Why are movie adverts called trailers?
A movie theatre experience is incomplete without trailers of upcoming films playing to inform your next film plans. Trailers catch public attention as the first strategy in marketing, and they are meant to share just enough information about the movie to grab eyeballs, without revealing too much about the plot to keep the curiosity alive for ticket sales.
This brief glimpse into the film often helps determine its success months in advance. Usually following a formula, trailers with expert editing can capture the true essence of the movie, whereby crafting them is considered an art form. It’s a powerful storytelling and narrative-building tool, and when done without regard for publicity, it can change perceptions. The audience often deems a well-cut trailer to be better than the film itself. However, they were not introduced with this intent, and the reason behind their introduction can be found in their etymology.
Trailers were meant to be screened after the end of a movie. True to its name, they were made to “trail films” in theatres, inviting audiences to return for other upcoming movies. More than being a marketing strategy for the film, they were a strategy to market the theatre.
The initial purpose behind trailers was driven by theatre owners and managers, not filmmakers. The idea was to keep bringing the crowd back to the same theatre for more film experiences. The intent was based on the logic that the audience would stay back even after the ending. However, theatre staff soon realised that the audience left as soon as the movie ended. Their efforts to screen these trailers were falling on deaf ears.
When did trailers start getting shown after movies?
The first trailer was, in fact, not even for a movie, but a theatrical show. Back in 1913, Nils Granlund showed a short but captivating preview of the production The Pleasure Seekers to the audience seated after a film ended. This marketing stunt for a theatrical production inspired industry experts to take it forward. Soon, these previews came to be known as trailers, made for the following film screenings.
While this scheduling placement worked for some time, a conflicting change was soon observed. The audience would lose interest and stop paying attention after the film ended, with many leaving right when the end credits began to roll. This behaviour motivated the management to shift how they scheduled them, with films now following a barrage of trailers. Yet, by then, the name trailer had settled into the audience’s mind, and a name change was not on the horizon, even if the meaning no longer applied.
These days, making trailers is not about inviting the audience to watch the film when it comes out, or even promoting the theatre. Because of social media’s bountiful rise, the craft has shifted to hijacking online trends, and the purpose has changed from storytelling to generating hype. There is not much art involved in cutting a trailer, which now just throws the most provocative scenes from the film and the actors that will get bums in seats. In fact, sometimes the trailer will outright tell you all about the film plot, so you don’t even feel like returning for a theatre experience of the same.
