Differences between teaser trailer and theatrical trailer

In the initial process of advertising, it is important for the developer to build up as much hype as possible. Indeed, to "tease" the viewer about the film, leaving them wanting more. As a result, a teaser trailer is very commonplace to carry out the aforementioned tasks. Later on in the development stages of the film, a more in-depth trailer will be released. This is referred to as the theatrical trailer. There are similarities, such as the requirement to build up hype, but also important differences, such as length and other additional purposes. I will be going more in-depth into these differences to further emphasise these variations.

The most obvious difference between these two forms of trailer is their duration. Usually, a teaser trailer lasts for about a minute to a minute and a half. This is largely due to the fact that at this point, the film is in the planning stages, prior to production. This means that they have insufficiant highlights to show at this stage, and as such they must work with what little footage they have at such a time. I also feel that another reson for this is that if they release too much of the footage too early on, the fans will lose interest in the film, as they may become aware of the film's plot before it is even released. By contrast, a theatrical trailer is generally a minute longer, at two and a half minutes. This is partly due to the fact that the film is in its final days of editing, and thus they have vastly greater material to work with. However, there is also the fact that they can tease the audience with a much greater amount of footage than they could show prior to this point. The release date will now be imminant, and therefore they can risk letting more of the film loose.

The duration of each shot can also be seen as differing from both trailers. Generally speaking, when the teaser trailer is distributed, the shots are for the most part, very rapid and in quick succession. A good example of this is the teaser trailer for the remake of "Friday the 13th", as while initially there are a montage of slow shots, they are quickly replaced with the faster paced shots for the remainder. There is one exception to this rule, seen at the end, where Jason runs up to a girl and, apparantly decapitates her. I feel that the reasoning behind this is so that the audience cannot fully make out what is happening, thus leaving them in a state of intrigue and bewilderment. This also leads them to the assumption that if they want to understamd the synopsis, they will have to watch the film. On the other side of things, the theatrical release follows a chronological sequence, as it initially with slower shots, showing a care-free group of teenagers going places they shouldn't go. Then they see, as well as the viewers, a sinister figure of questional humanity, and they decide to investigate. This leads to them all meeting an inevitably horrific and gruesome death, synced with quick and sudden cuts. Initially, this sounds similar to the teaser, but the difference is seen in the smaller details. The main variation is that during the length of the trailer, there are several long shots, which help to break up the sudden cuts and build tension in the viewer. This means that it breaks free of the potentially repetitive style of a teaser trailer, which is the main development in the evolution of a teaser to a theatrical trailer.

Fan service, especially for a specific franchise, also plays a significant role in the appeal of a trailer, as the inclusion of a well-established character is pivitol to success. Again, this can be seen in both teaser and theatrical trailers for Friday the 13th. For the teaser trailer,. he is a crucial factor for the fans, as otherwise it would not be Friday the 13th, rather just another cliche horror film. As a result, even though his screen time in the teaser is very minimal, it is enough to show that this is a film in the Friday the 13th franchise. In the theatrical trailer, however, Jason has a lot more screen time, which helps to signify that he is the main focus point of the film, as well as showing that there is less fan service in this trailer, and more of a focus on the story of the film.