A teaser trailer (or simply a teaser) is a short trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release film or television show advertisement. Short in length, teaser trailers contain little material from the advertised content to be released. [1]
Frequently, they contain hinted, cryptic, curiosity-inducing messages. Methods of this nature are designed to pique audience interest and anticipation, as well as increase the hype of the advertised content before release of its trailer. The length of a teaser trailer is usually only around 20–30 seconds, noticeably shorter than the 2014 National Association of Theatre Owners guideline of two minutes for standard trailers. It is generally created during the shooting of the film or program and released before the completion of shooting. [1]
A teaser trailer is a short video segment related to an upcoming film, television program, video game, or similar, that is usually released long in advance of the product, so as to "tease" the audience; [2] an early example of the teaser trailer was the one for the 1978 Superman film by Richard Donner, which was designed to re-invigorate interest on the part of potential movie-goers, for a film whose release had been delayed.
Film teasers are usually made for big-budget and popularly themed movies. [3] Their purpose is less to tell the audience about a movie's content than simply to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. [4] Teaser trailers are often made while the film is still in production or being edited, and as a result they may feature scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in the finished film. [5] [6] Often they contain no dialogue and some — notably Pixar films — have scenes made for use in the trailer only. [6] Some teaser trailers show a quick montage of scenes from the film. [7] The average length of a teaser is less than a minute. [4]
Later examples of major motion picture events that used teaser trailers to gain hype are The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Star Wars prequels, and the Spider-Man films. The Da Vinci Code teaser trailer was released even before a single frame of the movie had been shot.[ citation needed ] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 's teaser debuted three months before its intended release date, but its delay to July 15, 2009, expanded the gap to a year.
When the first teaser for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was attached to the films The Siege , A Bug's Life and Meet Joe Black , it was reported that many people had paid for admission to the film just to watch the trailer and subsequently walked out after the trailer had been screened. [8] Similarly, teasers for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith were shown before the Pixar films Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles , respectively. The teaser trailer for Cloverfield was first publicly shown attached to the film Transformers ; at that point, nothing about the former was known, and the one-and-a-half-minute teaser did not include the movie title; only the producer's name, J. J. Abrams, and a release date, 1.18.08, were shown. The teaser trailer for another film directed by Abrams, Star Trek , was attached to Cloverfield itself, depicting the starship USS Enterprise being constructed on Earth, and again showing no title, instead just showing the Starfleet Insignia; the Star Trek teaser trailer originally announced the release date as Christmas 2008, but the movie was eventually delayed to May 8, 2009, making the wait between the teaser trailer and the movie itself 16 months. Other teasers also do not explicitly display the film's title, but reveal it in the URL for the website.
Teasers often create hype in media to such extent that they get leaked. Avengers: Infinity War , 2.0 and KGF: Chapter 2 prove to be such examples. The teaser (the director's version) of 2.0 was released weeks before it was officially released on YouTube.
DVD and Blu-ray releases of movies will usually contain both their teaser and theatrical trailers as special features. One exception to this rule is Spider-Man , whose teaser trailer featured an unrelated plot of bank robbers escaping in a helicopter, getting caught from behind and propelled backward into what at first appears to be a net, then is shown to be a gigantic spider web spun between the two towers at the World Trade Center. [9] This teaser was pulled from theaters following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but it can be viewed on YouTube.
Film promotion is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. Sometimes this is called the press junket or film junket. Film promotion generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising, franchising, media, and interviews with the key people involved in making the film, such as the film's actors and directors. This process is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors.
The Motion Picture Associationfilm rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures are the responsibility of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), previously known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 to 2019. The MPA rating system is a voluntary scheme that is not enforced by law; films can be exhibited without a rating, although most theaters refuse to exhibit non-rated or NC-17 rated films. Non-members of the MPA may also submit films for rating. Other media, such as television programs, music and video games, are rated by other entities such as the TV Parental Guidelines, the RIAA and the ESRB, respectively.
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by David Koepp, it is the first installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Enterprises and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film stars Tobey Maguire as the titular character, alongside Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris. The film chronicles Spider-Man's origin story and early superhero career. After being bitten by a genetically altered spider, teenager Peter Parker develops spider-like superhuman abilities and adopts a masked superhero identity to fight crime in New York City, facing the sinister Green Goblin in the process.
A trailer is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater or cinema. It is a product of creative and technical work.
John Carter is a 2012 American science fiction action-adventure film directed by Andrew Stanton, written by Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon, and based on A Princess of Mars, the first book in the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Produced by Jim Morris, Colin Wilson and Lindsey Collins, it stars Taylor Kitsch in the title role, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe. It chronicles the first interplanetary adventure of John Carter and his attempts to mediate civil unrest amongst the warring kingdoms of Barsoom.
A superhero film is a film that focuses on superheroes and their actions. Superheroes are individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, adventure, fantasy, or science fiction elements. The first film about a particular character often focuses on the hero's origin story. It also frequently introduces the hero's nemesis.
Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by J. J. Abrams and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and tells the story of a group of young teenagers in 1979 who are filming their own Super 8 movie when a train derails, releasing a dangerous presence into their town. The film was shot in Weirton, West Virginia, and surrounding areas, portraying the fictional town of Lillian, Ohio.
A post-credits scene is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video game has run. It is usually included to reward the audience for having the patience to watch through the credits sequence; it may be a scene written for humour or to set up a sequel.
Cloverfield is a 2008 American found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams, and written by Drew Goddard. It stars Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, and Odette Annable. The plot follows six young New York City residents fleeing from a massive monster and various other smaller creatures that attack the city during a farewell party.
Clover is the production name given to the giant monster in the 2008 film Cloverfield. The creature was originally conceived by producer J. J. Abrams and was designed by artist Neville Page. In the film, the monster's name is never mentioned; the name "Cloverfield" is only given to the US Department of Defense case file of the incidents depicted in the film. The Department of Defense names the creature "LSA" for Large-Scale Aggressor in the film's Blu-ray special feature called "Cloverfield Special Investigation Mode".
A film – also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick – is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and the art form that is the result of it.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man which shares the title of the longest-running Spider-Man comic book series. It was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, Laura Ziskin Productions, Arad Productions, Inc., and Matt Tolmach Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the fourth theatrical Spider-Man film, serving as a reboot following Sam Raimi's 2002–2007 Spider-Man trilogy, and was followed by a second The Amazing Spider-Man film. The film was directed by Marc Webb and written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, and Steve Kloves, based on a story by Vanderbilt, and stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a 2016 American science fiction horror thriller film directed by Dan Trachtenberg in his directorial debut, produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber and written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle. The second film in the Cloverfield franchise, it stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. The story follows a young woman who, after a car crash, wakes up in an underground bunker with two men who insist that an event has left the surface of Earth uninhabitable.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 American animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel Entertainment, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the first animated film in the Spider-Man franchise and the first film in the Spider-Verse franchise, which is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the "Spider-Verse". Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman from a screenplay by Phil Lord and Rothman, it stars Shameik Moore as Morales, alongside the voices of Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Vélez, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, and Liev Schreiber. The film's story follows Miles as he becomes the new Spider-Man and joins other Spider-People from various parallel universes who team up to save New York City from the Kingpin.
Cloverfield is an American science fiction anthology film series and media franchise created and produced by J. J. Abrams consisting of three films, viral marketing websites linking the films together, and a tie-in manga to the first film titled Cloverfield/Kishin (2008), all set in a shared fictional universe referred to as the "Cloververse". The franchise as a whole deals with creatures from other dimensions attacking Earth throughout various decades, all as a repercussion of an experiment by an astronaut team aboard the outer-space Cloverfield Station in the near-future. Each film depicts the reality-altering effects of their study, which was meant to find a new energy source replacing the planet's depleted resources, only to open portals for assault from various beasts from deep space. All three installments are standalone in nature, though they connect through the Cloverfield story thread. A direct sequel to the first film was announced to be in development in early 2021.
The Cloverfield Paradox is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber. It is the third film in the Cloverfield franchise, following Cloverfield (2008) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). It stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O'Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, and Zhang Ziyi. It follows an international group of astronauts aboard a space station who, after using a particle accelerator to try to solve Earth's energy crisis, must find a way home when the planet seemingly vanishes.
No Good Deed is a 2017 American superhero short film featuring the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. The film was directed by David Leitch from a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, with Ryan Reynolds starring as Deadpool. In No Good Deed, Wade Wilson tries to save an old man from a mugger, but fails because he takes the time to change into his Deadpool costume first.
Venom is a 2018 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Tencent Pictures, Marvel, Arad Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions, and Pascal Pictures, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The first film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), it was directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by the writing team of Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, along with Kelly Marcel. It stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott. In the film, struggling journalist Eddie gains superpowers after becoming the host of an alien symbiote, Venom, whose species plans to invade Earth.
Lightyear is a 2022 American animated science-fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film is a spin-off of the Toy Story film series, but does not take place in the same fictional universe as they do; rather, it is presented as a film that characters in the main Toy Story films have seen. Lightyear centers on the character Buzz Lightyear, who in this film is human and not a toy. The film was directed by Angus MacLane and produced by Galyn Susman, from a screenplay and story written by MacLane and Jason Headley, both of whom co-wrote the latter with Matthew Aldrich; Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton serve as executive producers. It stars Chris Evans as the voice of the title character, with Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba in supporting roles. The film follows Buzz Lightyear (Evans) operating as a space ranger who, after being marooned on the hostile planet T'Kani Prime with his commander and crew, tries to find a way back home while encountering a threat to the universe's safety.
Elemental is a 2023 American animated romantic comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, it was written by Sohn, John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh. The film stars the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Catherine O'Hara. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic elements of nature, the story follows fire element Ember Lumen (Lewis) and water element Wade Ripple (Athie), who spend time together in the city while trying to save a convenience store owned by Ember's father, Bernie.