Nothing gets movie fans talking like an action packed trailer, which means the first public
look at an upcoming film really can mean the difference between a runaway blockbuster and
a box office disappointment.
It's not all that shocking that movie trailers - just like movie posters - have become an
exact science, with the same colors, poses, and tricks used by every major studio.
But once you take a closer look at blockbuster trailers, you may be surprised at just how
similar they really are.
Here are Screen Rant's 5 Ways Movie Trailers Are All The Same.
The Foghorn
You have to give credit to Christopher Nolan for working a major plot point of Inception
into the trailers, setting the action to the booming music of "Mind Heist," a song drawing
on the booming notes used as a countdown by the movie's dream thieves.
Audiences didn't know what to make of it, but rival studios didn't need to find out
before following suit.
It wasn't just the Mind Heist blasts that were stolen immediately, but the structure
of the sequence as a whole.
We can hear the same sounds in the Avengers trailer, GI Joe 2, Prometheus and Transformers
3.
These days it's hard to find a trailer that doesn't flip from black screens to random
action beats to drive the back half of a trailer home, which means movie fans might completely
forgot there was ever a time before "the Inception BWOOMMMMM".
The Bass Drop
The popularity of earsplitting horns, massive explosions and out of control electro rock
in most blockbuster trailers came at a price - with so much going on, it was hard to actually
keep up the tension or suspense.
The solution wasn't brilliant, but it was obvious: drop everything back down to silence,
just to build it all the way back up.
But how do you pull that off and make it seem cool?
How about an electronic, bass drop as if the power has been cut?
It's not even funny how quickly movies raced to steal this other trick, and use it in the
exact same way.
In the Mad Max Fury Road trailer it can be heard near the start of the trailer.
The Furious 7 trailer obviously took notes from its predecessor�s and Hunger Games
joined in with a nice touch near the middle.
Whether it's leading into a slow mo tease, a cryptic tagline, or spoiling the most epic
moment of the film, you apparently can't get there without dropping the bass beforehand.
How else will audiences know that what they're looking at is awesome?
Ominous Voiceover
Knowing that a movie trailer will turn into a frantically cut, deafening, then silent,
then deafening roller coaster by the end, studios know they've got to start quiet - so
the loudest moments feel even louder.
What better way to open than with random lines of dialogue without any real context, preferably
spoken over sombre strings, low rumbles, or single, high pitched musical notes?
We can also seenthis happening in the Avatar trailer, Man of Steel, X-Men Days Of Future
Past, Terminator Genisys and TMNT!
The origin of this trick is easier to understand, since single lines of dialogue really can
sum up a movie's themes, getting audiences to use their imagination.
But when every other movie decided that disembodied lines divided by unnatural pauses were better
than actually showing the scene in question, the move became a meaningless one.
THE Montage
There may have been a time when a single scene, stunt, or just assorted settings would sell
an audience on the action in store.
But at some point, movie studios decided it was better to tease every dollar of the film's
budget in one frantic montage.
Set either before or after the Foghorn sequence, this montage can be filled with characters
screaming, shaky cam footage, close ups of the hero and villain in combat, you name it.
It's this part of the trailer that can be the most irritating to fans trying to avoid
spoilers, since a closer look at split second cuts can reveal entire twists and plot points
- leaving viewers to wonder why the studio would spoil some of the best moments.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, the foghorns symphony starts to set the mood for what�s coming.
The same happens in Iron Man 3 when the foghorns stop and the montage starts.
Fellow Avenger Movie Thor The Dark World followed the trend.
Selling the movie is still the top priority, but even if the franchise is a guaranteed
blockbuster, this strict trailer formula demands some things get spoiled months ahead of time.
The Final Gag
Once the trailer has opened calmly, built to its first crescendo, dropped the bass back
to zero, then built to a foghorn-filled montage of assorted action, probably leading into
the movie's official title, there's still...
something missing.
One last joke, one last wink to the audience, or if nothing else, one last rhetorical question
followed by another glimpse of a completely different action set piece.
With the action typically sandwiched between the setup and punchline, this final gag is
the studio's cherry on top.
It can also be the cheesiest moment of all, when successful franchises take a victory
lap, already seeing the piles of money coming their way.
Man Of Steel treated us to and with once again Iron Man
and Thor feeding off each other.
Let�s not forget a couple of years before, Batman Begins gave us and the iconic line.
The same happens with horror movie trailers starting silently, before one last jump scare
to get the squeamish screaming.
But it's action comedies that get the worst deal, since it's usually one of the movie's�
�best� jokes that gets the spoiler treatment for one last laugh.
Those are the most common tricks and conventions when it comes to cutting a trailer, but which
ones have we missed?
Can you think of the best trailers to buck the trend?
Let us know what you think in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our channel for
more videos like this one!