Teaser Trailers vs Trailers: An Example

To get a better understanding of the difference between these two types of trailers I decided to look at a teaser trailer and a full length trailer of the same film. I realise that film productions may produce their trailers in different ways but I feel as though looking at one example will give me one perspective on how this film production has done it therefore improving my understanding.

127 Hours (2010)

Genre: adventure, biography, drama
Directed by Danny Boyle


Teaser Trailer:

Length? 1 minute 46 seconds
Released? Around 5 months before film release.

Conventions & Additional Information

Interestingly, this teaser trailer goes against some of the conventions I mentioned in my previous post as it is longer than 45 seconds and was released only a few months before the film. My initial thought as to why this was was because I assumed the film had a low budget and therefore didn't want to leave the target audience waiting too long after releasing a teaser however I have just discovered that the estimated budget was in fact $18,000,000. Although, they still may have decided to release the teaser only a few months before the film (so that potential target audience wouldn't forget to see it) and there is also quite a lot of footage is placed in the teaser.

Narrative & Sound

After various idents, the trailer starts off with an establishing, long shot with ambient sounds. Energetic music plays as soon as a man riding a bicycle suddenly appears in shot. At this point the target audience has no idea who this man is (therefore, there is an enigma present), enforcing the fact that it is a teaser trailer and not supposed to give that much away. The teaser continues and overall only uses 2 parts of Todorov's theory; equilibrium and disequilibrium. This again, reinforces how it is a teaser trailer and wouldn't reveal the new equilibrium at the end as this would spoil the film and reduce the chance of potential target audience members watching it.

(Full Length Official) Trailer:

Length? 2 minutes 40 seconds
Released? Around 3 months before film release.

Narrative (continued)

This trailer follows many more conventions in terms of length and content. Immediately the storyline is set up for us, with an introduction to the main character (by the main character) and where he is and how he got there (shown through various shots of him leaving the house and driving). The incidental music playing throughout is energetic but subtly builds up tension. Quite a few similar clips are taken from the teaser trailer but many are also added. One of the most important being the shot of him talking to the camera (filming himself, which is made obvious by the fact that the camera quality is no where near as good as the rest of it). This is vital as it gives the target audience an insight into what the film is really about, which is him being stuck for 127 hours. The use of the camera shot (from his own camera) is very effective and lets the audience feel a connection with the character.

Editing

The montage editing used is also effective, changing between high quality happy shots of him exploring and with 2 other characters, to lower quality medium close ups of him talking to the camera looking worn out, dehydrated and tired.

How does the trailer finish?

The ending is a lot different than the teaser trailer as it has a new equilibrium feeling with connotations of hope. Although, the character is not literally shown becoming free, the editing and incidental music used gives the impression that there will be a happy ending, but we cannot know for sure unless we go and see the film.