Film trailer distribution

Film trailers are distributed in a variety of different ways:

Television: Film trailers are regularly shown on television, they will be shown at times when their target audience is most likely to be watching television or during a break in a programme that their target audience will be watching, for example if a horror film is being advertised then it will be shown late at night during a break in a horror themed programme. A problem with showing trailers on the television is that if it is over a certain age rating then the trailer must be shown after the watershed which could reduce the amount of people that see the trailer. Showing film trailers on television seems to be becoming less popular as you cant guarantee that your target audience will see it and also the limitations in place make it harder to advertise certain films.

Cinema: Film trailers are shown alot in cinemas before films start, this is a very good way to distribute film trailers as you can guarantee that your target audince will see the trailer because film trailers are shown before films that they are similar to, for example if you are advertising a film aimed at children, such as finding nemo you will show the trailer before another kids film because you know that your audience will see the trailer. This type of distribution is regulated so that trailers with a certain age rating can only be shown before a film of the same age rating or higher. The problem with this type of distribution is the way that it is regulated may limit how many people actually see the trailer. However this is still a very popular and successfull way of distributing trailers as you can guarantee that people who enjoy watching films will view your trailer and will probably be more willing to go the cinema to watch a film.

Internet: The internet is the most popular way to advertise and vast amounts of film trailers are being shown on the internet, on websites such as youtube there are thousands of film trailers that people regularly view, even if people are not purposely looking to view the trailers there will be often advertisements on websites showing the film trailer, or at least small sections of it which may encourage someone to go on a site such as youtube and view the full trailer. Unfortunately you cannot guarantee that your target audience will view the trailer because the makers cannot control what their target audience will view on the internet, however due to large numbers of people that are viewing film trailers on the internet there is a high chance that some of their intended audience will see the trailer. One way they can make sure that some of their target audience will see the trailer is by placing it in advertising space on websites that their target audience are likely to visit, for example if it is a film aimed at younger people they will place the trailer on websites that young people are more likely to visit. Another reason that the internet is a very popular way of distributing film trailers is because there are know regulations on the internet meaning that a larger amount of people will view the film trailer, this will be especially helpful to trailers with a higher age rating.

Product analysis: film trailer

The trailer for paranormal activity is very unique as it does not just show various clips from the film, it shows a cinema audiences reactions to the film they are watching. This is a good way of advertising a film as people will see that people find the film very scary which will encourage people who are viewing the trailer to watch the film. In the trailer they show some of the scariest scenes from the film, this makes people want ot watch it as these scenes will attract them as an audience. In the trailer they use lots of quick flashing lights and also very quick cuts from scene to scene as this will make the film seem more scary, it also adds to the suspense of the trailer and makes it feel more action packed than it actually is.

Film trailer regulation

Although film trailers are made by putting together scenes from a film, the film trailers are not aloud to include any scenes that show anything that is unsuitable, such as violence. Film trailers are also given an age certificate by the BBFC that sometimes may be different to the film as the trailers are independently regulated. Film trailers are only aloud to be showed to an audience of the appropriate age for that trailer, for example if a trailer is rated as a 15 then the trailer will only be allowed to be shown in a cinema before a film of the same age rating or higher. If the trailer is going to be shown on television then it may have to be edited so that it is suitable, if it is for a film that is above a certain age rating then it must be shown after the watershed.

Production process

The production process of a film trailer will begin with the film production company deciding on which trailer company will produce their trailer, for example Universal Studios may choose a company such as the ant farm.

The trailer will be produced while the film is still being shot, the editors of the trailer will look at various key scenes from the movie that have already been produced and decide which ones to include in the trailer, they will choose scenes that they think will look the most interesting to the audience and intrigue them to watch the film, or the film production companys will tell the trailer companys which scenes to work with. Due to the film not being fully finished some of the scenes in the trailer may not be in the finished film.

The editors will then get to work on producing the trailer, they will begin by planning the trailer and deciding what order to put scenes in, and what effects and sound to use etc. Once they ahve decided on this they will begin to produce the trailer and put the scens together and also add in effects and text such as the release date and the names of the companies involved with the film. For the final part of production they will add the sound and most likley have someone narrating during the film trailer vaguely describing what the film is about, they will nearly always add some sort off music, however this may not be the soundtrack or any music that is in the film because the film makers will not add sound in unitl the last stage of production.

Key companies

There are many companies that produce film trailers, you will often find that the producer that made the film will have not made the trailer because production companies will go to the film trailer companies to make their trailer.

The Ant Farm:

The Ant Farm are one of the main film trailer production companies and are based in Los Angeles, they produce trailers for not only films but for tv programmes and games aswell. they are on of the most well respected film trailer production companiesand have been asked to produce trailers for many big films.

some of the films they have produced trailers for are:

• Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows


• Iron Man 2


• Cowboys And Aliens


• Tranformers: Dark of the moon

They have worked with major film production companies such as Warner Bros, Universal Pictures and Dreamworks which shows that they are a well respected company that can produce good film trailers.

History Of Film Trailers

Film trailers were first seen in 1913, from then up until the 1950's film trailers consisted of the various key scenes from the film it was advertising, there would also be large text describing what was happening in the trailer, however this was not a good way of advertising films as all the main scenes in the film would have been shown in the trailer. Film trailers started to modernise in the 1960's, textless trailers began to appear that were montages of clips from the film, things such as quick editing became popular. Today film trailers are much different and show a few scenes from the film to give the audience an idea of what the film is about without revealing any of the key scenes, also instead of descriptive text being on the screen there is often some narration.

Brief

I have chosen to produce a promotion package for a new film, for this task I will produce a trailer for the film. I have chosen the film magazine front cover and a poster for the film to accompany my trailer.

The reason that I have chosen this brief is because I feel that I am capable of producing a good quality film trailer, another reason that I have chosen this brief is because I have experience of using final cut and have been practising how to use it.

The reason that I have chosen the magazine front cover and film poster is because I have experience of producing a magazine before and I produced a good quality magazine cover last year so I am confident that I can produce good work for both the poster and the magazine.