Purpose and Functions of Trailers

It is crucial to know the purpose of a trailer and the way it functions. Researching this will help me understand the method of how to construct my own horror movie teaser trailer.

Why do film companies need to use trailers and why is a trailer important?


Film companies use trailers to ensure they can get the largest box office number and the largest profit for the company to gain more status. This can only be done if a large audience goes to see the film and help increase the costs of going to the cinema to watch the film. Trailers benefit film companies a lot for they are mini summaries to the film -without revealing big plots and the ending. Trailers generate intrigue within the audience and it persuades audiences to go watch the film. Currently the film Wonder Woman (2017) is topping the box office charts with a total of $300,000,000 dollars in over a week. This released many trailers in order to gain a large audience which it successfully did so. They capture an audiences attention without revealing too much of the story.

What types of trailer are there and when is a trailer made?

There are two types of trailers which are the official trailer and the teaser trailer. The teaser trailer teases the audience into a small clip and access to the film whilst the official trailer is played in the cinema a few weeks before the actual film is played. Trailers are available everywhere and are released in order to give a short yet enticing introduction to the film. Sometimes teaser trailers tease a trailer in order to get audiences more interested and attracted to the film. Teaser trailers are often released early in exclusive events like San Diego Comic Con etc. Here is an example of a teaser trailer for Beauty and the Beast (2017)

















How are trailers chosen to preview before certain films?

Trailers are selectively chosen by an exhibitor/cinema manager and they would play a selected range of age appropriate trailers to an age appropriate film. By showing trailers before other films, the audience can choose whether or not to go see the film and so it makes them come back at a later date creating a cycle of regular audiences. In addition trailers are given a classification in order to make sure that the appropriate content goes to the right audience for example cinemas would not play the Deadpool (2016) trailer at the screening of a kids film, Sing (2016)

What is the BBFC, what do they do and how are films certified?

This is the British Board of Film Classification which is a non-government and independent body that determines whether a film is appropriate for viewers or not. The films are rated through a process as followed:

1. After the film has finished, the distributor send it to the BBFC with a form, listing all the important details like the length of the film, release date and their preferred rating and this helps give the BBFC a scope to understand the meaning of the film.
2. The company pay the BBFC
3. Films are scheduled for there are hundreds of films that are sent to the BBFC.
4. Compliance officers watch the film and note the title before writing a synopsis and then giving an age rating.

The films are certified in the following order:

Why is it important for a trailer to show us the genre of the film, how does this happen and how does the trailer show that this film is worth coming to see?

It provides more information with the film. The genre is an important part because it is up to the audience on what film they want to watch and so when watching a trailer, the audience deconstruct the trailer to see the genre and whether or not it suits them. Many symbols are given to the audience in order for them to figure out the genre the trailer is attempting to convey. Another way of figuring out the genre of a film is by the star for some actors are associated to certain roles. As well as using the genre to sell the movie, some campaigns may have a unique selling point, something that separates the film to make it unique.This trailer is the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and it tells the audience that it is an action adventure movie. The USP for this film is Johnny Depp who is known for playing the infamous character Captain Jack Sparrow.