Codes and Conventions Of Teaser Trailers

After watching a range of teaser trailers for research to help with creating our trailer i have come across some common codes and conventions of teaser trailers and compiled a list of the most common.

• Nearly all teaser trailers have a non diagteic voice over from one of the main actors/actress's that are in the film, this is mainly from scenes in the film in which the speech has been taken from a scene and put over a few other scenes. Some trailers also have a non diagetic voice over from a professional who does voice overs for a wide variety of trailers. These are good ways to signify the plot of the film and signify the main actors and actress's staring in the film.


• Most film trailers tend to start with the production company logo. Sometimes these logos are part of a scene in the trailer, for example in the Australia trailer, the universal production logo is part of a news paper article. This can help to signify the genre of the film that they are advertising. Normally the production logo is shown right at the begging of the trailer or at the most 10 seconds in.


• On all film trailers the title of the film is shown at some point. Normally this is at the end of the trailer and is shown through text. This is obviously important so that the audience can know what the films called and it can be further anchorage for the genre of the film.


• If the film is starting famous actors/actress's the trailer normally states the name of these actors or actresses to appeal to the audience. This is because the actors/actress's will have their own fans and if they are well known for being good at acting they will obviously attract an audience.


• Nearly all the trailers i have seen have a narrative enigma at the end. This is a common convention of film trailers because it makes the audience want to see more of the film, to see what happens in the end.


• Most of the film trailers i have looked at start with slow paced editing at the beginning of the trailer but half way through the editing becomes fast and the shots our more fast paced. This normally coinsides with slow tempo music at the beginning of the trailer which builds up and sometimes changes and becomes faster and more dramatic. This common convention is used to signify calm before the storm, how the film characters lives are before something happens to them (the beginning of the trailer) and when something dramatic happens to them (the end of the trailer). This can be used in all genres of trailer, for example romance genre films have the characters life withe the other person (slow paced editing) and then when theirs trouble in their relationship (faster paced editing). This can also be used for horror film trailers, for example their life and then when their life is under threat.
• Another common code and convention of film trailers is the use of text. This can be to explain the plot of the film, show the actor and actress's names, show ratings of the films/ critical reviews, the directors name and awards they may of won or that the actors/actress's have won. These are all further anchorage that film producers use to attract the right audience to see their film.