As a young southern girl who always went to watch movies at her local hometown theater, getting to see the movie trailers beforehand was one of my favorite parts.
Trailers are the snappy and engaging clips that cause excitement and desire to see a movie. They introduce the characters, the world, the plot and get people hyped for what is coming soon.
At least that is what they used to be.
Now I arrive at the theater just in time to get a decent seat in the middle, slip my hidden cookie dough bites out of my pocket and just watch the movie. This unfortunate shift in my theater routine is due to one thing.
Movie trailers have become overpacked spoilers.
They have become that man on Twitter who spoils every major twist and turn of a movie right as you go to see it, or the aunt who cannot keep a secret and spills who dies at the end.
Movie trailers have lost their touch, and it is obvious.
One of the best examples that comes to mind is the trailer for “Captain America: A Brave New World”.
The film, which underperformed in release, could have done immensely better if the trailer had not shown as much as it did. Specifically, if it did not reveal that Harrison Ford, the US President, becomes the Red Hulk. That revelation would have been a nice twist to see for the first time. Instead, the trailers and the teasers revealed the Red Hulk first thing, ruining the experience and giving audiences little reason to want to see it themselves.
This brings to light the main question: “Why have movie trailers entered this era?”
For me, the answer is simple: it is due to the rise of shortened attention spans.
Nowadays, people cannot bear the burden of watching something over a minute long without it grabbing their immediate attention within the first three seconds. Some cannot even endure the treacherous journey of watching a video that exceeds five minutes. We have become slaves to short-form content.
Thus, if a movie trailer is not overpacked, overcompensated or full of spoiler-heavy scenes, we as people do not want it. Studios have had to adapt to this unfortunate evolution and give the people everything just so that they will consider leaving their homey lairs to view it in theaters.
Along with this is the idea that if people do not know everything beforehand about what they are going to witness, then they will not be willing to put out the $30 to go see it. So studios turn their trailers into glorified spoilers, multiple even, just to gain that theater audience.
They have turned their flourishing works of art into confused mash-ups.
So…what makes a good movie trailer?
What components are necessary to hook a viewer without laying everything out on a rusted platter?
Here is my personal list (I checked it twice).
First, The Grabber (aka the hook).
You have to capture the person’s attention. That is just how it is in the world. If they are not interested in the first little bit, then they will not watch it, simple as that.
Second, The Layout (aka the setting).
People have got to have an idea of the setting or world that they are getting involved with. This helps with not getting confused later when you go to actually watch the movie. You know the landscape, so you can focus on the “what is happening” and not the “where”. I mean, imagine going to see “Avatar” and not realizing that it takes place on Pandora and not a fantasized Earth.
Third, The Speed Date (aka the character intro)
The audience has to know who they are watching, and I do not mean the actors. I mean, they need to know the characters involved without knowing every detail about them. Thus, a trailer needs to become a little bit like a speed date. Introduce the names of the characters and a little bit of their personalities. Make the people wanna get to know them better.
Fourth, The Taste (aka the plot)
The audience needs a little nugget of the plot. Is it a heist movie? Is it a romance? Is it a hero film? Viewers need to know so that they can properly determine if it is even worth it to them to go see it.
Fifth, and lastly, The Tease (aka the twist).
Every good movie needs a twist that keeps its audience on their toes, but you do not wanna reveal it in a flimsy trailer. So, you give the audience the sense that everything is not as simple or straightforward as it seems. Make them speculate about the little tidbits that they saw in the trailer. Let their curiosity get the better of them. That draws them towards the theater.
So now you have it – the components that make a trailer enjoyable and watchable.
Just because trailers have taken a little bit of a downhill course does not mean we should give up on them completely. Still watch your trailers and get a feel for the movies that you might want to watch. Just be careful and try not to see every trailer as a spoiler; there may still be hope.
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