Trailers pt. 2

Last week we talked a bit about the history of the movie trailer. This week we focus on different kinds of trailers.

First up we should separate them into three different camps; honest, misleading and dishonest trailers.

An honest trailer shows you what the movie is about, plain and simple. There's not much else to say, except that the biggest problem an honest trailer can have is when it shows too much. I still remember when I went to the movies back in 1996 and saw the trailer for The Rock. I turned to my friend and told him that this was either the whole movie or it would be the best action film of all time. As it turned out, it was pretty much the whole movie.

Misleading trailers don't outright lie, but they present a distorted version of the film. Like showing a scene with a famous actor, giving the impression that (s)he is prominently featured in the film, when in reality that is the only scene the actor is present.

There is a fine line between the misleading trailer and the dishonest trailer. But when it is crossed, you do not get to see the film you thought you were going to. Studios usually use these when a famous actor is riding high on a particular genre, but suddenly makes a movie that's very different. They know that audiences will flock to see a new movie like the previous ones so they shift the trailers focus and outright lie.

Studios also lie in the trailer if they become concerned that the audience won't like a movie, but since it's already made they can't shelve it without loosing all their money.

An example of when the trailer shows scenes that aren't in the film at all is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988). The trailer shows Steve Martin pushing a small boy off a pier into the water, while Michael Caine shoves an ice-cream into a girls face, all while strolling down the street. This scene is not in the film.

Apart from these three categories we have the teaser trailer. The teaser is usually cut together from early footage and it's sole function is to give you a rough idea of the movie. Just enough to whet your appetite, or as the name implies, to tease you. Teasers can be misleading and dishonest, but they are usually so short and abstract that it's unfair to categorize them as such.

If you remember last weeks post, I mentioned that the Jazz Singer had a seven minute trailer. Now these days that's impossible, partially because no advertiser would make a commercial that long, but also because the MPAA forbids it. According to them, a trailer can be no longer than two and a half minutes long. Every major studio gets to exceed this once per year, and only if it is really necessary.

Apart from the length of the trailers, the MPAA also hands out the so called bands for the trailers. Not musical bands, mind you, but the usually green splash screen that appears before the trailer starts. The following preview has been approved... you know how they go. The green band denotes a trailer that conforms to all MPAA's rigid demands concerning content, including profanity, nudity, violence etc.

If the trailer does not conform, it gets a red band, denoting that it's for mature audiences only. You may have seen these though they are fairly rare, if not as rare as the yellow band, intended for internet only trailers. The yellow band is so rare, that I can't find more than screenshots of them.

Now I'm not saying that making a trailer is in any way easy, but it seems to me that Hollywood is getting worse at making them. It seems that the trailer for the newest Terminator film, Genisys, spoils the major twist in the movie. Yeah, that's smart... Sure I prefer an honest trailer above all, but don't spoil the twist, or even hint that there is a twist.

That's it for this subject and today's post. So until next time, have a great week!