Teaser trailer and trailer comparison: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Trailer

Teaser trailer and trailer comparison: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Teaser Trailer

The Film Approval Box

As Ive been researching film trailers I noticed this green box is at the beginning of all of them, so i researched into what this box was and it said that the box confirms that the trailer has been approved of by the MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America). This means the trailer is suitable for the age group viewing it. When we make our film trailer/teaser we will definitely make sure we include this at the beginning to make our trailer look more realistic.

What Is A Trailer?

A trailer is a look at the film that’s being advertised, their normally around 2 minutes long. Trailers are normally released a few months in advance of the films release but like teasers this may change depending on how big the film is, some films even have multiple trailers and sometimes multiple teasers. Unlike the mysterious teaser trailers, normal trailers tell the audience a lot more about the film, they usually include the main stars, a basic plot line and a couple of key scenes in the film to get people interested and wanting to see more. Trailers consist of selected shots from the film and since the purpose of a trailer is to attract an audience, the sections taken from the film and put into the trailer are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or best parts of the film without giving to much away. The scenes taken from the movie are not always in the order in which they appear in the film, a trailer has to intrigue and excite their audiences in less than two and a half minutes, the maximum length allowed by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Each studio is allowed to exceed this time trailer time limit once a year, if they feel it is necessary for a particular film. Some trailers use "special shoot" footage, which is material that has been created specifically for advertising purposes and does not appear in the actual film. One of the biggest examples of this was used for Terminator 2; the trailer featured big special effects scenes that were never intended to be in the film.

What A Teaser Trailer?

A teaser trailer is a short version of a normal movie trailer which is designed to intrigue and interest the audience. Teasers on the other hand are typically released months in advance, sometimes even as much as 18 months before the release of the film, they are used to build curiosity about the film and to get people talking about it. A teaser trailer normally lasts around 30-60 seconds, it may include footage from the film but they often use rough footage since the film has not normally been completed around teaser trailer stage. Sometimes a teaser trailer is an abridged version of a regular movie trailer, just with a little more mystery. Teaser trailers are usually only made for big budget and popular movies, their purpose isn’t to tell the audience about the movie's content but more to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. Some big companies I have noticed like to make teasers that literally tease their audiences, for example, a teaser trailer might flash a few key images, followed by a title card with the date. 
This works best for iconic films and films in a series, as viewers become familiar with specific symbols. A good example of this type of teaser trailer would be the promotion of the Batman films, which flashed the famous Batman symbol on the screen, followed by a date. The brief advertisement of a teaser trailer is usually not terribly costly to make or expensive to air on television or cinema screens, and it easily sucks viewers in, getting people hyped up about a movie months before it is released is a great advertising bonus.

Stereotypical Slasher Movie Characters

THE HEROINE (HERO) 

 

This character almost always has these traits:

1) Female

2) Dark hair

3) Tall

4) Virgin

The heroine is never really part of the scene and she uses her wits to defeat the monster/killer, of course he/she never really dies, they are the person that will undoubtedly last throughout the whole movie, because they are probably the first character introduced and the only one with perfect moral values and an immense force of will. There is, however, one other possibilty: that they are the killer themselves. This is always presented as the unexpected twist but would the cheerleader or the jock really know how to be able to kill this killer on this wild weekend? I’d say no. Anyway, the heroine is always at least likeable.

THE WISEGUY

Also known as "the smart guy" and "the platonic best friend".  The wise guy is usually either the most likeable or most excruciatingly annoying character in the movie, because he's almost always the comic relief. He's either the first or last to die, figures out what's going on, tries to escape and is killed, or he lasts until the end, devises the plan to eliminate the threat, and dies as a sacrifice so that the heroine can carry out the plan. He's sort of a wuss, but you do feel kind of bad when he dies.

THE JOCK

 

This guy is simply there to be killed. He contributes nothing, no comic relief or suspense. He's more of just a pretty face so they get a female audience, but for the most part he's just a life waiting to be taken. Often he is the boyfriend of the useless cheerleader, and as a result he is almost always involved in the necessary horror movie sex scene which will get one of them killed.

THE CHEERLEADER

Once again, she's a body that's more or less there just to be killed. She generally bites it during the required sex scene of these teen horror movies. The cheerleader is always blonde, always says the most obvious thing, and has a voice so deafeningly screechy that it could cut through glass. Shes normally disliked by everyone there except the jock which doesn’t give her a lot of hope in the horror movie world.

THE COLOURED GUY

 

The generally accepted stereotype for most slasher movies is that the this guy is always the one of the first to die. But that's not always  true. The first one to go is either always the cheerleader or someone who deserves it. The coloured guy is the guy who always wants to turn back, who thinks that what the rest of the gang is doing is crazy, going out here exactly one year after those other kids were killed in these woods. In other words, he's the sane guy. It's always a shame to see him get cut down, because he's almost always right.

THE KILLER

There are two types of killers in slasher films: The supernatural killer who keeps coming back and who really doesn't have a pertinent connection to any of the other characters, and the friend that everyone is shocked to find out was behind it all along. The killer always has some kind of scary weapon and occasionally an outfit (scream) unless your some kind of monster then you already have a pretty unique look.

Horror films- Slashers