Movie trailers

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,954
What's the point of going to the bleeding movie if the entire plot is shown in a 1 minute trailer?

Watch any recent trailer the the plot will be given away.

Here's how to do a trailer without giving away the plot.

 
It's terrible. Compare trailers from 10 years ago to trailers now and there is a massive, massive difference.

Trailers from 10 years ago made want to watch the movie without knowing the plot. Nowadays it's like they're showing the movie in the trailer.
 
They've been poor for a while now, almost every trailer you see contains footage that is very obviously from the last 3rd of the film.

Doesn't really bother me that much though, most films these days are turn your brain off affairs anyway, films where the plot actually matters tend to do a better job with the trailer.
 
I think the problem is not that the trailers give everything away, it's that in so many films these days there are only enough entertaining parts to fill a 2 minute trailer!
 
Formula for film trailers [if the trailer is US made]:

Horror:

- Lots of atmospheric shots of a dark house, fading in and out
- No voiceover
- Glimpse of killer, probably in the background, in the dark or in a mirror
- Girl walking around, uncertain
- Girl screaming, running
- Girl crying on phone while her friends say "GET OUT OF THERE, GET OUT"
- Shot of girl about to be killed
- Cut to black
- Film title graphic arrives on screen with a bang sound

Action film [no matter which country the film is made in]:

- Shot of city at dawn or dusk
- Traffic sound
- Deep male voiceover
- Lots of quick shots of people driving or running
- Something blows up
- Someone looks at their watch in panic
- Something else blows up/window smashes
- Shia LaBeouf

Romance/comedy:

- Shot of a suburban house or flat
- Patronising male voiceover
- Shot of couple meeting
- Shot of couple drinking coffee
- Run sequence of couple fighting
- Book being thrown at wall while girl squeals
- Voiceover: "But sometimes we find... the things we're looking for... are already the closest to us"
- Couple smiling at each other
- Film name fades into shot in a serif font
 
Formula for film trailers [if the trailer is US made]:

Horror:

- Lots of atmospheric shots of a dark house, fading in and out
- No voiceover
- Glimpse of killer, probably in the background, in the dark or in a mirror
- Girl walking around, uncertain
- Girl screaming, running
- Girl crying on phone while her friends say "GET OUT OF THERE, GET OUT"
- Shot of girl about to be killed
- Cut to black
- Film title graphic arrives on screen with a bang sound

Action film [no matter which country the film is made in]:

- Shot of city at dawn or dusk
- Traffic sound
- Deep male voiceover
- Lots of quick shots of people driving or running
- Something blows up
- Someone looks at their watch in panic
- Something else blows up/window smashes
- Shia LaBeouf

Romance/comedy:

- Shot of a suburban house or flat
- Patronising male voiceover
- Shot of couple meeting
- Shot of couple drinking coffee
- Run sequence of couple fighting
- Book being thrown at wall while girl squeals
- Voiceover: "But sometimes we find... the things we're looking for... are already the closest to us"
- Couple smiling at each other
- Film name fades into shot in a serif font

Exactly this
 
I only watch Teaser trailers now, if possible. The Inception teaser was awesome

Hate seeing trailers in the cinema, they give away everything!

 
Last edited:
This is what annoyed me about Prometheus and Dark knight Rises, too many sodding trailers all giving away too much.

I think all the only good parts in the dark knight were shown in the trailer

I hate it when they show parts of the film @the title screen
 
I hate it as well, comedies seem to be the worse for it.
I absolutely hate watching a film where. I don't know what sort of film it's in. You got to prepare the frame of mind. If I was expecting an action and got a drama chances are I would. Hate it, simply for teh fact it wasn't what I was expecting. So watching trailers. Is a must.
 
I saw a trailer for "The Watch" on tv which I wouldn't go see but it lasted a whole 2 minutes I think and was basically the whole movie condensed in that time. Pretty stupid.
 
Everyone seems in favour of the OP, screw that, I disagree!

The thing is, and it's pretty important, is context is completely missing in 99% of movie trailers. You're shown a rapid sequence of shots, completely out of order, with just the right amount and mix of emotion and captivating dialogue to get your attention.

If you really think a 120 minute movie can be ruined ruined by a 1 minute trailer then you can think again.

People like you, like a lot of folks, don't understand the manipulation and power of editing. I can show shot A and then shot B and provide one conclusion. But if I show them in reverse order you will draw a different conclusion. This is done in trailers for film and television non-stop.

Come back in a few months with concrete examples of completely spoilerish trailers and I'll believe you, I should point out you can't do this exercise with hindsight. You can't do this with a movie you've already seen in full, trailers are built so that they are your first interaction and perception of a movie.

Honestly, I know the feeling, you've seen a trailer, you think you've seen everything. But really you're being manipulated, the movie-makers want you're attention and they'll get that whichever way they can. I've often thought I know what's going to happen, or atleast have some damn good ideas, but never has a trailer completely spoiled a film for me.

The vast majority of details and key story points are left out, and once you're sat down with your popcorn you've forgotten about what you saw in the trailer already.

And having typed all this out, I re-read the OP and realised it was all a bit misdirected...

Watch any recent trailer the the plot will be given away.

So what? I know the plot, great, do I know what happens? Nope.

Do I know how the film unfolds, what occurs in Act I, then Act II, then Act III? Very rarely.

Most trailer's say, hey, here is some of what happens, here's a naked woman which is why you should watch, and here's a memorable line for you take with you. That's it, nothing more.

It's a pencil-sketch outline of the plot and nothing more, I like going into a movie with that pencil-sketch outline, it helps me orientate myself within the film universe and absorb myself quickly.
 
Formula for film trailers [if the trailer is US made]:

Horror:

- Lots of atmospheric shots of a dark house, fading in and out
- No voiceover
- Glimpse of killer, probably in the background, in the dark or in a mirror
- Girl walking around, uncertain
- Girl screaming, running
- Girl crying on phone while her friends say "GET OUT OF THERE, GET OUT"
- Shot of girl about to be killed
- Cut to black
- Film title graphic arrives on screen with a bang sound

Action film [no matter which country the film is made in]:

- Shot of city at dawn or dusk
- Traffic sound
- Deep male voiceover
- Lots of quick shots of people driving or running
- Something blows up
- Someone looks at their watch in panic
- Something else blows up/window smashes
- Shia LaBeouf

Romance/comedy:

- Shot of a suburban house or flat
- Patronising male voiceover
- Shot of couple meeting
- Shot of couple drinking coffee
- Run sequence of couple fighting
- Book being thrown at wall while girl squeals
- Voiceover: "But sometimes we find... the things we're looking for... are already the closest to us"
- Couple smiling at each other
- Film name fades into shot in a serif font

I totally agree with this ^^
 
Formula for film trailers [if the trailer is US made]:


Action film [no matter which country the film is made in]:

- Shot of city at dawn or dusk
- Traffic sound
- Deep male voiceover
- Lots of quick shots of people driving or running
- Something blows up
- Someone looks at their watch in panic
- Something else blows up/window smashes
- Shia LaBeouf

haha
 
Just like to add that the trailer for drive didn't reveal anything and actually, mislead us into thinking it was a Fast and Furious wannabe. This was done on purpose to knock your socks of when you realize that it is so much more. However, Total Recall had a 2 minute plus trailer that was in chronological order. This gave away way to much.
 
I saw a trailer for "The Watch" on tv which I wouldn't go see but it lasted a whole 2 minutes I think and was basically the whole movie condensed in that time. Pretty stupid.

my earlier comment was made mostly with this film in mind! I watched it expecting good things from the trailer, I could have saved my money and watch the trailer on repeat for an hour and a half :p
 
This defines whether a trailer is really good or not if you can show the audience the basic plot of the film so they get an understanding, without feeling like they've watched a montage instead.
 
Back
Top Bottom