Teaser Trailer Research

The purpose of a teaser trailer is to promote and inform audiences about a film to inspire interest before the film is released. These were originally given the name 'trailer', as in something that 'trails' behind, because trailers used to follow films at the cinema.

Definition: A teaser trailer is a short series of film clips used to advertise an up and coming film, game or TV series.

The use of the word 'teaser' reflects the amount of footage used, because little or no actual footage is shown during its 30-60 second sequence. This is used to create narrative enigma's and inspires mystery to 'tease' the audience and make them want to see the film. Amother teasing aspect of the trailer is that, unlike theatrical trailers, it is generally released long in advance of the film, sometimes up to a year and a half before, often while the film is still in production or editing.

Typically theatrical trailers are released closer to the premiere of the film in cinemas. Due to the length of time between the release of the teaser trailer and the film, scenes previewed in the trailer sometimes do not even appear in the film itself or alternative versions of the scene appear in the trailer. Some companies, notable Pixar, have scenes made specifically for trailer use only.

Teaser trailers are generally only made for big-budget or popular themed films, other teaser trailers, for example for smaller films, are considered 'tester trailers' where a small promotion campaign is released to view results/interest before the larger marketing scheme is revealed.

Teaser trailers differ from theatrical trailers in that they are mainly shown/viewed, and therefore increasingly focused upon, the internet, on sites like Youtube, IMdb, and film webpages prior to the release of the theatrical trailer. The subtle differences in viewing location and medium allows film companies to market their product from many different avenues to allow the widest range of possible consumers to see it or to target sell to a particular demographic. Another benfit of multi-media marketing campaigns is that it generates hype, increasing speculation and the 'word of mouth' effect long before the film is released.

Teaser trailers, also, do not reveal many or any significant plot details and are only meant to give a minor glimpse at what is to come, alluding to genre and creating mystery. Theatrical trailers, however, is more detailed. It provides lots of details about the story arc, possibly introduces the protagonist and central characters, displays more obvious conventions aligning it with particular genre and introduces themes. Many modern trailers it can be argued, reveal too much of the story and significant moments thus eliminating any sense of surprise or suspense, which has been largely criticised.

On how a narrative or ambience in condensed into such a short space of time the Russian theorist, Tzvetan Todorov, who suggested that all narratives have a four part structure, gives us a clue.

Therefore in a trailer, and also a teaser trailer, which many believe are just a truncated version of the theatrical trailer the narrative should be broken down as such.

OPENING --> BUILD UP --> PROBLEM --> EVENTS

Within a trailer an audience is supplied with information about the film production and distribution companies, release dates are shown several weeks in advance and the closer to the release date the more the trailer is shown to capatalise on advertising oppertunity.