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Every Movie Needs a Trailer
A surefire, never-fail formula to promote your film
Alfred Hitchcock knew how to keep an audience on the edge of its seat. Though he loathed movie promotions, the master of suspense could have been the master of movie trailers. His films were feature-length cliffhangers—and the cliffhanger is the most important element of a successful movie trailer.
Of course, there’s no one way to do anything right and that easily includes making movie trailers. Look online for examples and you’ll find a variety of styles. But if you’re struggling against a deadline or have limited resources, you may want to use a formula for writing your trailer. Here at the BBC we’ve developed our own method called “The Robin Hood Technique.”
Imagine yourself as the legendary archer: You’re standing in Sherwood Forest with a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. In the distance is a bull’s-eye nailed to a tree.
Think of your trailer as the bow and arrow; the bull’s-eye is the climax of the film. As you pull back the arrow, you set up the plot. When you release the arrow, you build to the climax. The trailer races forward like the arrow flying toward the bull’s-eye, except for one difference: It never reaches the target.
The purpose of a trailer is to leave the audience hanging. They’ll have to fork over the price of a ticket to see what happens.
ALL MOVIEMAKERS KNOW THE FEAR OF STARTING WORK ON A NEW TRAILER. It’s like the helplessness a writer feels when confronted with a blank page of paper. But don’t panic, the following steps will help to show you the way.
LOGGING • BEFORE YOU WRITE YOUR TRAILER’S SCRIPT, TRANSCRIBE THE FILM. Yes, we’re speaking about logging the movie—taking note of the sound bites (dialogue) that define what the movie is about. There are two types of dialogue to look for: Thematic bites (the moral statements spoken by the movie’s characters) and narrative bites (those statements that reveal the plot and the motives behind the characters’ actions).
This may be the most boring and thankless part of the trailer-making process, but it’s also the most critical. Skimp here and you’ll handicap the entire project. Remember: A detailed log is a trailer-producer’s best friend.
THE PAPER CUT • AFTER YOU’VE LOGGED YOUR FILM, OUTLINE YOUR TRAILER ON PAPER. This is the best way to experiment with different styles without spending a dime. Start by choosing a scene or sound bite to put at the end of the trailer. This is the “cliffhanger,” the target at which to aim your arrow; everything else should build toward this moment. Then choose a scene to place at the beginning; something that rivets the viewer’s attention and reveals what the movie is about.
Now you’ve got the two most important elements of your trailer: The beginning and the end. You know where you’re starting and where you’re going. All that’s left is to fill in the middle.
FILLING IN THE MIDDLE • THE MIDDLE OF YOUR TRAILER IS A MIX OF COPY AND CLIPS. Typically, you should start with the copy (the draw back on the bow) then follow with action and sound bites (the release) right up to the cliffhanger. The goal is to draw a line of thought revealing the movie’s plot, its characters and the tension between them. It doesn’t matter whether your film is a drama or a comedy; all movies have characters and conflict.
DRAWING BACK THE BOW • FOR MANY OF US, COPYWRITING IS THE MOST INTIMIDATING PART OF THE TRAILER-MAKING PROCESS. Perhaps that’s why so many trailers have no announcer at all. But a well-written turn of phrase can reach an audience in a way no montage of clips alone can do. Good copy rings true and makes a trailer memorable.
HOW TO WRITE COPY • BEFORE YOU WRITE A WORD OF COPY, STEP BACK FROM THE DETAILS OF THE PLOT AND LOOK AT THE STORY FROM A POSITION OF WISDOM. In other words, look for the film’s life lesson: Fear, honor, truth, greed, hope, etc. This is the theme of the film, the broad idea of the story. (You can usually find the theme in the film’s dialogue, so look for characters speaking truths.)
When a trailer uses copy to highlight the theme, the audience will sense a truth behind the tale and experience a revelation. It almost goes without saying that an audience will be more interested in a film if it reflects a personal sense of right and wrong.
THE COPYWRITER AS “MINI-PHILOSOPHER” • TRAILER COPY TYPICALLY CONSISTS OF ONE OR TWO SENTENCES THAT CONVEY A SUCCINCTLY STATED MORAL TRUTH AT ISSUE IN THE FILM. But be wary of writing something overly profound. Copy should be written in a conversational style; the words should flow in a simple manner so that the audience doesn’t realize they’re hearing it. Well-written copy is unobtrusive and registers in the back of the viewer’s brain.
Writing copy is not like writing a book report; it’s a means to convey dramatic perspective and the “relatability” of a film. The copy can be about a person’s experience in life, a group experience or what a nation experiences under the same circumstance as that in the film. That’s why copywriters are called “mini-philosophers.”
PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF WRITING THEME-RELATED COPY • WHEN YOU WRITE COPY ON THE MOVIE’S THEME, YOU’LL BE SURPRISED HOW EASILY DIFFERENT CLIPS FROM YOUR FILM WILL FIT WITH WHAT YOU’VE WRITTEN. This is particularly helpful when you are looking to replace a clip in your trailer. Copy that’s written about the characters or the small details of the plot will paint you into a corner and reduce your options, but theme-related copy will open up various possibilities.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Alexander Barnett on 12/12/09 at 11:00 pm
The article on making a trailer is excellent.It is extremely intelligent and creative. Thank you.
- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:03 pm
thank you
by a href="http://www.g5g5.net">مركز تحميل</a></span>- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:06 pm
thank you
by <span lang="ar-sa">مركز تحميل</span>- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:13 pm
thank you
by مركز تحميل- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:30 pm
thank you
by العاب بنات- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:31 pm
thank you
by دليل مواقع- Comment by g5g5.net on 1/29/10 at 5:33 pm
thank you
by أمحي ذنوبك- Comment by kral oyun on 5/01/10 at 2:39 am
Alfred Hitchcock knew how to keep an audience on the edge of its seat. Though he loathed movie promotions
- Comment by Fragman İzle< on 6/20/10 at 3:53 pm
Alfred Hitchcock knew how to keep an audience on the edge of its seat. Though he loathed movie promotions
- Comment by Ben Williams on 7/08/10 at 7:48 am
Thank you for this valuable insight. I’m just starting out writing copy for trailers and I was hitting a wall. This article has helped me to climb over it.
- Comment by Fethiye on 7/11/10 at 5:15 am
Thank you for this valuable insight. I’m just starting out writing copy for trailers and I was hitting a wall. This article has helped me to climb over it.
- Comment by g5g5.net on 7/26/10 at 5:22 am
thank you
by مركز تحميل- Comment by facebook videosu indir on 8/28/10 at 10:28 am
sansimi sikiyim
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This story was published in the Guide to Making Movies 2009 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
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