What is the difference between a teaser trailer

and a full trailer?

A teaser trailer for an upcoming film, television program, video game or similar, is usually released long in advance of the product, so as to "tease" the audience. An early example of a teaser trailer was the one for the 1978 Superman film by Richard Donner (see link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65GVp8fErGI

Superman 1978 full trailer (see link below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-v1RyLNWU8

You can see from these two examples how short and simple a teaser trailer is compared to the full trailer. I will compare the two types of trailer in more depth and include a genre relevant example on the next slides.

Teaser trailers are often released months or even years before the film is released. A teaser trailer is the first trailer for a film that the Production Company releases. A teaser trailer is sometimes released without the whole film having been shot and so it doesn't show much of the plot or shots from the film as sometimes the plot has not been completely decided and shots cannot be shown as they have not yet been filmed. A teaser trailer is often quite short because of this.

The main purpose is to make people aware that this film is going to be released and basically create hype around it and encourage people to see it, and maybe create a fan base/following for the film before it has been released. And because the full plot has not been revealed it “teases” the audience and gets them thinking about the film and possible plot and makes them want to know/see more.

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Teaser trailers often show some short shots from the film or in some cases no shots from the film at all. And may feature some actor/actresses names that will be featured in the film. There is also usually a piece of instrumental music playing in the background to fill the silences and to create the mood for the genre of film. In general, teasers have less film footage and are more audio and graphics orientated/focused.

A full trailer is released a few months or weeks before the film is released but also a few weeks or months after the teaser is released. The full trailer shows more plot, and is generally more in depth than the teaser, but still does not reveal everything as this would make watching the full film pointless. The teaser and trailer are used to gradually build up the audiences excitement for the film and to gradually reveal more plot. This creates more anticipation for the full film and allows people to become aware of the films release so that more people go to see it. It’s a way for the film company to advertise their film and to appeal to and gather as big an audience following as possible before the film is released resulting in a higher profit for that company.

Comparing the teaser and full trailer of “The Shining”

A relevant example based on my chosen genre of psychological thriller/horror:

A relevant example based on my chosen genre of psychological thriller/horror:

The shining 1980 teaser trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tcA34NfJIUThis teaser trailer contains no or little shots from the film. It focuses only on one scene/setting which is the end of a corridor with what looks like elevators. There is a constant roll of names of actors in the form of graphics moving across the screen and because this is the only thing changing on screen it suggests that this is what the audience should be focussing on. The only time this changes is at the end of the teaser when blood comes from the doors and fills the corridor transforming it into a red mess. At this point the roll of names stop suggesting that the audience should focus on the visuals that are now happening on the scene. There is constant music and sound throughout. The music, although simple, conveys the mood of the genre and fills the silence. There are sound effects of what sounds like buzzing insects which gets more intense towards the end of the teaser, adding emphasis to the blood and horror which appears. No plot is revealed. The only thing revealed is the setting which looks like a hotel or apartment like building (the elevators suggest this) and that the film is a horror (based around the scary music, sound effects and blood) the blood could also suggest that the plot includes a murder. There is no voiceover in the teaser.

The shining 1980 full trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G7Ju035-8UThis trailer reveals so much more plot than the teaser. It uses establishing shots of the buildings and surrounding area to set the scene before showing a series of clips from the film. The shots start of being long clips with average paced cuts between shots, this speeds up rapidly towards the end of the trailer, the shots become shorter clips and the cuts become faster and more frantic which adds emphasis to the genre of horror. The music also starts of quite quiet and slow, however speed up and becomes louder towards the end of the trailer similar to how it did in the teaser. Unlike the teaser, the trailer includes dialogue from certain scenes which allows the audience to get a sense of the plot and what's happening in the clips. However the dialogue doesn't always match the clip or is played over a series of clips, this therefore means the full plot is not revealed. The clips and dialogue start of in chronological order, allowing the basic plot and setting to be revealed to the audience, however towards the end the clips are not shown necessarily in the correct order which again means the full plot is not revealed and also could reflect the chaotic nature of events happening on screen. Everything shown or played in the trailer is for the audiences benefit, it is shown to entice the audience into watching the film, its purpose is not to make sense or tell a story. The images are broken up with black screens displaying the film name and its release date, which was not included in the teaser. The clips used tend to focus on the characters emotion by using close ups and extreme close ups. This allows the audience to identify the main characters and identify further the genre of the film. The full trailer is definitely more in depth than the teaser.

A relevant example based on my chosen genre of psychological thriller/horror:

Teaser trailer Full trailer

No voiceover Voiceover or/and character dialogue

music music

Little or no clips from the film Made up completely of clips from the film

Actor/actress names shown None or only main/key actor/actress names shown

Little or no plot shown or conveyed Summary of plot is shown or conveyed through clips shown in a mostly chronological order.

No release date shown for the film Release date shown for the film

Conventions and comparison between a teaser trailer and a full trailer: