Exhibition of Teaser Trailers

As said in the previous post; most teaser trailers are created before or during the actual production of the full film itself. The most common way of exhibiting a teaser trailer is to attach it to a film with a similar genre during it's exhibition in a cinema. Doing this hooks the audience immediately as they will have come to see this particular film because of its genre and therefore the teaser would directly meet their interests. An example of this is when The Incredibles had a teaser trailer that was attached to Finding Nemo 18 months prior to the films release...

   

The films are similiar in several different ways..

• They are both distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and use Pixar Studios.
• They are both animated.
• They are both aimed at the same audience: Young Children and Family Audiences.
• Both have elements of comedy and adventure.

As most movies have official websites specifically created for the audience interested in the film, teaser trailers are often shown there. For example, Inception shows all of the trailers shown to promote the film on the video section of the website. 

For TV exhibition, teasers for movies (or TV Spots) are shown during the usual ad breaks. A most recent film that does this is Contagion which shows several different teasers which can all be viewed on the WarnerBrosPictures YouTube channel as well as between TV Programmes. As you can see the WarnerBrosPictures has themed their channel around the release of the film even a few weeks after the actual release date.

In the USA, exhibitors will pay millions of dollars to secure a 30-second ad break during the Super Bowl because of it's high viewership (in the past reaching 50% of households). Also, playing TV Spots during a break for a programme that may hold similarities to the film that is attempting to be promoted would increase interest much like the attachment to similar genres in cinema exhibition.

However, recently the exhibition of teaser trailers has modernised and, as well as using these techniques, video sharing websites such as YouTube have allowed a new way for exhibition. 

As you can see here, most distributors such as Sony Pictures will exhibit the teaser trailers for the movies that they distribute such as 'The Social Network'. The trailer was released in June whilst the film was not released in the UK until October and was available for anyone who searched any words related the the movie. As well as those who deliberately searched for footage concerning the movie, there are those who could be watching other trailer from Sony Pictures and could be directed to this through the Related Videos bar on the right hand side. 

Teaser Trailer Techniques

Clues to the Narrative

During my analysis for the teaser trailer of Inception I noticed that, throughout, themes that are closely related to the narrative are shown. The fighting scenes that defy gravity, the spinning top and the text 'Your Mind' come together to show the balance between the control we have and the control we don't have over our minds which is perfectly suited to the film about those who can create dreams within dreams with the power of their mind.

Music/Sound [For flow or to dramatise the narrative]


In most of the teaser trailers I have looked at, loud sounds accompany the text shown on screen instantly dramatising the information given to the audience.

Sound is also used to emphasize the genre of the film. For e.g the sound effects in the second teaser for Inception gradually speed up, building suspense until the climax of the trailer. Each shot is faded out whilst dramatic beats are again sounded all in which create a more exciting experience for the audience.

What is a Teaser Trailer?

After researching into Teaser Trailers, via Wikipedia as well as watching them online, I have noted the conventions of what I believe a teaser trailer does for an audience. Some basic facts are...

• Firstly they are usually between 30-60 seconds in length.
• They can contain little, if any actual footage from the film. This is often because they are made whilst film is still in production so instead they may feature alternate scenes or scenes created specifically for the teaser.
• The teaser trailer is part of an entire campaign and is used as a tool to start of the full blown-campaign.
• They create hype around the movie they are advertising, they act as a device of intrigue. To achieve this they often contain puzzles, hints or clues as to the narrative of the film. This can be done with text, clips, voiceovers, images, etc.

De-constructing Teasers

2012

The teaser begins with production company titles, Columbia, which is instantly accompanied by eery sounding music that are the first signs of the building suspense. The long distant establishing shot sets the scene whilst also tracking a person we can see in the distance. The close up shot of the man running whilst the sound of their panting is played continues to build up suspense. Their is mystery around who the person is or why he is running but the music as well as the shots coming from behind the person and the camera moving quite fast in the same direction creates tension as if their is something causing us as well as the character to run. 

The mystery around his actions are heightened as he dramatically enters a building, the shots of the teaser fade in and out with the beats in the music, whilst the tempo increases, again building tension. The close up of the monk establishes the character and his actions of hitting a bell hold connotations of an event about to happen or a warning being made. Footage is shown whilst also cutting to a simple black screen, the final one with white text over the top, ''how would the governments of our planet prepare six billion people for the end of the world''. The text hints at the narrative of the film whilst directly communicating with the audience. 

Sound effects are uses as a huge flood comes over the mountains in the final extreme long shot, the music then comes to a dramatic stand still whilst the line ''THEY WOULDN'T'' is presented on screen followed by the title of the film. Another line is then presented ''Find out the truth, google search: 2012'' which acts as a technique of viral marketing, giving the audience an outlet for the intrigue that's just been created around the mysterious teaser trailer.

Inception

Beginning with the distributors logo, Warner Bros, the logo is built out of a birds eye view of a city which sets the scene of the film. The camera view gets closer and closer to the logo as we are plunged into the city. We're then shown a spinning top which cuts to the directors name before it stops, mystery is created as we are not aware of why it is shown or who has spun it. An establishing shot of the city is then shown followed by the first shot of the protagonist, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, with a concerned look on his face. We are then shown what he is looking at with a POV shot of a man being dragged away, the first sign of action within the film revealing what the audience may get to see if they watch the film. The next shot shows a glass, inside of which is water tipping to one side even though the glass is stationary on the table. This is something that adds to the mystery begging questions in the audiences as to why this might be happening. 

The camera then shows a computer generated city with the line 'YOUR MIND' that also tilts to one side whilst the view is exploring the streets followed by 'IS THE SCENE OF THE CRIME'. The cutting of the shots then increases in pace between a fighting scene juxtaposed between fast moving scenes and slow moving scenes such as the man coming out of water. It then shows Leonardo Dicaprio once more as if he is waking up from a dream and the final thing we see is the title 'INCEPTION' created out of the city that the camera has just zoomed out of, slowly revealing a huge maze followed by loose facts of the release date 'SUMMER 2010'. The music throughout the trailer features beats the match the editing of the shots slowly building suspense.

The Dark Knight

This trailer again begins with the Distribution and Production titles/logos, however, again they are slightly altered such as the black and white Warner Bros logo so that the theme of the trailer is instantly set. We are then shown a black screen accompanied by dialogue whilst flashes of light slowly reveal the batman logo. The logo then begins to crumble and towards the end a Joker Card is revealed as one of the pieces of the logo as it crumbles away. This is shown just as the sound of the Jokers' laugh can be heard. Overall, the trailer reveals no footage from the film and again shows loose facts concerning the release of the film, limiting it to just the season and year 'SUMMER 2008'. 

Because of the cult following of Batman this trailer includes several things that are instantly recognizable such as the logo which would create excitement to the viewer trying to work out what it is. The voice of actor Michael Caine as the film is a sequel to the first modern Batman film that he also starred in. The joker card is also recognizable especially as it is accompanied by his signature laugh. The dialogue reveals some of the action within the film such as 'death' and mad laughter but what builds suspense throughout is the background noise of a clock ticking as well as the dramatic sound of beating drums. The music gets more dramatic and fast paced towards the end of the trailer when the Jokers' dialogue is being spoken, it then returns to only the sound of the clock and one final drum beat as the title and release is revealed.

New Idea Pitch

Initial Pitch/Ideas

Presentation: Interrelating Products & Borrowed Interest

Brief: Choose an artefact and find three or more related products in different media genres.

Chosen artefact: Reality TV
Related products: Magazine articles/covers, television/radio interviews, sponsored products, merchandise, Websites & music videos.