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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

How do you like your trailers?

10:14 / 22.08.04

Trailers. Always rush to see them, it's an integeral part of the cinema experience, and as a kid I would annoy the parents by insisting in watching the trailers at the begining of a hired video.

However, the art is formula now, and some of the trailers seen recently just spoil things (Suspect 0, Paparazzi just two that spring to mind) and turn me off of the idea of watching the films. So their job has failed, right?

I'm more of a teaser man myself, but then again, not everything has the cache of say Darth Vader's breathing as a means of getting the excitement going.

So, are trailers spoiling movies? Which style so you prefer? Why?

13:13 / 22.08.04

Aren't traillers pretty obsolete these days? In times passed they were the main way people found out about new films but these days people have usually read enough about a film to decide if they are likely to see it before they get to the trailers...

13:39 / 22.08.04

Why still make them? No, I disagree that they are obsolete, otherwise why would people get excited when a new one is posted on the internet?

I do agree that there is so much writen about a film before it's release nowdays though.

14:51 / 22.08.04

I think teasers are still a huge factor in getting people excited about movies. Even if I've read about a movie, I don't get really psyched until I see the trailer (say Kill Bill).

The best teaser of all time, IMO, is the Garden State teaser. No dialogue, no indication of the plot, just amazing visuals and music. I'd heard of the movie before, but after seeing the teaser I had to see it. And, after seeing the movie, I found out that that teaser perfectly captures what the movie is about.

The worst teasers are the ones that not only explain the whole setup of the movie, but also give you the first twist. The Chasing Amy trailer not only says that Holden falls in love with Alyssa, and that she is a lesbian, which takes about 20 minutes of movie, it also reveals that they end up sleeping together, which is the big twist of the movie, and takes place about an hour into the film. It reveals way too much, and turns me off from the movie rather than makes me want to watch it.

Generally speaking, striking visuals and a good song is the trick for a good trailer. If you can't find two minutes of decent footage to intrigue people into seeing the movie, the movie probably isn't worth seeing.

22:20 / 22.08.04

interesting -

There does seem to have been a move away from traditional trailers to teasers, in essence promotional pop-videos for a film. Of course I'm only likely to download a teaser for a film i'm already interested in, no matter how vaguely.

As for the key to a good teaser - a decent song is unlikely to impress me while a bad one will put me off a film. Similarly, strong visuals might help keep me excited about a film, possibly serving to remind me of my intent to see it, bad visuals will actively dissuade me from seeing it.

Do other people deal with teasers in the same way as me, or am I abnormal...