Questionaire

We decided to ask a few questions on what people generally expect to see from a film trailer, not genre specific, but just the features they expect to see. The last question focuses on peoples first thoughts about horror trailers.


Questionnaire 1

Is there anything in particular that would catch your attention when watching a good trailer?

Quite a difficult question to identify what makes a good trailer – but I expect that anything especially funny, exciting or noteworthy would catch my attention.

Where would you be most likely to see a film trailer? For example in the cinema, online and so on.

My job is to programme a small cinema so I often look online at trailers. If this was not my job, I expect that if I was making a decision about what to go and see and had online access, I would take a look at trailers as well synopses. The other location where I am most likely to see a film trailer is at the cinema.

How long would you expect a typical trailer to last?

2 minutes 30 seconds max


How much of a films storyline would you expect to see in a trailer?

I would expect the trailer to tell the story of the film in abbreviated form, in a 3 act structure similar to a feature length film, but without giving away the ending or including any ‘spoilers’.


What do you expect to see when watching the trailer for a new ‘horror’ film?

Indication of what will cause horror / terror to audience and strong sense of menace. Obviously this film genre incorporates a number of sub-genres and repeated themes such as vampire themes, slasher themes, zombie themes, demonic possession, evil children, haunted houses, cannibalism etc. I am not a big horror fan, so find it difficult to analyse what new trends there are in the horror genre at the moment.


Questionnaire 2

Is there anything in particular that would catch your attention when watching a good trailer?

I need a strong idea to catch my attention in the first few seconds... you know how it is when you meet someone new, you kind of make up your mind about them with the first hand shake!


Where would you be most likely to see a film trailer? For example in the cinema, online and so on.

at the moment it is probably a bit of everything, but in order: on-line (my computer opens on the Apple homepage which has a good trailer section) followed by cinema, DVD, and TV.


How long would you expect a typical trailer to last?

think it has to do the business in about a minute, as I don't want to learn too much about the film, just enough to draw me in. Want all the twists in the plot to be a surprise, so please don't feed me a summary of the film as some do, which answers 4).


What do you expect to see when watching the trailer for a new ‘horror’ film?

probably somebody scared shitless... but what is the cause?


Questionnaire 3


Is there anything in particular that would catch your attention when watching a good trailer?

Some trailers turn out to be better than the film their advertising, the Match of the Day syndrome i.e. all the best bits can make the match seem a lot better than it was. The film trailers job is to entice people to want to watch what’s on offer. Therefore its got to be appealing to the demography that its aimed at, it should allow a brief synopsis of the story, without giving to much away, certainly demonstrate the genre and I personally like to see who’s directing the movie and who’s appearing in it. (I would not miss the latest Nicole Kidman).

Where would you be most likely to see a film trailer? For example in the cinema, online and so on.

I am quite traditional, I enjoy seeing trailers in the cinema before the main feature, this I feel adds to the cinema going experience. Admittedly I also enjoy the trailers provided on some DVD’s where you can some times get an appetiser for a more obscure movie,I have purchased DVD’s on the strength of this.

How long would you expect a typical trailer to last?

Not to long, perhaps between 1.5 and 2 minutes except in exceptional circumstances for example The Dark Knights trailer for the IMAX experience.

How much of a films storyline would you expect to see in a trailer?

Just enough to entice your interest, give too much away and theirs no point in seeing the film?

What do you expect to see when watching the trailer for a new ‘horror’ film?

From a quite beginning to a build up of atmosphere and tension. Introduction of main characters. Some scary bits with a coating of blood. One or two blunt/startling tag lines.

Questionnaire 4

Is there anything in particular that would catch your attention when watching a good trailer?

One thing is what the first person said - a good beat. The one in that particular trailer seemed a little too simple and endless though for my tastes. A simple beat's good for me as long as it doesn't last for too long. Also, I hate pictures in a film trailer. Whatever words are used should be selected carefully, and there can be a few words spoken by a character and there, but those are more just to go with the audio and keep the interest of the viewer.


Where would you be most likely to see a film trailer? For example in the cinema, online and so on.

Online. I don't go to the movies often enough.

How long would you expect a typical trailer to last?

The best would be about a minute, but no more than two minutes.

How much of a films storyline would you expect to see in a trailer?

It should be mysterious, but I wouldn't want the whole plot revealed. Maybe showing bits of the climax, and if the concept of the movie (like the concept of a post-apocalyptic time period) is the strong part, then focus on that. If the climax is the only strong part though, then reveal more of the premise and bits of the climax.

What do you expect to see when watching the trailer for a new ‘horror’ film?

A simple audio probably. Visually-speaking, maybe darkness. And through selective wording in the trailer, making the viewer wonder what the horror in this film is (example: In the trailer for "the Orphan", they focused a lot how you won't figure out her secret, blah blah, and kept it mysterious and intriguing enough to the point where people put the spoilers online within days of it coming out because they were so curious XP).
Horror film trailers tend to be awfully alike though, so I'd want there to be some uniqueness to how the trailer plays out...it usually involves the girl running away from the creepy guy or monster, some gore, and searching for help. Doing that isn't necessarily a bad thing, as suspense is needed in a good trailer, but maybe try brainstorming other ideas, like focusing on other sides of the film, like the emotional (not necessarily screaming, but maybe people crawled up on streets, staring at nothing Something like that maybe).