Teaser Trailer Research

Teaser Trailer Research : 

Teaser Trailer Research By Josh Shimali

Slide 2: 

The Hangover - The trailer used for this film is at the short end of teaser trailer scale, yet has a lot action packed into it. They have used fast paced straight cuts throughout, this sets the pace for the film and for the comedy, with every corner turned there is a punch line. Also included in this teaser trailer are the titles for the film, and the release date for the film, relevant information for the audience. As I said before being a comedy film, to entice the audience they have filled the teaser trailer with a majority of the films 'highlights' and memorable quotes, although this could be bad, I feel it will really stick in the viewers mind and hopefully mean they will go to see it, which in the intended purpose for a teaser trailer. This particular teaser trailer hasn't included any actor names or credited anyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlHgcGMwOE

Slide 3: 

Tropic Thunder - Again, a comedy film although this has taken a different direction compared to the teaser trailer for 'The Hangover' this focus' on the All-Star cast instead of the going on during the film, as it has the Actors in the foreground with the action faded in the background. Editing wise the cuts aren't frequent, and the actor's image is kept up on the screen for a long time. The topic of the film is on the Vietnam war, so throughout we have the song 'Fortunate Son' playing, this is of great relevance to the Vietnam War, not only was it very popular, but it's lyrics are about a young man being drafted out to fight. This is well fitted to the teaser trailer, but not many films will have relevant music, if any whatsoever. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-wEypCfqfY

Slide 4: 

Transformers -ROTF - From the outset this teaser trailer uses a orchestral piece as the accompanying music, this is almost of a heartbeat style, like your heart is racing. This already sets the pace for the film, and gives us an insight to the action packed into this sequel. The first image we actually see is the institution logo, I feel that this isn't important as showing the actors involved in the film, as I know many people will go see a film because of such actor/actress, whereas they.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePrnrNBEeh8 generally wouldn't go and see it for the company which produced it. The film titles is also included at the end of the film, yet we're only given a rough time of release instead of an actual date. Also included in this teaser trailer is text frames, giving two words, to emphasis what the film is about.

Slide 5: 

Paranormal Activity - This teaser trailer is a horror genre film, we start off with a black screen already hinting towards the following events in the film, we know that as the audience we will be left in the dark guessing throughout. We then here non-diegetic sound of footsteps, then all of a sudden we see move to a shot of a room, in someone's house and a person flies across the screen. This, as said before is meant to grab the viewers attention and make them question what caused that event. So, again entices the audience to go and see the film when it is released. I feel this teaser trailer is in no way advanced, technologically or otherwise, yet I feel it is very effective, and really does its job well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07XbSk7Rjt4

Slide 6: 

Fast And Furious (2009) - The first half of this teaser trailer, basically involves the first 5-6 minutes of the film summarised, to show where all the problems start out in this 'episode'. As far as teaser trailers go this is fairly long being just over 2 minutes. No music has been used, this means we focus on what the film is all about, deep V8 engines, and screeching tyres, this diegetic sound emphasises the action happening on screen at that time. At about halfway through it cuts from this, and moves into titles, bridging this gap they've used a song to soften the change in action. Included in these titles are the main actors involved and also showing it's the original cast from the very first Fast & Furious (2001) film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xckrqcTC5aA&feature=fvst

Slide 7: 

Inception - Inception is a 2010, Action/Sci-Fi film. The teaser trailer for this film, is a strange one literally giving nothing away, we see shots from the action involved in the film but we see no possible reason or explanation as to why everything seems to be turning upside down. The makers of this film and trailer have included background music to accompany the genre and pace of the film, we have a droning sound throughout, slowly building up getting louder and louder, and with every transition we have a loud bang, this gives me the feeling of unknown, even the music along with this teaser trailer makes me question what's going on. We are also given the actors name, who plays the main character and also the director of the film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwuVKfjctk

Slide 8: 

Alice In Wonderland - This film is again a Sci-fi genre, but brings a family element to it, as it is a Disney story. The first few shots we get are of this beautiful scenery, high contrast colours and enters a princess like figure, this soon changes. When they see the character fall into what seems to be a rabbit's burrow, the music and pace of the teaser trailer speeds up and the music becomes more dramatic and ends up intense and high pitched, a similar rhythm to your heart racing. The setting involved in this film is mainly computer generated (CG) and they have used high angle establishing wide shots of the environment, to show this weird yet wonderful world Alice has stumbled upon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkuvgxkcw2c

Slide 9: 

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - Genre: Action/Comedy. The teaser trailer for this film gives away a lot of detail and a lot of the story line, but still manages you to keep guessing as to what will happen, and why. The trailer starts of soft background music, slow paced, well edited, but then moves into the action side of the film, we see Scott fall for this mystery girl, but little does he know what he is about to take on. When we move into this contrasting half of the teaser trailer the pace picks up, a lot of edited sounds used for punches and other fight scenes. The camera shots are always keep moving, following the action and centering the audience to feel as if they were witnessing or involved in this madness. Title shots used throughout to hint at story line, or show production company's other feature films. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr91Y42MEsA

Slide 10: 

The A-Team - The A-team like most other teaser trailers I've looked at so far, follows a general layout and structure, we see the slow build up at the start, gives away small amount of information, then has a turn around and flows into the second half, full of action. Again, the music used throughout has a great relevance to the story line, and sets the scene, as it is of military marching style, and main connotation is the military. We're introduced to the characters in this teaser trailer but not who plays those characters. Background information is also given, on the characters to fill in the gaps, as if you watch the actual film we start off at a set date, then move straight on by about 8 years. I noticed throughout the teaser trailer, we have many low angle shots looking up towards the main characters, this already gives us a representation of power, and a hero like figure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTVtRnacok8

Slide 11: 

The Karate Kid - This remake of The Karate Kid (a very traditional story) has been given an urban aspect to it. The teaser trailer sets up the story giving us the beginning and the middle, but leaves us questioning the outcome of the end, this is exactly what a teaser trailer is supposed to do. As I said previously, this follows the same structure, building us up and then all of a sudden introducing the action, and for this the fight scenes. Many establishing wide shots have been used, to show the setting of Beijing. The second half, contains no dialogue from the characters whatsoever, this means we focus on the action in hand, instead of worrying about what they're saying. http://www.trailerspy.com/trailer/7344/The-Karate-Kid-2010-Teaser-Trailer-HD

Slide 12: 

The Last Airbender - First shot we see, gives us the director of the film. When then move on to the actual action from the film, we have a lone person in the middle of the room on his own, isolating him as he is 'the last of his kind'. The camera for this sequence pans round the character, showing his surroundings and following his actions. We see this character manipulate air to blow out all the candles surrounding him, this means he is left in little light, which means his identity is to be questioned, and from the film we will be given the answer to this mystery. The music also flows into a crescendo, until the final explosion at the end, which gives us the film title, followed by the release date and institutions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W1dhqc-JBs

Slide 13: 

500 Days of Summer - This film is of the romance genre, so from what I've looked at so far the teaser trailer may be completely different or may still follow the same structure. The teaser trailer starts out with 'Sweet Disposition' playing in the background, starts off fairly soft and again builds up, which flows parallel with the action on screen. They have used many two person mid shots, to show them together as a couple, show that they cannot be separated. We see no dialogue from the characters whatsoever, we only have a narrator explaining what the film is about. We're told the background information behind the characters, but we're not told of any story line of the film. The narrator also tells us the actors in the film, instead of having title shots. The very last shot, shows the title of the film, and says coming soon. This is something needed for any teaser trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCB_f0IIyI

Slide 14: 

Ocean's Eleven - The first couple shots for this teaser trailer are production logo shots, showing the institutions involved in the making of this film. They then move straight into character dialogue, which begins to explain what the film is about. As far as teaser trailers go, this is fairly long, and is full of information and scene's to help explain what they are going to do. A theatrical voice has also been used to narrate the story line. Between shots, the transitions are like establishing pan shot, but sped up. This sets a pace of action for the film, showing that we will have to be quick to keep up. The music playing throughout the teaser trailer, is completely synced with what's happening on screen, this adds to the effect of one liners, and creates more of an impact around important information given. The have also used graphic shots within the teaser trailer, giving actors names, this will be a huge crowd drawer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZReKdGZHr-E

Slide 15: 

Avatar - This teaser trailer is different to most others I have looked at, this contains pretty much no dialogue apart from three words 'This is great.' This gives us no clues or hints, as to what the film is about and what is going on, leaving us questioning what happens, meaning we will have to watch the actual film to find out. The sound playing in the background slowly crescendo's up until the half way mark, then it turns into a heartbeat sort of rhythm. This seems to be used a lot, and I feel that is also very effective. Graphic shots are used to give the director's previous work, and the film title and date of release, these also are key to every teaser trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXOLZ8tRUw

Slide 16: 

District 9 - This teaser trailer starts off in a documentary style, interviewing people on the goings on, but with every statement made, we're left wondering what it is they're talking about. Titles have been used throughout, towards the beginning the are giving hints as to what the characters were talking about, for example 'They Are Not Human'. The second half of the teaser trailer is again like an interview scene with this Alien like subject, but to add to our suspicion they have pixelated the subjects face, although he is communicating in an unknown language. This gives us a huge insight to what it actually is involved in the film, but still leaves us questioning what is actually going on. At the end of the teaser trailer we see the title of the film and the year of release, but after this something that I haven't seen used in any others, is a website address given for the film in question. This gives the audience a chance to go and investigate the film further, this is a huge chance to advertise and hopefully draw in a larger audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmg3crbxX-I&feature=fvsr