Lights are dimming.
We've all had the experience of sitting in a darkened theater,
clutching our popcorn, and preparing
to be whisked away to some unknown land
for high-stakes adventure.
But before we're given this new world
we're granted the privilege of seeing the trailers.
Whoa.
Cannot wait to see that movie.
These joyous coming attractions for other universes,
both near and far, that for the small price of admission
we can witness, or at least that's how it used to be.
Movie trailers now-- they're kind of awful, right?
Why is that?
Before we get too far into today's episode,
please be sure to like and subscribe to Nerdstalgic
for more videos just like this.
The first film trailer shown in a theatrical setting
was in November of 1913.
The Marcus Low Theater chain advertising director,
Nils Granlund, had the idea to cut together a short film
to promote the newly opening play, The Pleasure Seekers.
This moment has now birthed an essential component
to the filmmaking industry.
Today, the word trailer is used to describe
ads that play before a movie.
Well, back in the early 1900s, the word trailer
was created to describe these advertisements due to the fact
that they played trailing the main presentation.
While trailers started at the end of the film,
they were moved to the beginning when theater chain
owners started experimenting and showing
pre-screening attractions, like overtures, newsreel footage,
cartoons, and short films.
After a competitive survival of the fittest process,
the only persevering element was the trailer.
As the rise in popularity of trailers happened,
initially these ads were produced by the individual film
companies and studios.
By 1920, however, a singular entity was formed--
the National Screen Service.
Lobby cards, posters, trailers, and billboard ads all
went through them.
This iron-tight monopoly on the early days of the industry,
thanks largely to every studio signing
exclusive contracts with NSS, is one
of the many reasons why classic film trailers all
feel kind of the same.
The art of producing trailers was much more
a factory conveyor belt system than a fine art.
Emphatic and over-the-top statements ruled the day
in the '40s and '50s--
I never dreamed that an experience
could be so stimulating.
--with most trailers following a similar formula--
bombastic title cards, one or two sequences from the film,
and the cast being featured as the main selling point.
By the 1960s, the art of making trailers
was finally coming into its own, and the style and tone
of the trailers start to shift dramatically.
One of the most noticeable examples from this period
is the simple fact that the director became a huge selling
point throughout the '60s and '70s.
Dr. Strangelove is a perfect example of this evolution.
The trailer is edited in a similar style
to the movie itself.
A key contributing factor to this is Pablo Ferro.
He was the title designer on the film.
As the rise of the auteur directors transpires,
they become a key selling point.
They literally appear in the trailers themselves.
Take Psycho as another perfect example
of how the directors were becoming more and more
the selling points of films.
An old house, which is, if I may say so,
a little more sinister-looking.
As the social upheaval of the '60s gives way to the 1970s,
the film industry turns on its head.
Independent productions start to take over,
and real filmic auteurs with true vision
begin creating worlds that will define the medium forever.
And with that innovation comes a new word, blockbuster.
This new commercial expectation ushers
in a trailer emphasis on selling high concepts or distinctly
commercial premises.
And with that, the infamous "in a world"
phrase is uttered for the first time.
In a world without gas.
As blockbusters and large filmic franchises
grew and took over more and more of the Cineplex,
showcasing the high concept of your film
became of Paramount importance.
One man quickly became the voice of the movie trailer
industry, Don LaFontaine.
LaFontaine was the movies.
His voice was attached to practically every aspect
of the filmic advertisement world for close to 30 years.
LaFontaine's inimitable voice crooning
"in a world," or "in a time," or "in a future,"
is now as iconic as the idea of a film trailer itself.
We hired that announcer guy from the movies.
When the storm hit, both our cars were totally underwater.
In a world where both of our cars were totally underwater--
Throughout the rest of the '80s and '90s,
the main way films are sold is a one-two,
punch of showcasing the visual effects of the project
and giving a rambling explanation
of the plot in quippy, hyperbolic sentences.
However, that's going to change as we
enter the 2000s and 2010s.
This is where things more or less divide into.
The first type are trailers that just tell you the whole movie,
and sometimes literally even spoil the ending of the film.
The second type place a keen emphasis
on tone, rhythm, and feeling.
They're much more atmospheric trailers.
What's an atmospheric trailer, you ask?
Well, look at the way Christopher Nolan's Inception
trailer sells the movie.
It gives the vague setup of dream crime caper
and gets across the impressive visuals.
But most of the trailer is actually
built around the trailer's score,
and of course, the iconic inception.
[MUSICAL NOTE]
This sound shows up in just about everything
around this time.
Transformers 2, Iron Man 3, Mockingjay part 1
being just a few random examples.
Basically, every trailer around this time period
had brass horns and sweeping violins
to try and make the film in question feel epic.
We now live in a world where there isn't just one trailer,
there's multiple.
It used to be that trailers were shown exclusively in theaters.
Then they eventually were played on TV.
Now, we have three or four different trailers that
show in theaters and on TV.
And we have web-exclusive trailers,
and website-specific spotlight trailers,
and teaser trailers, and many teaser trailers
that premiere online in order to let you know that there's going
to be a trailer in a few days.
[LAUGHTER]
If that doesn't say everything you
need to know about the film industry and the business
of trailers today, nothing does.
You're probably saying to yourself, well,
who cares how many trailers there are?
It's just different ways of reaching people and spreading
the word about the film.
And on one level, that's true.
However, on another it's this weird catch-22
where people are now conditioned to think they know everything
about the film through these trailer dumps,
and it's having an adverse effect on the moviegoing
public.
Believe it or not, a fan attempted
to sue Warner Brothers for false advertising
in connection with the film Suicide Squad.
The attempted lawsuit was aiming to focus on the fact
that the trailers led people to believe that Jared Leto's
Joker was going to have a much more prominent role in the film
than he actually had.
Thankfully, this lawsuit went nowhere.
However, a Michigan woman did successfully
sue the producers of the Nicolas Winding Refn film
Drive because the trailers made it seem like a Fast and Furious
film.
And ultimately, the finished product wasn't.
The same thing happened with the Danny Boyle film yesterday,
which featured Ana de Armas in the trailers,
but eventually had her cut out of the finished film.
Two superfans are currently suing the studio for $5 million
for false advertising.
Movie trailers have always been a means to an end.
They've always been a way for production companies
and studios to give the viewing public a taste of what
they're selling.
But the way that trailers are today,
it seems like they're devolving.
This is partly because trailer houses are now
responsible for cutting trailers,
and most studios ask them to make trailers
that are exactly like what their rival trailer houses are doing.
Thus, all the trailers feel the same.
In a way, that is very reminiscent of what
they looked like when the National Screen Service
controlled the industry.
Are we going to change these trends any time soon?
Frankly, no.
There's just too much money at stake.
And if it works financially, why fix it?
Artistic expression is rarely the focal points of trailers,
ironically.
They're a sales tool.
And currently, they have that down to a science.
And it's up to the viewer to decide
if that's a good or bad thing.
That's all we have for this episode.
Do you think film trailers are better or worse than they've
ever been?
Let us know down in the comments.
And as always, please Like and Subscribe
for more episodes of Nerdstalgic just like this one.
[MUSIC PLAYING]