What's the Deal With Movie Trailers?

When I met with our fair Wave-inatrix a few weeks ago, she asked about my day job.

I told her that I worked at a theatrical marketing company, i.e., a trailer house. I was a little shocked but definitely excited when she asked me to write this little blurb for the blog.

First, the name: why “trailer” if they come BEFORE the movie? Well, in the early days of film’s misspent youth, they did come after the feature film. The problem was, the audience usually had things to do. Y’know, like churn butter or get to their 18-hour shift in the factory. They couldn’t hang around.

Once the big money people realized there was bigger money in whetting people’s appetites for upcoming films, they started showing the previews at the start of the feature and the “trailer” business was born.

Today, when a studio is ready to start their campaign for a film, they send us the daily film footage or a roughly edited version of the whole film. Our producers will grab the editor that works best with that genre, and the work begins. Sound familiar? Yep, that genre thing is all over the place in this industry.

Since the average trailer shown before the feature is about 1 and ½ to 2 minutes long, the producers have to get down to the most basic elements of the film. Are there some moments that make you jump from the horror flick? Is there a great kiss scene in the romantic comedy? Are there great dialogue lines? Is there a hot star or director attached to this movie?

At this point, the editor creates or “cuts” a series of possible trailers. Now, copywriters, enter stage left. These are the writers whose sole job is to create the word-sketch of the project. The producer wants their take on the project with lines for the narrator and dialog/shots from the film. Talk about boot camp for log lines! The writer that gets in, gets out and gets the message across…you guessed it….gets the gig.

Once the studio executives, the producer, and the editor pick the copywriter’s scripts, they complete the campaign. Thus begins the approval process with the studio. Once the campaign makes everyone involved happy, it goes to finish. That means that music; narration, graphics and dialog are all put together. Now, the trailers are fresh from the oven and ready to separate us from our hard-earned cash.

Now, you’re thinking, “Nice article. What’s it got to do with me?” Let me quote the immortal Inigo Montoya from “The Princess Bride:”

“Let me explain. NO! There is too much. Let me sum up.”

If you could make a trailer of your movie now, what scenes would it use? What lines of dialogue serve as your film’s amuse bouche, giving audiences just enough of a taste to want the whole thing? What genre conventions have you used? Can those be turned on their heads to really grab an audience? Maybe a look at your script from a marketing producer’s point of view can help you. I know it’s helped me.

That brings me to some of the questions I usually get from people about my day job. Julie, like many, wanted to know why the trailers are sometimes so much better than the movie?

Well, it’s because the film didn’t give our people much with which to work. Our job is to get butts in seats for our clients. We’re going to put all the best stuff in the trailers. Maybe the script didn’t really give us anything to chew on. It could also be a great script but the film derails in the production process. I’ve seen both.

And yes, that guy from those insurance company commercials is one of the main voice-over artists for film. I’ll save you the midnight-memory jog---his name is Don LaFontaine. He’s one of only a handful of men that voice feature trailers and television ads or “spots.” You read correctly, it’s just men at the moment. However, there are some awesome ladies poised to change that. So, aspiring female and male V-O artists, keep it up!!!

On that note, I’ll return you to your regularly scheduled Wave-inatrix. Thanks, Julie! Oh, by the way, I’d now like to put in my request for a cupcake. Red velvet, if you please.

Breck Murray aka The Wave-inatrix's favorite Writing Buddy

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