A trailer is a large vehicle used to haul a heavy load. Most trailers are equipped with brakes and tires that allow them to be stopped and controlled when they are not in motion. The simplest trailers are designed to haul general freight, while more complex models may be used for hazardous materials or vehicles. Some trailers have multiple axles, while others have single axles that can be coupled together to form a tandem unit. Trailers can be made of a variety of materials, including steel and aluminum. Some trailers are affixed to a tractor, while others are pulled by a truck.
The best trailers don’t give away the whole movie. They introduce you to the main characters, set up the central conflict of the film and leave you wanting to know how they will overcome that conflict. The best trailers also zig where the film zags, keeping viewers guessing about the true plot of the film.
Trailers can be incredibly effective at selling movies, especially when they are well-made. However, they can also be misleading, both in the sense that they might lull audiences into seeing a film that might not have appealed to them otherwise and in that they can mislead viewers about the quality of the movie they will see.
With the advent of the Internet, trailers have become an important part of the movie-making process. Studios are able to release red-band trailers online that they cannot broadcast on television and develop extended campaigns for these trailers, which might include countdowns or teasers that lead up to the trailer’s premiere. Online video platforms such as YouTube are also becoming the new sandbox for editors who can tweak and recut trailers to create fascinating, often controversial mashups.
A typical trailer begins with a list of the movie’s cast and crew, which is usually followed by the studio production logos. The trailer then begins with a series of action-packed clips from the film, sometimes interspersed with voiceover narration. This narration is usually done by a well-known actor or actress, and can include a brief synopsis of the story.
Some trailers also feature a musical score, although this is not always the case. Music for trailers is often created long before the composer has been hired for the movie, so it is possible that the music in a trailer may not appear on the soundtrack of the final film.
One of the most famous examples of a trailer being a bit misleading occurred with the 1960s classic Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock’s trailer for the film featured a soft-spoken Hitchcock giving viewers a tour of the Bates Motel, only to reveal a blood-curdling scream from Vera Miles in the shower at the end. This spooked viewers into thinking they would be in for a real horror movie, when in fact, the film was a psychological thriller. Nonetheless, the trailer succeeded in creating enough interest in the film that it eventually became a blockbuster.