2. Film Company
Most film trailers begin with the logo of the
movie studio that the film is being
distributed by. These images are universally
recognisable around the world and connect
new films with older films. When the
Universal logo comes up it makes the
audience think about films like Jaws and
Jurassic Park, whilst the Paramount logo
conjures up films like Indiana Jones.
Audiences will have positive of these films
are those memories will be imprinted on
the trailer they are about to see.
3. Plot
The most simple job of a trailer is to introduce the
plot of the film, to varying degrees. Some trailers will
only give us the bare minimum amount of
information whilst others will tell much of the film’s
story. It’s a fine line between the audience feeling
like they’ve seen to much so there no longer
intrigued by the film and them seeing to little so
they have no interest anyway. A film like Inception’s
trailer struck a perfect balance between the two,
giving the audience a story and characters to relate
to, as well as unexplained images which would spark
a mystery in someone’s mind. The film was a massive
success mostly in part to the great trailer.
4. Characters
The problem however here is that obviously for
my trailer I’m creating I wouldn't at all be able to
create anything close to the amazing special
effects in Inception so in order to create the
same level intrigue I would have to in 2 minutes
create both depth and mystery around my main
character. A trailer for the film like “Shame” does
this perfectly. There’s no car chases or stunning
special effects ; it’s just a simple 2 minute
introduction to the protagonist of the film, which
in the mind of the person watching the trailer
creates a mystery. Who is this man? What’s
wrong with him? These questions are simple
because they need to be. Emotionally we
connect to him just from the trailer because the
great effective use of cinematography and music.
For my film I wish to create a similar effect to
this.
5. Design
Most great trailers end with the film’s
title in original font. The most iconic
films of all time like Star Wars and
Indiana Jones can be evoked simply by
the film’s font. For my film I will design
an original font using either Photoshop
or possibly by drawing it out myself
and scanning it into the computer.
Even for a films like Inception and
Shame the mood and feeling the film
is trying to create is perfectly evoked in
the film’s font. Inception’s is steel and
metallic matching the film’s intense
action feel, whilst Shame’s is minimal
and simplistic small on the screen
matching the feeling of melancholy
the film is conveying.
