Movie Trailer Conventions

Now that I know the overall idea of what I am going to create, it is now time to work! But, success and an amazing project does not come with work alone, it requires research. Though I have some overall foundation of knowledge over movie trailers, further research would help me immensely. Let's start researching!

So what exactly are the typical conventions of a movie trailer?

Thanks to an educational source, Film Education, I was able to play a matching game that taught me the essentials for movie trailers. As you can see if you click the link, I had to match each phrase with each trailer convention, in order to fully understand movie trailer conventions. In case you were wondering, it took me a couple of tries to get it all correct, but hey, it really helped me learn!

All movie trailers, if not most, incorporate the use of voice-overs, characters, key points, dialogue, dramatic angles, action, music, the title, and montages.

As the Film Education mentions:

• Voice-overs are used to tell the story and give credit information
• The characters, usually the main ones, are showcased throughout the trailer
• Key points are sometimes conveyed through on-screen words
• Conversations between characters, or dialogue, usually consist of one-liners
• Dramatic angles aid in showing dramatic events or characters
• The action is interspersed with actor or director credits on screen
• Music plays an important role in creating the atmosphere
• The title may not appear until the end of the trailer
• Montages are often used to highlight the most dramatic, humorous, or fast-paced aspects of the film

These are all aspects of a film trailer but in order to include all of these elements, there must be a time limit. With that statement comes the question: How long are film trailers?

Well, based on a study done by Stephen Follows, a British film producer, the length of each movie trailer differs, ranging from as short as 11-second teaser trailers to much longer eight-and-a-half-minute-long trailers. According to Follows, the average length was one minute and 54 seconds long. This information was based on a chart, which Follows had created, shown below. 

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Without knowing this information, I would have been completely lost when making my trailer! As you can tell, research really is important! Now I know that my trailers should be somewhere from one minute to two minutes long. But does each genre have a different average trailer time? We'll have to find out! See you next time!

- AC

“Teaching Trailers Spring 2013.” Film Education, www.filmeducation.org/teachingtrailers/secondary/conventions.html.

“How Long Is the Average Movie Trailer?” Stephen Follows, 17 July 2017, stephenfollows.com/long-average-movie-trailer/.