The movie trailer is a work of art that stands on its own, unlike the movie it's advertising.The trailers give the audience a taste of the final product that leaves them wanting more.Planning, persistence, and a set of skills that are slightly different from what's needed to make a feature-length movie are some of the things that will make the perfect movie trailer.
Step 1: The production company information can be seen on brief screens.
If it was a small-budget independent movie, there's a good chance that the first thing you saw in the trailer wasn't footage from the movie itself, but a few quick screens showing the logos.The people involved with the film want to receive due credit for the time and money they've spent on it, so don't forget these images.You don't have to wait until these images have finished showing to start introducing your audience to your film.Most trailers use the precious seconds spent showing these logos to start playing music that establishes the mood of the trailer and/or playing audio dialog from the film.In rare cases, the studio's logo is creatively modified to fit the mood of the trailer.The original trailer for Office Space shows the 20th Century Fox logo on a Xerox machine.
Step 2: Determine your mood, genre and main character.
Don't waste time telling your audience the basics of your movie.Within the first ten to thirty seconds of your trailer, your audience should have a rough idea of what kind of film the trailer is for, who the main character is, and what sort of mood the film has.Trailers often show a short clip of the main character saying something that establishes the general mood and content of a film.Let's look at the first 20 seconds of the trailer for Whiplash, starring J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller.We start with a shot of a New York City street.Andrew and Nicole are in a deli, talking to each other.The place is nice.Bob Ellis is on the drums and I like the music he plays.Andrew is a part of the top jazz orchestra at the best music school in the country.As he continues, we see a clip of an older man hanging up his coat and hat.Andrew leans against a wall as we cut to him.The key is to relax.Don't worry about the numbers or what the other guys are thinking.You're here for a reason.The band was going to start playing.Five, six, and...In just twenty seconds, the Whiplash trailer gives us a lot of information about the movie, including that Andrew is a young musical genius, that the film has a romantic component, and that a teacher/mentor relationship exists with Andrew.
Step 3: Introduce the film's central conflict.
The people, things, feelings and events that will form the basis of the story should be introduced once you've established your film's status quo.Explain to the audience why it should care about the characters and themes you've just introduced.Try to answer questions such as, "What dramatic thing happens to set the plot in motion?"How does this affect the characters?How does the main character solve the conflict?"Telling is based on conflict," said Jerry Flattum.There is no drama without conflict.Conflict is what drama is all about.Let's go back to the trailer for Whiplash.The film's central conflict is revealed after the trailer shows Andrew playing drums in a jazz band.There is jazz music on the soundtrack.We have Buddy Rich here!The band is playing.The band stopped suddenly.There is little trouble there.You're moving fast.We are here!Andrew and the rest of the band are playing the song again.At the last second, Andrew ducks out of the way as Fletcher hurls a chair at him.Were you rushing or dragging?I don't know. We cut to a closeup of Andrew.Andrew was hit hard in the face.I will gut you if you sabotage my band.Andrew starts to cry.Oh my God.Are you a single tear person?You are a worthless pansy who is weeping and slobbering all over my drumset like a nine year-old girl.The trailer establishes the central conflict of the film.A cruel, ruthless, and abusive tormentor is revealed to be the teacher, who at first looks like a normal teacher.The conflict is clear without the film having to spell it out explicitly: will Andrew, who wants to be a great musician, be able to survive the extreme stress of tutelage?
Step 4: Without spoiling the plot, Tease at the film's rising action.
You have more freedom in how to continue your trailer after you have established the film's characters and central conflict.Many modern trailers choose to hint at the progression of the plot by showing quick, short clips of key lines or events in the film in rough order of their appearance.Don't give away too many of the film's surprises, especially if any surprising plot twists are revealed, because moviegoers may resent trailers that reveal too much.The basic plot beats of the movie are explored in the trailer.To keep the length of this article manageable, some snippets have been omitted, and the brief snippets below are taken from the trailer.How is it going with the studio band?Good! I was ill-at-ease.He likes me more now.There is a clip of Andrew playing drums and Fletcher screaming at him.The score plays and no lines are heard.Andrew walks down a dark concrete hallway, Andrew punches through a snare drum in a fit of rage, and Andrew runs through the parking lot with his equipment bag.People are pushed beyond what is expected of them.It is an absolute necessity.Andrew and Nicole are indoors.I would like to be one of the greats.I don't think that we should be together because I'm doing that and it's going to take up more of my time.The short clips give us a good idea of how the plot is going to progress in Whiplash.Andrew and Nicole will begin to experience romantic tensions as drumming eats up, we know that the stress of drumming under Fletcher is going to gradually creeps into Andrew's home life, and that he views his harsh teaching philosophy as a way to push young talented musicians to greatness.We know how Andrew's relationships with Nicole and his family will change over time.We don't know if Andrew will become great by the movie's end.
Step 5: The film's central message is spelled out.
As your trailer nears the end of its run time, leave the audience with a strong, lasting impression by acknowledging the film's main theme in an exciting or compelling way.According to a handbook to literature.A theme is the central idea in a literary work.You'll want to show your audience what the film is about, not just the plot.What single question is your film trying to answer?The main conflict of your film can be boiled down to a single memorable line or image.The "central" moment of the Whiplash trailer comes near the end: Various clips play as Fletcher slowly speaks in voiceover: Andrew sits in a long dorm hallway alone; Andrew leaves a building late at night; and Andrew stares with a worried expression in the band room.Andrew's final lines come from him directly as the score swells, and we join them in a dark room."Good job" is the most harmful word in the English language.The trailer hints at a question at the center of Whiplash: Are Fletcher's cruel methods justified if he is able to produce truly great musicians?Is our young, promising musician less likely to achieve greatness if he doesn't have to go through this?We'll just have to see the movie to find out, because the trailer chose not to answer these questions.
Step 6: The end of the trailer should have a memorable line or image.
The last few seconds of your trailer can be used to make the audience want to see your movie even more.It's often effective to simply end with a witty one-liner, a provocative image, or a few quick shots that are exciting when shown in sequence.Whiplash ends with a flurry of fast cuts that build in a sense of speed and tension.As the cuts between clips become more and more frequent, there is no dialogue, just the slow, steady beat of a snare drum.The drumming reaches a loud, powerful zenith, then stops suddenly, leaving us with a close-up of Andrew at his drum set, sweating, with an implacable look on his face.The action leaves us tense, exhilarated, and wanting more, though it doesn't reveal any plot details.
Step 7: At the end, add credits and legal information.
Most movie trailers end with a credit page with information about the film.This is usually limited to the studios and production companies behind the film and the people who played major roles in it, like the director, executive producer, starring actors and so on.Stage hands, key grips, and so on are not usually included.In the United States, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) has a system of rules in place for assigning credits on films that fall under its jurisdiction.The Screen Actors Guild has their own rules.It is not enough to simply display as much information as the creator of the trailer believes to be enough, as major film releases must adhere to these rules.The lack of support from these organizations may make it difficult for films and trailers to be released.
Step 8: The best equipment is used.
It's hard to hurt the quality of a trailer if you ditch low-quality equipment for top-of-the-line hardware.Trailers that are shot with high-quality cameras and microphones and put together with professional-grade editing software will have a much easier time looking and sounding amazing than those shot on a shoestring budget.It's possible to create beautiful, effective trailers while working around budget and equipment limitations, but it requires extra work and planning.Trailers are usually pieced together from footage from the movie, not shot on their own.It's best to shoot the movie itself with the high-end equipment, rather than reserve it for the trailer alone.
Step 9: Draw out your trailer with a storyboard.
It's important to plan for making a gripping trailer.It's important to have a shot-for-shot plan before you step into the editing room, even if you're making your trailer from previously shot footage.With a feature-length movie's worth of footage to work with and no plan to follow, it can be extremely difficult to even start.It is important that you don't devote yourself too much to your storyboard.Plans are supposed to be adjusted occasionally in the world of cinema.In this case, be prepared to adjust your plan to correct these errors and make your trailer as good as possible, as you may find that certain clips that you thought would play perfectly just don't "work" in the greater context of the trailer.Have you ever created a storyboard?You can get started by reading our storyboarding article.
Step 10: Find someone who can do it for you and keep your editing quick.
Good trailers have a "rhythm" that's hard to describe.The trailer seems to flow into each other in a logical way.The perfect length is not so short that it is hard to tell what's going on, but not long as to be boring or distract.This requires precise editing and a good feel for the visual language of film, so if you're not an experienced editor, work with one as you piece the footage for your trailer together.Because of the time and energy required to carefully edit a movie trailer together, many studios now hire third party companies to do the work.If you have the money, consider contacting one of these firms to help you with your trailer.Reducing the development time of the trailer will save you money in the long run.
Step 11: Music and sounds fit the mood of the trailer.
Music is a big part of what makes a trailer effective.The best trailers use sound and music to amplify the impact of the action on screen in order to establish a mood for the movie.Bad trailers may use sound and music in a way that doesn't complement the action or distract the viewer from the trailer's message.One example of a great use of sound and music in a movie trailer is in the third official trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives.The movie was met with mixed reviews, but the trailer is unforgettable.The trailer begins with images of confrontations between criminals.The shots are accompanied by a 1980s-inspired, driving, arpeggiated synthesizer line that perfectly fits the retro, neon-drenched aesthetic while conveying a sickening sense of dread.The sound is cut out during slow-mo footage of a gang shooting except for the keyboard melody of the band P.R.O.U.D.For a chilling effect.
Step 12: Adding voice overs or text cards is a good idea.
Not every trailer relies solely on footage from the film to relay the basics of plot, setting, characters, and so on, some take a more direct approach by including voiceover narration or text cards to help give context to the footage onscreen.If overused, voiceovers and text cards can distract from the footage itself and lend the trailer a cheap or run-of-the-mill feel, then this option must be considered carefully.In art, it's usually better to show than to tell when in doubt.The trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice is a restrained way to compliment the trailer itself.In the trailer, a coy female voice relays the basic plot of the film in a humorous, deliberately campy fashion that fits the early 70s California setting.The narration is only shown at the beginning and end of the trailer.The narrator jokes that the main character, a "slacker" detective, may not be a do-gooder, but he's done good."Coming just in time for Christmas" is the end of the trailer.
Step 13: You can shorten your trailer to about two and a half minutes.
A general rule is that trailers should be no more than a minute and a half long.This is not a "hard and fast rule." Full-length trailers usually run about two and a half minutes.The National Association of Theater Owners recently spearheaded an effort to restrict trailers to two minutes.Try to squeeze all the important beats in the section above into a short, tidy package regardless of the film's content.The longer your trailer is, the more boring it will be for your audience.Only a few trailers are longer than three minutes.The "Extended" trailer for the Wachoski siblings' 2012 adaptation of David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas is a recent example of this type of long-form trailer.The long format does lend itself to the film's complex narrative, which is woven between six different settings and time periods, but the creators chose to also release a standard-length version.
Step 14: If you're willing to play with the rules, you can make a trailer.
You can use the steps in the sections above to create an effective trailer for most films.The creators of great trailers were bold enough to disregard established trends in trailer-making and are often considered classics.Stick to your artistic vision, even if it leads you away from conventional trailer techniques.One example of a trailer that pushed the boundaries of the art form when it was released decades ago is the trailer for Alien, which has retained its status as the greatest trailer of all time.The trailer is more of a patchwork of images from the film than a traditional trailer, but the impression they give is one that's unforgettable."In space, no one can hear you scream" is the now-iconic slogan that appears in the uneasy silence at the end of the trailer.The connection between the images and the film is left to the imagination of the audience.
Step 15: Take part in the dialogue surrounding trailer-making.
Movie trailers have been written about, analyzed, and discussed a lot, especially with the dawning of technology that makes such discussion convenient for average people.It's a good idea to be involved in this ongoing worldwide discussion if you want to distinguish yourself as a creator of great trailers.It's up to you to explore as deeply as you'd like, and below are just a few jumping-off points.An article written for fastcocreate.com is John Long's 9 (Short) Storytelling Tips From A Master Of Movie Trailers.In the article, Long talks about the techniques his company uses to create trailers.The film-making aspects of trailers are discussed in several free podcasts.The Trailer Home Podcast, an up-to-date Iowa-based show, and Trailerclash are both available through the iTunes store.There are many more that can be found with a quick search.As soon as a new film trailer is released, it's a good time to join one of the community sites like Reddit, where lively discussions can be had.
Step 16: Don't forget to learn from the greats.
It's hard to find a concept for your trailer.Take inspiration from the trailers that have already been made.Standing on the shoulders of giants is what greatness is achieved by.Don't be afraid to take the ideas of trailer-making masters and make them your own.Below is a short list of films that have outstanding trailers.Some of the movies that followed the trailers were not well-received.Alien is discussed above.Excellent use of music, atmosphere.The Social Network has an eerie atmosphere.An air of mystery is created by the non-traditional shooting style of the film.The Minus Man is a film that uses a conceptual trick.The film isn't the focus of the trailer, but a fictional couple that just watched the film and are talking about it.Woody Allen talks about his new movie in pretentiously intellectual terms.The discussion is cut from the film.