you know in a world world world world in
a world hey make sure your phone's
turned off I think we're getting some
feedback out here a trailer boils down
to four main elements plot characters
conflict and the cliffhanger really each
trailer is its own unique short story
that happens to pull all its clips from
one movie the only real difference
between a trailer and a short story is
the cliffhanger a trailers main goal is
to get people to want to see the movie
the cliffhanger is basically what's
missing from the trailer the part that
has to be enjoyed by purchasing an 11
dollar ticket to see the movie yourself
so how do you make a trailer that's so
good it's safe to say the movie will do
well to stop thank you for safety safety
is first let's look at the history of
trailer structure and see why even today
some trailers are still pretty
forgettable since the 1950s trailers had
a narrator basically just tell us the
four elements they'd say who the
characters were what the conflict was
the plot in whatever makes the movie
worth seeing now here Connie Tim and all
the other wonderful people in this
unforgettable story clips from the movie
only accompanied the narration so for
the majority of cinematic history the
trailer was more or less a sales pitch
by some narrator tell us the character
tell us the conflict tell us why it's
worth seeing and show a few clips to
keep us from getting bored maybe throw
in some silly music if it's a comedy or
something epic if it's action or drama
although some trailers from this time
we're very well made psychos trailer is
narrated by Alfred Hitchcock as he walks
through the Bates Motel and in this
house the most dire horrible event took
place but as trailers had to get shorter
to fit into TV commercial breaks they
became more formulaic think about the
stereotypical in a world trailer it's a
narrator telling us the characters
telling us the plot the conflict and the
cliffhanger at New York cop John McClane
has got to see his wife
and it's not just for action movies
comedies have a similar formula tell us
everything sprinkle in some jokes along
the way her name is Samantha Baker and
today is their 16th birthday the problem
arose when this format became
predictable and boring the in a world
style of trailer now gets parodied more
often than actually used in a world
where laughter was king I know in a
world Jack I do have to be careful
generalizing though because while the
majority of trailers did follow the
formula there have always been trailers
that stand out I need to talk what
happened what's the matter Gary came
over last 10 min a salad last night
because I was upset that Jo was getting
married that's one and before I knew it
we were kissing and nationally sure we
did it they did it but eventually even
the average trailer started getting more
creative and most importantly more
efficient the short story of the trailer
is limited to around 2 minutes if
there's any way to say more in less time
than perfect first cut out the narrator
and incorporate voice overs from
characters in the movie this change
makes the most sense if we use character
voiceover we can have plot and conflict
introduced while also introducing the
characters so I'm gonna have to science
the shit out of it second we don't need
the character telling us the cliffhanger
show the cliffhanger we want to see
lightsabers if we're seeing a Star Wars
movies so the best way to make a trailer
for Star Wars tease us and to the
trailer right before the lightsabers hit
the trailer is sending a message if you
pay for a ticket you will get to see
this
third is the built start with something
familiar something normal then disrupt
it does live on the great plains of
Africa no make the clips get faster than
music louder and then peak followed by
some resolution many early trailers
never did this but it since become the
norm
but that's the problem these techniques
have become so normal that they aren't
enough to make a trailer stand out
anymore the vague dialogue the
over-the-top music it's very familiar to
us like that last line of the trailer
that's supposed to be really epic but
it's so vague that it hardly makes any
sense when I saw you I believed it was a
sign that something new can come into
this world one way trailers combat with
monotony is through making more unique
trailers where the sequence of shots
gives the four main elements instead of
a voiceover telling us the conflict and
telling us the plot with the right clips
from the movie in the right order we see
the plot and conflict in the American
sniper trailer chris kyle has his sights
on a child he may have to shoot to
protect his team Chris Kyle's internal
conflict not addressed in voiceover but
in the sequence of cliffs
and the cliffhanger whether he pulls the
trigger maybe show a scene between the
two main characters in their secret
identities and cut back and forth
between their talk and them as
superheroes have a bad history for you
dressed like clowns or even show an
entire scene in a movie not with cut
after cut and not with ridiculous music
and voice over in the background just a
good scene that makes for a memorable
trailer and partly why the Furious 7
trailer won the golden trailer award I
think in a lot of ways movie trailers
are like car commercials the majority of
commercials are relatively the same show
the car driving around and looking cool
while a narrator brags about the car
half the car stop announce its name and
show the brand logo obviously this type
of commercial gets cars sold because
it's used all the time but it's boring
it may be cheaper and easy to write but
it's so familiar it's the unique car
commercials that go viral or are really
funny or different that are probably the
most valuable because they create buzz
and get shared all across social media
so maybe most trailers will continue
with a more formulaic presentation of
the four elements but those ones that
stand out the cool trailers you want to
share on facebook and talk about with
your friends those are the ones with the
bang for their buck
down boy you turn me in