British Kinematography (1953)

October, 1953 HARRIS I PRODUCTION OF TRAILERS 99 a light being switched on ; a shadow against a wall. Shots such as these, out of context, can be exceedingly useful to back a piece of narration or a title and to give the trailer a build-up of atmosphere. A chase, or any kind of fast action, is a wonderful aid to the general pace of the trailer. In fact, the more action the better, since a trailer must keep moving or have something equally arresting to grip the attention. If the scenes in themselves are slow and dull, then the presentation must be assisted by some extraneous build-up. Preparation of Trailer Script Having seen a film, a full trailer script is prepared. The shape of the trailer is decided at this stage. Some films are very much easier to sell than others ; so much depends on the material one has to work with. Great consideration is given as how best to sell each particular picture. One goes on jostling with ideas and discarding them wholesale. One wonders whether the Stars are big enough ; are the scenes good enough in themselves to sell the seats ; how much padding do they need ? Does the Director mean anything to the public and is he worth emphasizing ? Is it a controversial subject, or should one make it so. Dare we sell it on sex, without making it nasty or running into Censor trouble ; or if it is a funny film, will the excerpts, divorced from their complete build-up, be funny enough ? And always, what is there new to say about the same old story ? The continuity of trailer scenes is not of great importance ; the highlights can be given away almost immediately so long as the effect is achieved. You can lead up to your climax by all means, but the cardinal sin is to give away the result of that climax. Leave it in the air. Never show what happens to the villain in the end. Let your hero and heroine quarrel like mad, but let your audience see next week the result of that quarrel. Keep them guessing. Make them want a little more. Leave them, like Pearl White, hanging on by their finger tips. Invariably one tries to make the opening matter as arresting as possible, in fact, to do what a newspaper nearly always achieves by its headlines, arrest the attention from the very first. You are then lured on to read the sub-headings and then to read the body of the article. Similarly, a trailer should start in the most arresting way so that the audience is forced to go on looking and listening to the next piece of information and the next — until the body of the trailer is established and the main advertising points have been put across. Trailers are much larger than life and a little noisier too. We recognize the fact that they are wedged in between the popcorn rattling, seat tipping and ice-cream sales. To add variety to trailer presentation the Stars are used whenever it is possible, and special scenes are shot. The script of the feature is often read immediately it is available, so that if an idea can be mapped out at that time, it is easier and certainly more economical to do the little shooting necessary whilst the film is still on the floor and the Stars are still under contract. One tries to introduce new ideas in every conceivable way, in order to ring the changes on presentation, but many ideas which might work very well, may have to be discarded because of the time they would take to put over. Once the idea has taken shape, a full trailer script is prepared for comment. Here, all the suggestions for dialogue scenes and material for backing titles and commentary are carefully explained and it is then ready for discussion by studio or distribution personnel, or both. The approval of a script varies very largely with the organisation. In some cases the studio takes the greater interest and sometimes the distributor. Producers, directors, managing directors, sales and publicity directors are exceedingly alive to the value of a trailer, for it is generally conceded by those who should know, that the trailer is one of their most potent means of advertising. The scripts, as they are submitted, are largely accepted but during the discussion stages there may emerge some suggestions regarding an additional scene — or a substitution— or both. A title or piece of