Posted by Joshua Kwok
Assistant Online Content Manager
Assistant Online Content Manager
I think we can all agree, the movie trailer is often times a very large factor in our decision to watch a movie. It teases us, makes us curious, and excites us. Trailers are also moving images, so they are far more effective at building interest in a movie than static movie posters. If they are so important, then why do so many movies have crap trailers?
The first kind of movie trailer I that shouldn’t exist, is the kind that reveals far too much of the plot, thereby spoiling the experience when one watches the actual movie. The story is known to us. In movie trailers like that of Terminator Salvation or The Island, the all-so-important plot twist is revealed! What purpose then does the trailer serve besides spoiling the movie?
The other kind of movie trailer is the kind that does not tell you anything. One such trailer in recent memory is that of A Good Day to Die Hard. What the entire trailer shows, is just a ton of explosions, Bruce Willis’s name, and the title of the movie. Perhaps, that is what the movie is actually all about, and a weak plot was just an excuse to make the movie, but to reflect that in the trailer is a practice I find insulting to my intelligence as a movie-goer. This of course, could also reflect a trend in movie-making in general.
So who do we blame? Movie trailers are often not done completely by the same people who make the movie, but with significant input from marketing departments and outside agencies. These peoples jobs are to sell the movie, do they not care if that comes at the expense of the movie-goers experience? Does that show a lack of respect for the movie itself? I certainly think so.
Sometimes, in the case of movies like A Good Day to Die Hard, the trailer is reflective of the movie. If explosions, sexy women and Bruce Willis are all a movie is about, then the people doing the trailer may not really have a choice and cannot really be blamed.
We are not getting the movie trailers we deserve, and although some of the fault may lie with the external agencies and marketing people, perhaps the quality of movie trailers also has a lot to do with practices in the film-making industry as a whole, and bad trailers are just a mere symptom of a far more serious condition. Or perhaps we are guilty as well, for feeding the machine that churns out this trash.
The first kind of movie trailer I that shouldn’t exist, is the kind that reveals far too much of the plot, thereby spoiling the experience when one watches the actual movie. The story is known to us. In movie trailers like that of Terminator Salvation or The Island, the all-so-important plot twist is revealed! What purpose then does the trailer serve besides spoiling the movie?
The other kind of movie trailer is the kind that does not tell you anything. One such trailer in recent memory is that of A Good Day to Die Hard. What the entire trailer shows, is just a ton of explosions, Bruce Willis’s name, and the title of the movie. Perhaps, that is what the movie is actually all about, and a weak plot was just an excuse to make the movie, but to reflect that in the trailer is a practice I find insulting to my intelligence as a movie-goer. This of course, could also reflect a trend in movie-making in general.
So who do we blame? Movie trailers are often not done completely by the same people who make the movie, but with significant input from marketing departments and outside agencies. These peoples jobs are to sell the movie, do they not care if that comes at the expense of the movie-goers experience? Does that show a lack of respect for the movie itself? I certainly think so.
Sometimes, in the case of movies like A Good Day to Die Hard, the trailer is reflective of the movie. If explosions, sexy women and Bruce Willis are all a movie is about, then the people doing the trailer may not really have a choice and cannot really be blamed.
We are not getting the movie trailers we deserve, and although some of the fault may lie with the external agencies and marketing people, perhaps the quality of movie trailers also has a lot to do with practices in the film-making industry as a whole, and bad trailers are just a mere symptom of a far more serious condition. Or perhaps we are guilty as well, for feeding the machine that churns out this trash.