There are two kinds of film-goers in this world: those who love movie trailers, and those who simply don’t indulge in them. Trailers are like the opening band at a concert. They make you laugh, sing, or outright scare you, depending on the film they’re debuting before. Today, trailers give away too much of the movie, whether it be thebest jump scaresor the biggest laughs.
Some films divert from this by showing teasers that didn’t make the final cut or just aren’t in the movie at all.Scream IVnotoriously did this in their different variations leading up to the film’s release. Whether divulging too much or too little, trailers are an important piece of the entertainment industry and an ad campaign can make or break a film’s success.
Here’s a breakdown of the history of movie trailers.
Larger Than Life
At the dawn of cinema, circa 1895 to be exact, filmmaking consisted of splicing together a montage of short moving images. According toScience and Media Museum, these short films were often screened at fairgrounds or music halls. A common misconception of early cinema is that all films during this time were silent. This could potentially be due to the popularity of silent filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, whose career during the 1920s skyrocketed. Chaplin even founded his own film company, allowing him creative freedom in his projects.
As the industry grew, so did the gateway for profit margins. By the 1920s, pictures (also known as movies) were becoming more and more popular. It was also during this time that the Hollywood “star” would be born, inspiring audiences to fill theater seats for one particular person. The growing desire to attend the cinema also posed the question as to how these films would be advertised. According to theUniversity of Michigan,movie trailers spawned in 1913 and were a product of theater advertising manager Nils Granlund, who worked for Marcus Loew’s theaters.
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Spliced and Diced
Trailers of today are much different than that of decades before. Before digital editing, filmmakers would use a film splicer to physically cut, merge, and create trailers for films. There are many different methods that would be used to edit the film at hand, and often ranged between a cement glue or tape. In the ’60s, a press release was (and still is) a huge part of promotional propaganda for upcoming films. This is especially true for majordirectors like Alfred Hitchcock. According toFilm Magazine, the trailer forPsychois one of the best previews ever made. Hitchcock did most of the advertising for the film, but his trailer showcased almost no scenes from the actual movie. What makes this an absolutely brilliant tactic is the very element of surprise that Hitchcock was able to presume over his audience.
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Today, trailers are put together with much less effort than the days before modern technology. Programs like Final Cut and Adobe Premiere Pro make the process of putting together a trailer a quarter of what it used to be. More often than not, films have multiple trailers circulating at one time. Social media has also been a huge component in modern marketing, as short clips can be advertised on platforms like Instagram or TikTok as well. Overall, trailers are an important piece in filmmaking to draw audiences into theater seats. Their evolution throughout the years has been pivotal and monumental in connecting with viewers of modern times.
