My name is Jessica Fox, and I am a creative director helping to create some of the teas and trailers you might have seen in theaters and television and online.

I want talk a little bit today about what a trailer is and how our trailer gets made and point out some of the common trends and tropes that you might find in some of your favorite trailers.

So sit back, grab a snack, sounds her cell phones and enjoy the show.

At its most basic, the trailers and marketing tool used to build interest in an upcoming film.

In two and 1/2 minutes, you have to convey to an audience with this film has to offer in terms of story spectacle stars in style.

You might have noticed that some of your favorite trailers might be told in similar ways or have similar elements to them.

There's a reason for this in the industry and film in general.

It's something that's referred to as a troop.

The two and 1/2 minutes isn't a lot of time to convey the full expression of a film to an audience and get them excited to see it.

So creators of trailers rely on tropes, toe help convey a lot of information to an audience quickly.

One of the most recognizable tropes and trailers is the use of narration, specifically the in a world voice here in a wound where the sun burns cold.

But in a world where grown ups make all the rules, three strangers travel to the mystical realm of Outworld.

This'll narration can very quickly and concisely tell you what the plot is.

Some of the main themes you're going to experience some of what you might feel, the reason why you might have noticed the trend of this in a world voice because it really works.

It grabs the audience's attention.

In the beginning, it helps walk you through some of the most important parts of the story, and it allows you to.

I understand the world in which this movie lifts there became a time where audiences did grow to expect it, and there were other methods that could convey similar information.

As the decrease in narration happened, we saw rise in graphics instead, so some of this information was then conveyed in cards.

It's hard to say why any particular trend or trope might fall out of favor.

Sometimes audiences feel that they've seen it a lot, and it's an indication that a certain film might not have something new to offer.

Sometimes it's that the industry itself is ready to tell a story in a different way.

And as films evolve as television evolves, so does the marketing for film and television and with troops that have existed for a period of time, even as perhaps we don't see them prevalent in today's trailers there, then trailers that bring them back as a self referential or humorous device.

So there's a number of those that have come out that have used a idea of the in a world and have used it to play on the trope that used to exist in trailers.

We live in a time unparalleled danger in a world within our world.

Trailers that have used this in a world feeling to evoke certain trailers of a time period.

One in particular is the recent trailer for the dead Don't Die.

That opens with some creepy narrations setting up this quiet town in this peaceful tone, thes quiet streets, something terrifying, something horrifying coming.

It's very reminiscent of early Romero films, but the few remaining their only hope of survival is to find a cure.

And that's done to deliberately create a space for the audience to to remember that to feel that type of genre so that when you are in this zombie genre, you have certain expectations.

So when the trailer takes a turn toward the comedic, it surprises those expectations.

Now we're gonna watch the first seconds of a trailer and like you to see if you can spot the trope that this trailer uses.

Did you see it?

The shop places you in the location that the film takes place and does so typically in a very beautiful in scope, the way it's that sweeping aerial shot that tells you immediately what the location is.

This could be seen in action films, thrillers, horror films and even comedies.

The reason it's so pervasive is that this movie has scope.

It's big.

It's going to promise a lot of scenery and a lot of beauty.

So for films, especially in more independent films or films that are really focused on interpersonal stories, you might find that a lot of the action a lot of the story takes place in maybe one room or just a few smaller locations.

Many dramas might feel like they take place in a house or over the course of the dinner by having a wide establishing shot to start the trailer.

You're showing and promise in the audience that there's more than maybe what might feel like claustrophobic.

Set another time you might have noticed in trailers Aziz of a preview pulse.

It's a deep sound that emanates low and swallows you up is it brings you into the story.

Single idea from the human mind.

Preview Pulse, in many audiences are aware of is this deep, guttural pulse this tone?

This on compass same starts at the bottom and grows and comes back.

It's a swell, but it's a deep, percussive bass.

Well, the sound has become recognized across trailers.

It's typically used in genres that are more thrilling, more suspenseful.

It makes the audience lean in take notice.

It's, uh, it's not a weapon very quickly sets the tone of the trailer, and thus the film.

It tells the audience that there'll be some moments of tension.

There'll be suspense.

It tells the audience that this film has something that you need to pay attention to.

Sound works incredibly well in genres of action, of suspense, thrillers, movies where you know you're going to be taken on a ride.

There's gonna be some adrenaline, but it would feel incredibly out of place in a trailer for a romantic comedy.

You complete may.

So just because this particular trope works very well in a number of trailers that you might have seen doesn't mean that it can cross all genres like some other troops might be able to go.

There's another trope that's become rather common and trailers, and this is the repetition of sounds.

This could be one sound in particular, that continues to repeat throughout the duration of a trailer.

Perhaps it's a breath.

Perhaps it's a hit.

It's a heartbeat.

They fry you if you're wrong, it's something that is brought in with a visual or with a mention in a trailer is brought in for a reason, and then it persists throughout the entirety of the trailer, reminding you of its presence.

There's also sound design elements and the repetition of sound design that switch as the trailer and build upon each other as the trailer progressives.

So why is this trip so effective?

Every trailer has a pulse, and repetition of sound allows for a building on that pulse.

We might start with a heartbeat.

And as that's going on, you introduce another sound.

Maybe a car door slams, maybe a door opens and you hear a Maybe later on a hit.

Maybe there's a wish element.

All of these sounds start layering on each other.

And as they build, so does the story.

So what?

You started with your little introduction by the end of the trailer, you have all of these sounds and all of this information.

What you might start with and what you end up with is the journey.

I've had marital problems.

I think it's time that we start talking about a divorce.

We're gonna be fine professional.

You name Larry.

We've received a number of letters denigrating you and urging us not to grant you tenure.

I need help.

We're gonna be I've tried to be a serious man.

Tried to do right be a member of the community.

What makes this trope so effective is when the sounds are motivated by important things that are happening in the film itself.

If you're watching a character experience a moment and they bang their head against the desk and that sound gets repeated, your feeling that anguish each time If you're watching a character really excited and they get up in the cheer and that sheer keeps repeating, you're feeling the excitement as well.

I sat garage and invented the future.

Sound design is also a great tool to help convey emotion when it might be difficult to convey plot points in order to get to that emotion.

So in situations like that, it's less important to give the whole story as it is, to give the feeling to the audience of what it feels like to be honest journey and to watch this film.

So instead of having to explain all the steps a character might have taken in their journey, you can more quickly do it by hearing that grunt by hearing that sound design.

Hearing that labored breath, he's afraid he knows how far I came to find another thing to keep in mind when creating a trailer.

Using this repetition of sound as a device is to make sure that the sound is within a rhythm and a heartbeat that matches the pacing.

So, for instance, as you start layering in your sounds there, each building on one another in a constant rhythm.

So whatever your trigger sound is, whatever started it will continue in.

Each layer will build on top of that so that it's its own piece of music.

So each sound element from the film is like an instrument in an orchestra, and you're having them all play together to create a really rich sound and a rich experience for the audience red for black.

In addition to making sure that the sound has its own rhythm and every sound element is working well together, the thing to keep in mind is to make sure that they're established visually as well.

And it's important as your building sounds and building these layers that each time a new ones introduced you give the audience a moment, understand why it's there.

The sound is information.

It's telling you something that you as a viewer need to know a more recent trend.

You might have noticed his use of a bumper.

This is a short piece that precedes the trailer to grab the audience's attention immediately.

Now the trailers have moved from the theater to people's personal computers, and now even their phones.

The ability to click away from that content is ever present.

Since 2000 the average attention span has gone from 10 seconds down to eight seconds, and with this is more pressure on content creators to make sure to engage the audience in those first crucial seconds.

One way marketers have found to do this is by the creation of a bumper.

This is typically a six eight second piece that precedes the trailer and gets your interest immediately so that you'll stay watching the full trailer.

Thes bumpers can be special shoots that might introduce the trailer, perhaps a cast member director inviting you to watch the trailer for their film.

They might be special shoots that riff on the idea of the trailer or speak to ahead of time.

This is Meg, Amy, Beth and Joe.

It might be a great joke that could be in the trailer.

Might not even be in the trailer, might be in the film itself that just brings you in.

It's time to nut up or shut up.

Oftentimes, their material from the trailer.

It's a little best of, if you will, of what you're about to see.

The point of these bumpers is not to give anything away before the trailer.

The point is just to show the audience that this is something you're gonna want to say.

It's to get that audiences attention in those first very crucial seconds and make sure that they stay to watch the whole thing.

Bumpers can be used across genres in a drama or in an indie film and something more focused on storytelling.

Rather than trying to get the plot in.

In this 1st 6 seconds, you might just show some of your main characters and a little bit of the pedigree.

See who the director is.

See who your main characters are, so you get a sense of what the cast is.

Four comedies.

It could be great to start a bumper with the joke, something that already has you laughing.

So you're going into the trailer.

Prepare until after more the parents of a CPR doll, we could practice kissing on that.

How was it, Dickie?

It's crucial that those first few seconds get the audience's attention immediately, so they want to stay and see what else you have to say.

A lot of research has been done recently to show that these bumpers you, in fact, work to help engage the audience further and to make sure they stay tow, watch the full trailer and with so many opportunities to click away and move on to something else, any advantage you can have to make sure that your audience wants to see everything you have to say is an advantage you want to take.

So with attention spans decreasing and content increasing, there are new things that we might be seen in the industry down the road.

While people are still going to the theater to enjoy a film, many people are also watching that same film at home or even on their phones.

So as content moves the way we move, they'll be new ways to view it.

Some things that are being discussed in the industry already breaking movies into smaller, more digestible pieces over a period of time so someone could watch a full two hour movie and 8 to 12 minute increments on their phone troops will likely continue to exist in trailers, as they do in all storytelling because there are tool that will allow you to convey a great amount of information in a very succinct and impactful way.