http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16972394

Comes up often around here

I certainly think the average trailer shows too much, is there really any need for 2.30 mins of the film's best scenes?

I often suspect it's because whoever edited the trailer doesn't dare show the crappier dialogue that's all too common, or just has to do a better job than the original edit to keep their job (assuming it isn't someone from the production itself!)

As the article mentions, I'd prefer Inception-style trailers where you get the basics and an IDEA of the film. If nothing else, I wonder how effective '100 million dollar marketing' actually is considering the amount of TV spots and teasers that show up even on local news, never mind Youtube, movie sites...

I think it's more the point that the vast majority of hollywood movies made these days are so vacuous and plot-free it's more than possible to reveal everything you might want to know about the film in a 30-second trailer.

Jon

No, they don't. 2'30" doesn't ruin the other 87'30".
And, I'll also roll out that old stand-by of 'well if you think it's rubbish, try to do it better yourself.'

I hate anything that gives away a spoiler of the plot or surprise characters. If I know I'm going to watch something eg TDK I will try to avoid all trailers, news items, articles etc so it doesn't influence things.

I hate it when comedies show their best jokes. If anything, they should show the "average" joke, keeping the best ones in the film so you get a flavour of the level and type of humour without being spoiled.

Trailers are far too long and IMO should be no longer than around 30 seconds. By all means, if it's an action flick, show us a bit of the action so we know what kind of action to expect, whether it's CGI heavy or not etc. If it's a comedy, a few jokes are okay. I don't want to feel like I've seen the entire film from trailers. Certainly, if there's a twist, I don't want to know about it until I see the film itself.

I imagine these days, they'd show the project mayhem side of things in a fight club trailer and tell you all about it.

Succint. The nature of spoilers/trailers may well all be down to crap films, so there's little left once you've trailered the good bits.


Well give me all the cash, equipment and staff and I'd easily have a far better trailer of most modern films within a week. Though I'd have to watch the film first to know which things to avoid.

Forgive me, but that's like me saying 'Give me all the cash staff and equipment of a hospital and I'd have a far better diagnosis and treatment schedule than my consultant.'

It's often ruined it for me, happened just recently with that Tom Hardy/Chris Pine spy film - if that film has any more action scenes than what the trailer showed I'd be fcuking astounded

If it was MY job I would try to do it better, but it's not! And I did suggest above that it might not always be the fault of the trailer's editor...

So... hang on.
Surely you could save hundreds of pounds each year then, by simply just watching the trailers? Think of the time savings too.

I do, in a fashion... I often don't finish watching the trailer just in case I catch up with the film at some point, for instance.

It works the other way too, in that there's a lot of trailers (mostly action films) where there's SO little being shown or it's all from just two scenes that you assume it's a rushed pile of sh1te, and often is.

I don't think it's the trailers that give away too much of a film, I think it's the marketing of the film as a whole.
I have thought this for some time. It's all the TV spots, the teasers, the longer teaser, trailer #1, trailer #2, trailer #3 … it's the whole lot combined.
The linked article at the top of this thread touched on this, and I think it's right.
All the stills that get released showing tantalising clips of what may be in the film, coupled with the write-up on websites and in news papers detailing what it is that we are seeing in the pics and how that slots in to the film.

I do remember a time when films only released 1 poster and had only one trailer, and that was that.
These days you even get teaser posters! I mean, WTF!

There's films that I'm interested in seeing, and I really do tend to avoid a lot of what gets posted on websites regarding these films.
I may post an article link here or there concerning some aspect of the film or another, but generally, I stay away from any and all mention of the films until they get released.

A single two-minute trailer cannot give away everything that happens in a two hour film, but it can give away major plot points. The plot is not the story though, for that you'll have to look elsewhere (or just go and see the film).

Mark

Not really. It doesn't take 10+ yrs of training to become a trailer editor/producer. Whether you're good or bad won't affect people's lives, though it may affect their livelihood.


I'd only partially agree. There are some small sized films that have a couple of trailers and posters and that's it. No other promo work. Yet they still reveal too much. Maybe this is in response to lack of marketing? Small budget so limited marketing so more stuff in the trailer?

How long do you suppose you need to be working in the industry for before someone says to you 'We'd like you to handle one of the most important pieces of our vastly expensive publicity campaign that has an even more vastly expensive production riding on the back of it?'
Or do you suppose they let people straight out of college have a go?

Let's take TDKR as an example. I've just rewatched the trailer on YT after seeing it in the cinema a couple of months ago. Imagine, I've either watched one or both of Chris' other movies, or I'm at least aware of what Batman is about, but I don't read Empire or know who Bane is. I'm your average punter, not a geek.

So what have I learnt?

It's gonna have a lot of action - cool.
That dude from Inception is in it - cool.
The vehicles look even better - cool.
The atmosphere looks very tense and exciting - cool.
and crucially....
I have absolutely no idea what it's about, what the plot points are, or how it's gonna end. VERY cool.

That ladies and gentleman is how you trail a film.

How many others can claim that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6abZMrwMpI
Trailer for the original 1971 Get Carter.

"This is quite possibly one of the most spoiler laden trailers I've ever seen. RegGubbins 3 weeks ago"