The trailer is a powerful tool for movie makers, providing them with the chance to promote and sell their film by giving audiences small bites of its overall cinematic experience. But like any filmmaking tool, it can be misused and misunderstood. In the hands of inexperienced filmmakers, the trailer can be misleading in a way that distorts the audience’s expectations of what to expect from a film. It may portray a celebrity who has a very small role as one of the film’s leads, or it may advertise an action film as being more suspenseful than it is.
When these misrepresentations are combined with the inherent lack of story context in trailers, it can leave viewers disappointed when their expectations are not met by the actual film. The most important rule to remember when making a trailer is to NEVER spoil the film that it’s promoting. Often times, trailer editors are given dailies (individual clips) to work with instead of a cut of the entire film itself. This makes it difficult for them to avoid spoiling their final product by accidentally including footage from a scene that is either not included in the finished film or is done differently in the film.
A good trailer will also take advantage of music to set the tone, and use of voice-over to help tell part of the story. Dialogue that is short and to the point is important, especially in a fast-paced trailer. If the dialogue isn’t fast paced enough, it will create a sense of boredom in the audience, which will make them less likely to stick around.
The story-driven nature of a trailer should be evident throughout the piece, and it is important to use editing techniques like bookending and intercutting in order to highlight key moments that show off the film’s main characters and conflict or complications. A basic three-act structure, however abridged, is a good place to start when building out your trailer’s narrative. You can find great tutorials on how to edit a movie trailer on iMovie, and there are many other film maker tools available, but the fundamentals of marketing and storytelling will always remain the same.
By focusing on hyping up the stars, showing off as many cool action scenes as possible, and explaining the plot in detail, too many modern trailers end up feeling cookie-cutter and overstuffed. Taking care to keep a tight focus will help your trailer feel more unique and interesting, and will leave the viewer wanting more of your film. A well-executed trailer can do more than just entertain, it could potentially lead to the success of your film’s financing, or even lead to its completion by getting people in the mood to see it. So be sure to put some time and effort into creating a great trailer, because it will be the Voyager spacecraft of your film! It will bring you to new audiences and introduce them to your world.