Research- What is the purpose of a movie trailer?

A movie trailer is a combination of selected cuts from a film, its sole purpose is to advertise the movie before it is released. It gives the audience a flavor as to what to expect within the film so therefore the most enticing shots are usually incorporated. The movie trailer can feature on the internet, between television shows or before watching other films at the cinema, this not only allows them to be distributed to the masses, but also we are able to comment and find out others views and whether they are likely to watch it. The initial judgment of the text comes from what we see in the movie trailer, so therefore the trailer is extremely vital in marketing a film.  There are a number of techniques which feature within a trailer in order to reel the audience in and make them want to see the final product. These features include;

• Music- This really helps set the tone of the trailer, the type of music depends of the genre of the film. For instance an action movie will usually include fast pace music, this immediately entices the audience and compliments the fast pace cutting shots within the trailer. The music can range from being a popular song of the time or even specially composed instrumental, it really depends on the atmosphere in which is trying to be created.

• Fast moving shots- Most trailers include a variety of fast pacing shots, this is done because it makes it hard for the audience to take there eyes of the advertisement as there fearful they may miss something. Consequently it forces the viewer to ingest all of the trailer, making it more likely to excite them and therefore make them want to watch the movie. Another effect of this montage is that it allows snippets from the most enticing scenes without giving to much information away.

• Sound- Sound is huge part of every trailer, overlaying the sound track is usually a combination of diegetic and non diegetic sounds. A convention of many trailers is a voice over, the most famous voice over is spoke by Don Lafontaine which is also known as 'The voice of God'. The mixture of different sounds and visuals make the trailer attractive to the audience.