Conventions of film trailers.

Film trailers are supposed to tell the story of the movie in a minimum amount of time but have maximum appeal. They are able to show even the poorest of movies in an attractive light and make audiences want to go and watch them. Trailers are used to advertise all genres and sub genres of films. Even though films might have different target audiences and be completely different in terms of plot, the trailers will have similar structures. Most trailers have a three act structure, similar to a film.
Act 1) They start with a beginning that illustrates the basis of the plot.
Act 2) The middle part extends the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax, still not giving away too much.
Act 3) This part of the trailer usually features a strong piece of music and consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments from the film. Also if the cast in the film are famous or well known their names are normally placed in this act to help sell the movie.

As well as the three acts structure there is the basic narrative structure which follows a similar pattern to the three act structure. The basic narrative structure starts with equilibrium; this is when the diegesis is in balance. This is then disturbed with a disruption, followed by a quest and finally a resolution. A simple example would be; a good guy and bad guy, everything is settled and how it should be (the equilibrium), then the bad guy robs a bank (the disruption), the good guy then has to set it right and catch the bad guy to get it back to the equilibrium (quest) and finally everything is solved (the resolution), however the resolution is never given away in a trailer, it leaves audiences guessing. This is a simple, traditional, linear structure that has a cause and effect. Not all films follow this pattern, as some do not have a resolution. However the majority of films do use a linear structure and this is also shown in their film trailers.

Not only do film trailers follow similar structures they also have other similar features such as voiceovers and music. Voiceover narration is often used to briefly set up the idea of the film and provide explanation when necessary, for example, “In a world...”. Trailers are a highly condensed format of the film therefore a voiceover is sometimes used to help the audiences understanding of the plot.
Music helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Sometimes the music used is not in the film itself. The music from the trailer may be:
· Music from the score of other films.
· Popular or well known music.
· Especially composed music, one of the most famous trailer music composers is John Beal, who has created original music for over 2000 trailers.
· “Library” music, which has been previously composed specifically to be used in advertising.

I am going to look at several different film trailers to see what other conventions are used in trailers. I will look at more than one genre of film trailer to see how they are similar and how they differ.