enter the magical kingdom. This will create empathy for your character and get the viewers excited about seeing how they will escape their troubled world in the end.
A strong trailer will use music and sound design to enhance the emotional impact of the film and create a sense of awe and wonder for the audience. This is accomplished through carefully chosen music and effects that match the tone of your film. For example a trailer for a fantasy adventure will pair music that sounds epic with cool visuals of your main characters overcoming their challenges.
Some trailers will even re-record some lines of dialogue or re-edit them to improve the delivery and to create a better sounding piece. This is a great opportunity to get the actors involved in the project and can help the film to come across as more professional.
Lastly, it’s important that your trailer ends with a major cliffhanger and leave the audience wanting more. The final shot in the trailer can be anything from a title card to a call to action button encouraging viewers to buy your film or sign up to your mailing list.
Creating a trailer can be a challenging task but it’s a vital part of the filmmaking process and can be very effective in getting your film noticed. Don’t be afraid to take your time and be creative in how you make your trailer sing, it could help your film get noticed by a lot of people that otherwise would have never seen it!