2. What are film Trailers
Film trailers are important marketing tools to
communicate the genre of a film to potential
audiences. Trailers advertise an up and coming film to
try and entice an audience. Trailers show clips of the
film which tend to be quite interesting so the audience
would want to watch it. Trailers are used to inform
potential audiences about a film with the purpose of
encouraging people to see the film at the cinema.
Trailers and film posters are designed to complement
each other, and they should be used all other to gain a
wider audience.
3. Why are they made?
• There are several elements to a marketing campaign for a
film, from the trailer itself to posters in the street or on public
transport, to online and viral marketing. The marketing
campaign is designed to raise audience awareness and
interest in a film in advance of, and during, its cinema release.
First of all you’ll hear about the title which can help to show
the genre. Film trailers are a form of advertising that is
structured to encourage as many people as possible to see
the film at the cinema
4. Who are they for?
• Trailers are generally aimed at the same audience as the films
they publicise. Different types of people like different sorts of
films and whilst everyone is an individual, there are certain
features that will have a wide appeal to specific groups of
people. Different target groups include:
• Teenage Boys & Girls
• Families
• 16-25 years skewed to boys
• 16-25 years skewed to girls
• 25-35 skewed to men & women
• 35 and above
5. How do they work?
• As well as using genre to gain our interest, marketing
campaigns must also show us how a new film is
different to others in the same genre: this is known as
the USP (Unique Selling Point) of the film.
• The USP is what separates one film title from another
released at a similar time or within the same genre.
The USP could be many things, for example:
• The innovative use of special effects
• An unusual mix of genres
• A popular star
6. Where do we see them?
• Trailers are shown at the cinema, on TV and
online and are usually accompanied by poster
campaigns and radio campaigns to give wide
coverage for new film releases. Dedicated
trailer sites and official film websites often
carry trailers that have been cut for a general
audience and are suitable for viewers of any
age, whereas trailers shown in the cinema
usually correspond to the classification of the
film being screened.
7. When are they released?
• Most trailers are produced at the same time
as the film is being edited. The timing of a
trailer campaign is important: it must be
shown far enough in advance to generate
excitement about the film’s release, but not
so early that people forget about the film
before it even comes out.
8. How the Marketing Package shows the genre of
the film and how it shows what the film is
about?
• Film trailers are important marketing tools to communicate the genre of a
film to potential audiences. The marketing package shows the genre of
the film because they use a poster and video. First of all genre can be
represented through the name of the film for example Battleship and Toy
Story are clearly different films to suit different audiences. They also use
certain colours and images to show different styles of film for example
dark colours would represent an action film where as light colours show
more of a children's film. A soundtrack can also be used a more dramatic
one with louder quicker tones would suggest an action film where as a
happy upbeat tune would show a family or childrens film. Also if there is a
major male character you would usually expect this to be an action film.