A trailer is a short film or TV show that shows people what they can expect to see when the film or TV show is released. A well-made trailer is a major selling point for any movie or TV show, and can increase ticket sales by a significant margin.
A great trailer tells a riveting story that gets the audience emotionally invested in your movie or TV show. You can achieve this by using a three-act structure, with a beginning that introduces your main characters and the setting; a middle that heightens the conflict of the trailer; and an ending that delivers on the promise of your story.
Script and visuals are the two most important elements of your trailer. Whether you are creating your own video or hiring someone to do it for you, these two components need to work together to create an engaging, memorable experience that will draw viewers in and inspire them to want to see the film or watch the show.
Start with a solid script for your trailer, combining snippets of dialogue with visuals to set up the world and relationships in the movie. Then, use music to establish the tone and mood of the trailer.
Once you have your script, you can begin working with a video editor to put it all together. Look for a tool that is easy to use, supports various video formats, offers advanced editing tools, and features special effects.
Include cliffhangers in your trailer to keep people interested. The trailer will be a shortened version of the film or TV show, so it needs to leave viewers with an unanswered question that drives them to want to know more. Adding cliffhangers to your trailer can also help with social media marketing, as they make it more likely that people will share it with others.
Create a strong call to action in your trailer that will get people to click and subscribe to your channel or website. The best calls to action are original, exciting, and engaging, and avoid cliches.
You can use different kinds of visuals in your trailer, including stock photos and snippets of footage from your book or TV show. These can all be used to portray your characters, but you should choose images and clips that align with the tone and content of your book or show.
Lastly, consider what time of day you want to release your trailer, as this will impact how long people are likely to remember it and whether or not they will go to see the movie. Typically, a good trailer should be released about a month before the actual movie or TV show is released.