RESEARCH: WHEN ARE TRAILERS SHOWN?

Most trailers are produced at the same time as the film is being edited. The timing of a trailer campaign is important: it must be shown far enough in advance to generate excitement about the film’s release, but not so early that people forget about the film before it even comes out.

• The trailers are designed to create a ‘buzz’ around the film. What do you think will be the main talking points from these trailers?
• Most of the film trailers on this site are due to be released in the UK over the spring and summer months. From the trailers you have seen, why do you think the distributors have chosen this time of year to release these films?

Toy Story 4

As this trailer is a sequel of the previous Toy Story movies, the buzz is created around the fan favourite character Woody. The main talking point about the trailer is the reintroduction of other famous characters Bo Peep and Buzz Lightyear. The music also contributes to the feel good summer movie, God Only Knows - Beach Boys. As the target audience are too young to watch the movie themselves, it is up to the parents to decided, and as the song is an old school summer song, it might resonate with the parents.

The film gives of a summer vibe, as shown in the picture above there is a fun fair and summer skies which offers a family friendly appeal to the movie. The movie was released during the 2019 Summer in June, which was the right time to release this movie because it has family holiday summer feel. Releasing the movie in summer time also allows the target audience to watch the movie. This is because during the winter and autumn months of the year in the UK, all children are in education, therefore there is less time to watch the film during those times. However, releasing the movie during the summer months when school isn't going on, means that all the children can watch the movie.

Yesterday

The trailer gives off a very summer vibe through showing the festivals and all the audiences in the festival having a great time. There was a concert on the beach and naturally the beach is associated with the sun and summer. Therefore, releasing the movie in the summer works well in correlation with the scenes appearing in the trailer.

It was easy to create a buzz around this movie as music produced and created by the Beatles is synonymous with the music culture in the UK and places abroad. However, rather than making it a generic movie about a band, it was unique and humorous having some random guy get famous from the music the Beatles created. The buzz was also created through the use of starpower. Big names like Ed Sheeran, Lily James, Himesh Patel and James Corden helped to create a buzz around the movie. This is because Ed Sheeran is very well connected with the UK music scene often topping the charts with his music.

The Brink

The Brink is a documentary following the life of Steve Bannon, who was former White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the president, during Donald Trump's spell as the president of the United States of America. Steve Bannon is a controversial character due to his right-wing political views, however, it can be relatable to audiences who are also right-wing. The film allows audiences to see 'behind the scenes' of the USA's political scene and fully understand how it can be very difficult to be a politician. The trailer perhaps doesn't create enough buzz for audiences. It doesn't challenge enough but instead it just observes over everything happening. 

RESEARCH: WHERE ARE TRAILERS SHOWN?

Trailers are shown at the cinema, on TV and online with poster campaigns and radio campaigns also giving wide coverage for new film releases. Dedicated trailer sites and official film websites often carry trailers that have been cut for a general audience and are suitable for viewers of any age, whereas trailers shown in the cinema usually correspond to the classification of the film being screened.

After a discussion, I decided that trailers are shown in five different places: Cinema, Television, Websites, DVDS and Social Media.

Cinema:

Trailers are often shown in the cinema before the viewing for a movie begins. The trailers in the cinemas are often more extended than original trailers shown on other platforms. Therefore, this allows audiences to gain a better insight of the film. However, I would argue that this isn't always effective as audiences might not be paying much attention to the trailers because they have come to see a different movie,.

Television:

Between television shows there is often opportunities for advertisement and so therefore trailers can be exhibited. However, as most television shows are for general viewing, this means that movies with higher age ratings get less exposure on television until a certain time. In contrast, if the television isn't playing live footage, users could easily skip the adverts to get back to the program they intended to watch.

Dvds:

Similar to the cinema, trailers are often shown on DVDS before the movie. However, this is ineffective because most users would just skip the trailers and go straight to the start of the film. So although trailers are shown on DVDS, it isn't nearly as effective then the trailers shown on live television.

Websites:

The film website is likely to have the trailer on it, therefore, any audiences trying to find the trailer can just find it on their website. On 3rd party websites there might be pop up advertisements on the side of the screen which could be displaying the trailer. Youtube is a platform exclusively for video sharing, therefore, it would be easy to find the trailer for the desired movie on youtube. YouTube also has an advertisement scheme, as a result some users might see the trailer for a movie before a youtube video.

RESEARCH: HOW TRAILERS HELP FILL CINEMAS

 The FDA resource 'Teaching Trailers' suggest that whilst a film should clearly signal a genre in order to help audiences make decisions about whether they would like the film, but the marketing campaign and the film trailer should also offer audiences new experiences that make the film fresh and different from others in the same genre. This is known as the unique selling point or USP.

Given three trailers, I identified what was the USP in each:

THE LION KING

USP - Film consists of only talking animals and offers extremely high quality and realistic animation.

LATE NIGHT

USP - Film consists of star talents, Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson with the main focus being on women and femenism.

SPIES IN DISGUISE

USP - Film consists of extremely well known stars within the industry, Will Smith and Tom Holland. High quality animation is also present.

RESEARCH: WHO ARE TRAILERS AIMED AT?

I watched the trailers for three films: VITA AND VIRGINIA, FROZEN 2 and APOLLO 11 

Trailers are generally aimed at the same audience as the films they publicise. Different types of people like different sorts of films and whilst everyone is an individual there are certain features that will have wide appeal to specific groups of people. I analysed the trailers and attempted to match the potential target audience to the categories below:

My conclusions:

VITA AND VIRGINIA is suited to:  As this movie is a literary adaptation of a 1990 stage play, the target audience is likely to be for viewers aged 25+, it would be for audiences who are lovers of literature such as those interested in the Bloomsbury group. Therefore, this movie is possibly skewed towards women who would enjoy the sort of film like Emma by Jane Austen. This movie would appeal to people interested in the history of female liberation and coming of equality and independence. As Vita and Virginia is an arthouse film it would appeal to audiences that are lovers of  period drama who would find this film appealing to them because of the high production values and the settings of Sissinghurst which is considered one of the most beautiful national trust landsites in the country, which is where Vita lived. 

FROZEN 2 is suited to: 

Disney movies are expected to create a wholesome feel good appeal which is likely to children under 13 but also families. The main character is female because young female audiences felt they were not represented enough in films as strong empowered woman. Although this movie is clearly targeted for younger audiences, the high production values through the use of incredibly realistic CGI could also appeal to older audiences. As Frozen 2 is a sequel it attracts audiences who enjoyed the previous film. 

APOLLO 11 is suited to:

Apollo 11 would appeal to audiences who value the achievements of the West. Recently I have watched the trailer for Gravity, although both based in space, Gravity appeals to audiences interested in the anticipation of drama and unexpected events. However, unlike Gravity, Apollo 11 gives off the sense of triumph which by audiences feel as one. As this movie is a documentary it would appeal to audiences who enjoy non-fiction rather than fictional pieces.

RESEARCH: WHY IS A FILM TRAILER MADE?

I looked at three trailers on the Teaching Trailers resource supplied by the FDA online in order to further my understanding of why trailers are made and how they signal the film's genre.
The trailers that I viewed:

The Mustang

Initially I thought this movie would be based on generic bad guy in jail. However, the plot takes a dramatic twist when the main character Roman is introduced to the horse program. It is clear from the trailer that this movie is meant to be a feel good movie as we see Roman at his worst, then we see Roman and the horse have a connection during the trailer. Although the trailer only shows elements of the development from being a hardened prisoner to someone who has rejuvenated their life, I can see why audiences would be interested in seeing the parts that the trailer doesn't show. The genre of this movie is a drama because you can tell the stakes are high for Roman, it is either stay in jail or take this chance. As a result all the other characters that are introduced help move the story forward.

Fast & Furious - Hobbs & Shaw

As Fast & Furious is a series of movies, it is easy to assume that this instalment will follow the same structure as the previous movies, which is excessive unrealistic violence. However, to my surprise there were elements of humour which helped add a different appeal to the movie. In specific the competitive friendship between Hobbs & Shaw, as they always try to best one another. Therefore, this trailer could be directed for children because Hobbs & Shaw compete in quite an immature way. As expected the trailer showcased all the spectacle you would expect to see from a Fast & Furious trailer: violence, explosions, cars and super advanced technology. Trailers like this usually catch the interest of boys who are fascinated by guns and fast cars, however, this trailer proved through the use of female actress's that the woman have the same capability as men when it comes to firing guns and driving cars.

Artemis Fowl

As expected of a Disney movie, Artemis Fowl was full of incredible special effects through the use of computer generate imagery (CGI). Therefore, it was very easy to create a sense of a magical adventure through the creation of the alternate universe underneath the ground. It is clear the genre of this movie is a fantasy because fantasy features magical and supernatural elements that do not exist in the real world. However, it is clear that this movie would appeal to young girls and boys as the boy in the movie had been given magical powers which let his imagination run wild.

RESEARCH: WHAT IS A TRAILER?

I have started further research into trailers using the FDA's Teaching Trailers online course, from which these resources come. 
I watched the trailer for Booksmart before considering the following questions about trailers in general. 

The marketing campaign for a film is the different ways in which the film’s ‘message’ is presented to potential audiences.

1. What do you think are the major elements of a film marketing campaign?

Using Black Panther as an example, there were many major elements which contributed to the success of the film's marketing campaign. Through convergence and synergy Black Panther was able to market itself through the use of widespread media. The major elements of the film marketing campaign consisted of posters, trailers and social media. Tying those three aspects together contributed to the success of Black Panther. As well as those three elements, other contributing factors to the success of the film was the website and merchandising. As Black Panther had the support of global conglomerate Disney, it was easy to spread the word through the use of big launch events and star appearances promoting the film.

2. Where might you expect to see each of the different parts of the marketing campaign?

I would expect to see the trailers on youtube, snapchat, instagram and before I go to see a movie. I would expect to see the posters by bus stops and on instagram adverts.

3. What factors make you want to go and see a film? How do you decide which films to see?

There are a few factors that make me want to go see a film. I first look at what genre the film is and if it is the type of movie I would listen to. I then look at the reviews from IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic because I found that they critique films fairly and similarly to me. I then look at the actors and directors to see if there are any names that I recognise. For example I really enjoy movies by Christopher Nolan therefore, if I see a movie directed by him then there is a high chance I will watch it.