Thursday, February 14, 2008

Movie Trailers

Movie Trailers

Movie trailers is the industrys term for a movie commercial or coming attractions These are the brief most run under two minutes in theaters and sixty or thirty seconds on television spots that try to show the highlights of a motion picture a brief synopsis of the plot and some exciting scenes or interesting dialogue all in an effort to make you the viewer want to see the film Some films that were complete critical failures have become blockbuster hits based on the strength of the trailer Because of this the work of piecing together a quality trailer has become nearly as much an art form as making the films themselves Have you noticed that for the past twenty years or so the majority of movie trailers seem to feature the same voiceover announcer Thats because for the most part they have Don LaFontaine is perhaps the most famous movie trailer announcer in history certainly the most recognizable working today Hes narrated trailers for everything from The Godfather to Terminator 2 and is called upon to lend his famous voice to almost every major picture released A successful movie commercial needs a good voice over announcer and Don LaFontaine has created the way modern movie trailers sound Ashton Smith perhaps said it best when he said When you die the voice you hear in Heaven is not Dons Its God trying to sound like Don The real challenge in putting together a film trailer comes in selecting what to show and what not to The editor must include enough to give the audience some idea of the plot and some glimpse of scenes that will make them wish to see the film At the same time it is vital to refrain from giving too much away Imagine if the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back included the voice of Darth Vader saying Luke I am your father The opening day lines may have been longer but the climax of the movie would have been shattered for all who saw it To this end the films director and editor often work together to create the movie trailer on most modern productions something that was unheard of in the industry some twentyfive years ago Those who doubt the power of the movie commercial need only look back to the winter of 1998 That year a Brad Pitt vehicle called Meet Joe Black was released to a lackluster opening weekend It seemed folks just werent interested in Mr Pitts take on the Grim Reaper In its second weekend however Meet Joe Blacks box office receipts soared Did everyone suddenly realize that this was the movie to see Hardly Selected theaters had been chosen by Lucasfilm to show the trailer for Star Wars Episode One The Phantom Menace Not only were people ponying up their $7 50 to catch a coming attraction of a movie that wouldnt come out for another six months theater owners reported that auditoriums which were full to capacity when the film started were empty when it ended People watched the trailer and then left An internet search for free Bollywood movies online brings up over two million results

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