How do trailers help market a film?

Most marketing campaigns use specific film genre to gain their audience by making them more interested. Additionally, the film also needs to be original, different from other films from the same genre which can be quite difficult based on story telling in such a short amount of time (as the whole movie is packed into two minutes or so).  This is known as USP (Unique Selling Point) of the film. USP is what makes each film different by separating one film's title from another or use different special effects, combine unusual mix of genres and/or feature a popular star.

I will be analysing three trailers to see how UPP works in each one.

The first trailer I will analyse is "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy"

This trailer is quite original as it points out everything a 'generic' action trailer does honestly by making it into a joke. This trailer features few scenes of explosions and the narrator imitates the voice of a 'generic' narrator of action movies by speaking in a deep enthusiastic voice. Additionally, this film is also original because it mixes unusual genres which is science fiction and comedy. Usually science fictions are quite serious. This film has a lot of special effects and quirky looking characters (aliens) which is an asset adored by many film watchers. Moreover, the makers of the trailer explain it's unique selling point in the trailer itself which is very unlikely to see overall. It even states what are movie trailers for ''trailers are designed to give you an idea of the file in question in very short space of time". They feature things a lot of their audience like such as a short montage of the characters getting hit by some metal object and a scene of romance (roses and kissing) shortly after. Even the name of the film is quite original, it's easy to tell that it's a comedy film because no horror film would guide their audience to the galaxy following a hitchhiker's advice. Finally, this film also features a well known star called Martin Freeman, he played a main role in Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and plays a supporting role in Sherlock (series).

Next trailer I will analyse is "The Signal"

This trailer is impressive, it looks different because it looks more abstract as if it's a piece of artwork rather just a simple film. The cinematography of this film is outstanding.  The genre is Sci-fi and Horror, it seems frightening but not in the same way as an indie-horror which is what makes it stand out from other films. In many shots, it focused on a female rather than the protagonist to show that he is in love, this means that the film also has a little bit of romance even though it seems mostly philosophical. Overall, what captures my attention the most is the way the scenes are filmed, for example, I liked the scene with an extreme close up of a silhouette of two lips with a blue background. I also liked how the protagonist was laying in the field with a female and the scene was shot upside down. The colours are well thought out in each scene and the story is intriguing enough to be curious of (which will likely cause the audience to actually watch the film). This is a type of trailer I would be inspired from, for my own production as it doesn't look like too much CGI was used (atlas in some artistic scenes). The actors are well chosen even though they don't seem to have well known cast members. Additionally, by the looks of it, the film has a lot of metaphors and meaning behind many scenes and words judging by the railer alone, not a lot of films can pull off metaphors and this aspect makes it unique in it's own way. 

The final trailer I will analyse is "Avatar"

This trailer is longer than average, it is 3:31 minutes long which is a minute longer than the common trailer. The reason why it's longer is because they wanted to show off their cinematography and CGI effects which was something new and exciting to the film industry. These great visual effects we're unique, therefore the film was successful. Beside visual effects, the plot wasn't as intriguing in the film as it was in the trailer. In the trailer it seems to raise a lot of questions which the film wan't unable to answer, questions such as "what was life on Earth like?" this question was only answered through art concepts of the film but not the film itself or the trailer. On the other hand, the film was unique enough to sell due to the enormous budget of £237,000,000 that was spent mostly on CGI to make this film visually appealing. Therefore, the trailer was better than the film because the plot could be better. Even though the film sold well, it feels like it is an animation rather than the film which possibly contributed to it's high popularity and sales. Not to mention, the character designs of the 'aliens' we're quite unique, as we traditionally perceive aliens as ugly big headed and intelligent grey beings in space suits and technology. These designs go against the norm and imagine aliens as beautiful creatures living in tribes. This is a big appeal of the film, a world better than humanity, especially when Earth is extremely polluted. That 'alien' planet is full of thick forests and beautiful creatures as if that planet is something humanity ultimately wants.