The Power of an Effective Trailer

Admittedly, I’m not much of a “movie guy.” However, being in a relationship with someone who would literally live in a movie theater (if given the choice) has changed the way I look at movies – especially the trailer. If someone like myself is going to form interest in a movie, it HAS to be from a well-edited trailer.

For all you aspiring first-time filmmakers out there – it gets easier! Allow me to show you how you can make an effective trailer for your films – in layman’s terms.

Before I begin, there’s one majorly important thing that you, the filmmaker, must remember – nobody watching your trailer has ever seen your movie. They likely don’t know a thing about your film, nor do they particularly care – yet.

In the famous words of the Bee Gees (yes, Destiny’s Child, too), “it’s just emotion that’s taken me over. Tied up in sorrow, lost in my soul.” Seriously, though. In some way, emotion takes all of us over at any particular time. It also doubles as the singular most important driving force of a trailer. Without a sense of emotion, the trailer is completely D.O.A. If you’re going for a two minute trailer, consider throwing in the highest peaks of that emotional rollercoaster. If a character is elated, show them jumping for joy. If one of your characters faces heartbreak, let those tears flow. Let your editing create a cliffhanger that leaves people with no other choice but to come back and watch the feature film.

The aforementioned emotions should also lead up to that “OMG” moment that resonates in the mind of the consumer. Regardless of your film’s genre, chances are very high that there’s (at least) one scene that changes the course of your film. Utilize that as the anchor piece to your work; lead up and build around the moment accordingly. Make sure and cut your “OMG” moment at the time that leaves the most possible suspense surrounding the reaction. You really want to form that cliffhanger without actually falling off the ledge. Be careful!

After compelling the audience with an array of emotion and suspense, you need to actually tell them to what to do; something us advertising folk refer to as the ol’ “call-to-action”. Without calling them to act (buy tickets), you tremendously reduce your potential for success. If finding info about your film becomes strenuous for the consumer, you’ll be up against an increasingly diminishing national attention span. Remember – each extra second they spend searching equates to a dollar or view out of your pocket.

Trailers are one of the best ways to promote a film to the masses. If you’re looking for someone who knows the best ways to bring your brand to the masses, contact us hereat GEM today.

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• Film