Making Really Good Movie Trailers to Attract Your Audience

A lot of people would have you believe that making good movie trailers is an art form only achievable by experts who do it all the time. This couldn't be further from the truth. All it takes is to know and love the movie you are making, and some patience to make it as good as you need to, so others will want to watch it. The finished trailer should give you a totally unique product you can use to promote your new film.

A good theatrical trailer really is one of the best ways to get people to give your film the time of day it deserves. These condensed versions of your full length movie have been used since the early 1900's and should be the main anchor point when advertising your flick. The best movie trailers instantly pique people's interest and make them want to check out the full version. Never just "mail" it in.

I'm a huge fan of the original Transformers TV cartoon series and Science Fiction in general, so when I heard that a live action movie was being made, I was excited. After seeing this trailer, my excitement grew even more, though the film itself didn't really deliver what the trailer promised. To me, the trailer was better than the movie.

This Police Academy trailer tells you exactly what you're going to get if you watch the movie... a whole lot of crazy, over the top comedy and fun, which is exactly what the movie delivered on. Comedies are all about escapism and having a good time; keep that in mind when making them and making you're trailer.

This short trailer for Return of the Living Dead is far superior to the longer cuts for TV in my opinion. You can watch this preview and know that even if you're not a huge horror fan, you're likely to have a lot of fun with this flick (especially with friends). The choice of music plays a huge role in the likability of the trailer as well.

My only gripe is toward the end of the trailer where the same shot was quickly shown back-to-back-to-back. Though done only a few times, it was a few times too many in my opinion. There's no need for it, and kind of degrades a really good trailer. You lose all of 6 seconds if you don't decide to do that and the end of the trailer meshes with everything that preceded it.

• Coraline (2009)
• Easy A (2010)
• Femme Fatale (2002)
• Red Eye (2005)
• Super 8 (2011)
• The Warriors (1979)
• Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2011)

Making a trailer that only has a great song along with clips from your film is definitely a way to stand out, as most trailers don't do that. It can be expensive to get rights to a really good song, but the main thing you need to worry about if you go this route is to make sure the song you choose meshes well with the scenes you choose.

If the visuals are good, the song is good and everything fits together well, you should be able to make a solid trailer. This is not as easy as it sounds though, as you can't just cut a bunch of scenes together and slap a song on it and expect it will get people to come to the theater to see your film. There are many trailers that did it that way and failed to get the result they had intended.

If you're lucky enough to have a really cool, interesting and unique movie that people really haven't seen before, making a good trailer for it can be easier than usual. Still, it's quite hard to make such a movie nowadays, and you never know just how fickle your audience can be. You should always strive to make the best movie trailer you can to give your film the best of chances to make money.

Some movie trailers make you have a feel-good longing for nostalgia. Be Kind Rewind from 2008 is basically a love letter to the 80's and 90's and the trailer relays that message quite well. I foresee this movie becoming more popular as more and more rental places go out of business.

• No vomit; most people don't like to see or hear it in real life, let alone on the big screen; most will just look away when it happens.
• Don't shoot scenes specifically for the trailer, just to get butts in the seats; it aggravates people, especially if the scene is good. While are plenty examples of scenes appearing in trailers and not in the movie itself, it's usually because the scene was cut out for pacing or storytelling reasons.
• Spoilers in a trailer happens more often than you may think. This kind of ruins the movie, so try to not let this happen.
• Making trailers with the idea that they'll be seen on the big screen is not really necessary these days. Most trailers are watched on phones, computers or TV's.
• Using the fade to black transition too many times.
• Using the words "From the Studio That Brought You" or "From the Producers That Brought You" are phrases that usually wreak of desperation. The people who made the film doesn't think it is good enough to stand on its own.

Found footage films are definitely hit or miss, but the use of them in movie trailers intrigue me. I'm not sure why more directors don't use that format when making a trailer for their creation. One interesting tidbit about this trailer is that the title was not in it; it instead relied on its content and the name recognition of the director.

This trailer made excellent use of the voice over, and because the story was so compelling, very few dramatic scenes or images were needed. The failure of this film was not because of the trailer, it was because of the promise the trailer made and the utter failure of the movie to deliver it. Word of mouth spread very quickly and after the first few days, demand dwindled to almost nothing in viewership terms.

The trailers above are a prime example how cutting a much shorter trailer for TV can really be detrimental to the film. The first trailer is a short one made for TV spots. This is the one I saw (several times) and left me with no desire to watch the movie despite really good actors and actresses being in it. I had no idea what it was going to be about (for sure) and no idea what "event" they were talking about.

The second trailer is the full one and really fills out what is to be expected. After watching this one, I was much more interested in giving it a try. Unfortunately, by the time I found the trailer on my own, the movie was no where to be found in theaters. I will give it a chance eventually (if I can remember) because of the full trailer.

Specialized theatrical trailers like this are a bit hit or miss. Though the trailer was very good, it probably only lit a fire under people who remembered these kinds of exploitation films and who like Rodriguez and Tarantino movies. Never the less, trailers like this can still be effective if they deliver your target audience; just don't expect a wide range of audience members to come running to your picture while on the big screen, as it will probably do better in the home.

Here is a case where the movie trailer for the re-release on Blu-ray is much better at building up the suspense than the original trailer ever was. When making a trailer these days, we need to keep in mind that most people won't see your film on the big screen before blockbuster films. They'll be seeing it on phones, computers or TV (and likely finding it by word of mouth). Trailers like the one above may not convey cinematic greatness, but does create anticipation.

Notice how the international teaser from above is a lot more playful and fun than the official U.S. version from below. The teaser represents the film better, though in my opinion it could have been even better if there was was even more "goofiness" in it. I suspect the people who put together the official trailer was told to make it look like a true horror film or people wouldn't go and see it - this was a mistake.

With a title like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you kind of know what to expect - a horror movie that's not taking itself too seriously, which is what it was. When people who were expecting this saw the official trailer, it probably turned them off the film, and people who expected a serious zombie film were disappointed and felt lied to when the film they went to see didn't match the tone of the official trailer.