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Think back to the last movie trailer you saw unless it was for an extremely small-budget independent movie, there's a good chance that the first thing you saw in the trailer wasn't footage from the movie itself, but instead a few quick screens showing the logos of the studio that made the film, the production company or distributor, and so on. These images, though brief, are important the people involved with the film want to receive due credit for the time and money they've spent on it so don't forget them. Note, though, that you don't necessarily have to wait until these images have finished displaying to start introducing your audience to your film. In fact, most trailers use the precious seconds spent showing these logos to start playing music that establishes the mood of the trailer (more on this below) and/or playing audio dialog from the film. Note also that, in rare cases, the standard logos of the studio and/or production company are creatively modified to fit the mood of the trailer. For instance, the original trailer for Office Space (1999) displays the iconic "gold-text-and-spotlights" 20th Century Fox logo by having it print from an office Xerox machine. Don't waste any time introducing the basic facts of your movie to your audience. Within about the first ten to thirty seconds of your trailer, your audience should have a rough idea about what kind of film the trailer is for, who the main character is, and what sort of mood the film has (i.e., grim, lighthearted, ironic, etc.) There's no single "right" way to do this, but often, trailers do this by showing a quick clip of the main character saying or doing something that clearly establishes the general mood and content of the film. For example, let's look at the first 20 seconds or so for the trailer for the 2014 film Whiplash starring J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller. We open with a shot of a New York City street at night. We see Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a college-age young man, talking to Nicole (Melissa Benoist), a woman of similar age, in a deli. NICOLEThis place is nice. ANDREWI really like the music that they play - Bob Ellis on the drums.Nicole laughs, we see the couple's feet touch under the table.ANDREW (Voiceover) I'm part of Shaffer's top jazz orchestra - it's the best music school in the countryAs Andrew speaks, we see brief clips of him standing outside of his school, then see him practicing drums. As he continues, we see a clip of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), an older man, walking into a room and hanging up his coat and hat. We cut to Fletcher talking to Andrew as he leans against a wall.FLETCHER The key is to just relax. Don't worry about the numbers, don't worry about what the other guys are thinking. You're here for a reason. Have fun.We cut to Fletcher cuing his band to start playing. FLETCHER Ah-five, six, and... In just twenty seconds, the Whiplash trailer tells us a wealth of information about the movie: that Andrew is the focus of the film, that Andrew is a young musical prodigy, that the film has a romantic component, and that Fletcher has a teacher/mentor relationship with Andrew. Once you've established your film's "status quo," introduce its main conflict the people, things, feelings and events that will form the basis for the story. In other words, show the audience why it should care about the characters and themes you've just introduced it to. Try to answer questions like, "What dramatic thing happens to set the plot in motion?", "How does this make the characters feel?", and "How does the main character try to solve the conflict?" In the words of Jerry Flattum of Scriptmag.com, "Storytelling is based on conflict. Without conflict there's no drama. Drama is conflict." Let's return to the trailer for Whiplash to continue with our example. After the trailer establishes the film's foundation, it quickly reveals its central conflict.We see Andrew confidently playing drums in a jazz band while Fletcher conducts. Upbeat jazz music plays on the soundtrack. FLETCHER (Praising Andrew) We got Buddy Rich here! The band resumes playing. Suddenly, Fletcher signals the band to stop. FLETCHER (To Andrew) Little trouble there. You're rushing. Here we go! (Fletcher cues the band to start playing) Five, six, and...Andrew and the rest of the band resume the song. Without warning, Fletcher hurls a chair at Andrew, who ducks out of the way at the last second. FLETCHER (Angrily) Were you rushing, or were you dragging? ANDREW (Meekly) Uh, I don't know.We cut to a closeup of Fletcher leaning over Andrew. Fletcher slaps Andrew hard in his face. FLETCHER (Furiously) If you deliberately sabotage my band, I will gut you like a pig! Andrew starts to cry. FLETCHER Oh my dear God. Are you one of those "single tear" people? You are a worthless pansy who is now weeping and slobbering all over my drumset like a nine year-old girl! The Whiplash trailer establishes the film's central conflict to shocking effect. Fletcher, who at first appears to be a normal teacher, is revealed to be a cruel, ruthless, and abusive tormentor. The conflict is clear without the film having to spell it out explicitly: will Andrew, who wants to be a great musician, be able to survive the extreme stress of tutelage under Fletcher? ) After you've established the film's characters and central conflict, you have a little more freedom in how to continue your trailer. Many modern trailers choose to hint at the progression of the plot by showing quick, snappy clips of key lines or events in the film in rough (though usually not exact) order of their appearance. Note, however, that moviegoers may resent trailers that reveal too much about the film's plot, especially if any surprising plot twists are revealed, so be discrete don't give away too many of the film's surprises! The Whiplash trailer explores the basic plot beats of the movie while revealing surprisingly few specifics. The brief snippets below are taken from the trailer; to keep the length of this article manageable, some snippets have been omitted:Andrew and his father Jim (Paul Reiser) are shown talking in a dimly-lit kitchen.JIM So how's it going with studio band?ANDREW (Subtly ill-at-ease) Good! Yeah, I think he... likes me more now. We cut to a clip of Fletcher screaming at Andrew as he plays drums. No lines are heard; only the grim, driving score plays. Various short clips play as Fletcher speaks in voiceover: Andrew walks down a dark concrete hallway; Andrew drums furiously onstage, dripping with sweat; Andrew runs through a parking lot with his equipment bag; Andrew punches through a snare drum in a fit of rage while practicing.FLETCHER (Voiceover) I push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is... an absolute necessity. Andrew and Nicole sit in a restaurant. ANDREW I want to be one of the greats. And, because I'm doing that, it's going to take up more of my time... and this is why I don't think that we should be together.Nicole looks on, stunned. These brief clips give us a good idea of how the plot is going to progress in Whiplash without spoiling any big reveals for us. We now know that the stress of drumming under Fletcher is going to gradually creep into Andrew's home life, we know that Fletcher views his harsh teaching philosophy as a way to push young talented musicians to greatness, and we know that Andrew and Nicole will begin to experience romantic tensions as drumming eats up more and more of Andrew's time. We don't know, however, exactly how Andrew's relationships with Nicole and his family members will be affected in the long run. Most crucially, we don't know whether Andrew will truly become "great" by the movie's end. As your trailer nears the end of its runtime, leave the audience with a strong, lasting impression by acknowledging your film's main theme in an exciting or compelling way. According to A Handbook to Literature by William Flint Thrall et. al., a theme is "the central or dominating idea in a literary work." In other words, you'll want to try to show your audience what the film is about not in terms of plot, but in terms of subtext. What single question or idea is your film trying to relate to the audience? How can you boil the main conflict of your film down to a single memorable line or image? The "central" moment of the Whiplash trailer comes near the end:Various clips play as Fletcher slowly speaks in voiceover: Andrew sits in a long dorm hallway alone; Andrew leaves a building late at night; Andrew stares with a worried expression in a drab band room. Finally, we join Fletcher and Andrew in a dark room Fletcher's final lines come from him directly as the score swells.FLETCHER (Partial voiceover) There are no two words in the English language more harmful than "good job." Here, the trailer hints at the thematic question at the heart of Whiplash: Are Fletcher's cruel methods justified if he is able to produce truly great musicians? If our young, promising musician doesn't have to go through this metaphorical hell, is he somehow less likely to achieve the greatness he longs for? The trailer wisely chooses not to answer these questions we'll just have to see the movie to find out! The last few seconds of your trailer are your chance to give the audience a "parting shot" or an enticing hook to make the idea of seeing your movie even more irresistible. You don't necessarily have to be as profound here as you were when you revealed the film's central theme earlier here, it's often effective to simply end with a witty one-liner, a provocative image, or a few quick shots that are exciting when shown in sequence but don't reveal too much about the film's plot. Whiplash takes a somewhat unique approach here rather than ending with a single clip, it ends with a flurry of fast cuts that build in a crescendo of speed and tension. There is no dialogue just the slow, steady beat of a snare drum that gradually gets faster and faster as the cuts between clips become more and more frequent. The drumming reaches a loud, powerful zenith, then stops suddenly we are left with a close-up of Andrew at his drum set, sweating, with an implacable look on his face as a single piano cord reverberates on the soundtrack. This crescendo of action leaves us tense, exhilarated, and wanting more, though it reveals no plot details. Finally, nearly all movie trailers end with a quick credit page containing information about the film. Usually, this is limited to the studios and production companies behind the film and individuals who played major roles in its production, like the director, executive producer, starring actors, and so on. Minor roles like stagehands, key grips, and so on are usually not included. Note that, in the United States, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) has a comprehensive system of rules in place for assigning credits on films that fall under its jurisdiction. Other movie-related guilds and unions, like, for example, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), have their own similar rules. Major film releases must adhere to these rules it is not enough to simply display as much information as the creator of the trailer believes to be sufficient. Films and trailers that break these rules may have difficulties being released due to lack of support from these organizations.
Start with brief screens to display production company information. Establish your mood, genre, and main character. Introduce your film's central conflict. Tease at the film's rising action (without spoiling the plot. Spell out the film's central message. End the trailer with a particularly memorable line or image. Add credits/legal information at the very end.