What makes a teaser or trailer work for you?

[trappedslider]

I think we all dislike it if a trailer gives away the plot, but we're also confused if a trailer or teaser doesn't give anything away. What makes a perfect teaser or trailer hit the sweet spot for you?

 

[MGibster]

Just for fun, look up the original trailer for Soyland Green. If you didn't know the secret of Soylent Green before you saw the trailer, you'd know it after. For me, the trailer just has to pique my interest somehow and they're going to have to tell me something about the plot. It's really, really got to do a lot to pique my interest because I haven't seen a movie in the theater since D&D Honor Among Thieves.

 

[Deset Gled]

I think we all dislike it if a trailer gives away the plot, but we're also confused if a trailer or teaser doesn't give anything away. What makes a perfect teaser or trailer hit the sweet spot for you?

I think you just kinda said it. A trailer should tell you enough about the movie to know if it's interesting, without giving away spoilers. Kinda simple premise, in principle. Harder for some movies than others. Even harder if your marketing team doesn't know or care about the movie.

I'll note Bucky Larson as an example of a movie with trailers that were ridiculously vague, to the point where you had no idea what the movie was about. This was because the subject matter of the film was risqué enough that they didn't know how to promote it. And the remakes of both The Producers and Stepford Wives were examples that showed literally the entire movie in the trailers.

On the other side, Wrong Turn was a movie that I remember had impressively good trailers. They managed to convey the plot well without revealing the monsters, which did a great job to keep suspense high. That's especially important for lots of horror stuff.

 

[Tonguez]

The trail;er should indicate genre, action (or not) and basic premise, but not give away the plot or spoiler surprises

 

[Mad_Jack]

There's a really fine line between showing you something that makes you go, "Whoa!", and gets you interested enough to want more... and giving away the best moments in the film.

 

[payn]

There's a really fine line between showing you something that makes you go, "Whoa!", and gets you interested enough to want more... and giving away the best moments in the film.

Pretty much this. The trailer leaves me wanting to see and find out, not like I got everything I need in 90 seconds.

A good one to pick on is the recent Chris Pratt sits in a chair movie. The trailer basically gives away the entire plot and the impression it leaves is that this is a feature length episode of Outer Limits or Black Mirror. The idea isnt fresh or interesting.

Now, that based of the trailer they gave. If a lot of the details were hidden it might have been an intriguing "whats happening here?" trailer. The fact they didnt go with that leads me to believe its not that interesting to pull off that kind of lure.

 

[Morrus]

Too much info puts me off. If the trailer is basically a Cliff Notes version of the film, I don’t need to watch the film.

Also, if the trailer shows all the funny lines or all the best stunts, that makes the film an anticlimactic experience.

I think — give me the premise. The genre. Show me who’s in it. DON’T tell me the plot.

 

[Ryujin]

The trail;er should indicate genre, action (or not) and basic premise, but not give away the plot or spoiler surprises

Same. Give me the genre and premise, then a few non spoilery scenes to let me see what the actor interaction and directing look like. Done.