Just an idea.

I really really like polariods. I know this is off topic a little, but I just found these on my external hard drive, and it's given me what might be the beginning of an idea for my movie poster. I think I found them on DeviantArt. I thought that the drawings over a photo imply messing with time, or self-mutilation (although these two photos are a bit more cutesy then what my finished product would be). Also, they'd give away very little, perfect to remain consistent with the teaser trailer.

Anyway.

Results.

I handed out my questionnaire to ten men, and ten women, so I don't think there's much need for a graph of that... So, I'll post each table of results here, the graphs of the results, and then my analysis after.

 Most of the people I asked where in the 17-20 age range, mostly because that's the age group I spend most of my time with... However, my target audience will also be within this range, although extended a little in both directions. Maybe from like 15 upwards. That would make my film a 15 certificiate, which, if I were making the whole thing, would give me room to have some cases of strong swearing, strong violence, implicit sexual scenes or drug use. Although, I'm not really planning on having this in my trailer...

This graph merely shows that most people expect a teaser trailer to be between 30 seconds and a minute, which is good, although 4 men did expect it to be under 30 seconds - maybe I can use that to justify not having enough footage, if it comes to it. Haha.

This graph shows that most people assumed that a teaser trailer would give away 'barely any' of the plot. I realise now that I used quite loosely defined terms in my questionnaire, which I'd have to improve on if I were to do this again...

Anyway, this is useful for me, because if people don't expect much to given away in the teaser trailer it leaves room for surrealism and symbols, rather than in-your-face plot exposure...

This graph shows that most people also don't expect to see the twist in the film's plot exposed in the teaser trailer. This is probably because the theatrical trailer is designed to do that, whereas the teaser trailer just acts as a preliminary hook.

 Again, this graph shows pretty self explanatory results. Everyone expects to hear music in a teaser trailer.

And, in the graph below, we can see that almost everyone expects to be introduced to the main character, in one way or another. One man said he didn't, which is interesting, and shows that maybe if I had asked a wider sample, then more people might have said a similar thing. All this highlights the great freedom there is with teaser trailers, there aren't many rules regarding what you must introduce about the film to the audience.

Questionnaire.

Next, to get an idea of what people would expect to see in a teaser trailer, I constructed a questionnaire to pass on to twenty people (ten guys, ten girls) to see the results. Here's the questions I asked:

Are you (please circle);
-Male
-Female

How old are you?
- -16
- 17 – 20
- 21 – 24
- 24+

How long would you expect a thriller teaser trailer to be?
- -30 seconds
- 31 seconds to 1 minute
- 1 minute +

How much of the films plot would you expect to be given away?
- Barely any
- Enough so I know what the film is about
- Most of the plot

Would you expect a thriller teaser trailer to give away a twist in the films plot?

Would you expect to hear music?

Would you expect to be introduced to the main character?

Teaser trailers.

Okay, so, I've looked at some teaser and theatrical trailers. This has helped me come to some conclusions;
- Most teaser trailers are between 30 seconds to a minute long.
- The name 'teaser' trailer can be very literal, ie, some may not even include that much footage from the actual film. The idea is to tease the audience. Another reason for this may be that the teaser trailer is released a long time before the full length film, so the editing and production may not be properly finished yet. This all is intended to just add to the hype, merely to let the audience know that the film is coming - rather than explaining the plot itself.

Because I've picked to try make a Thriller trailer, I need to follow certain conventions, like;
- Most Thriller type trailers include sped up footage.
- Usually there are lots of fast cuts/transitions.
- Shots or transitions that might make the audience jump - Most Thriller fans like the adrenaline rush.
- Surrealism.
- Sometimes CGI footage.
- Little indication of the direction of the plotline.