Like with real tornadoes, Trailer-Trashing is able to account for the damage left behind in the wake of Tornado Ari.

Even trailers that are well put together and manage to accomplish their goals (enticing audiences to see the film), are going to be picked apart in order find the lovely gems hidden in each exceptional trailer.

The previews that are not so tidy and successful are going to be trashed because they deserve to be…because they suck.

What is Trailer-Trashing’s criteria, you ask? Well, I answer.

Movie Trailers were originally named thus because they were often shown at the end of a feature film, probably to give the audience something to watch as they filed out of the theater, and to let them know what is to come in the following weeks.

Presently, in order to maintain advertising monies and whet the audiences’ appetites to get them back again and again, trailers are now shown before the feature film.

But what makes a good trailer? Again, shut up and I’ll tell you.

A good trailer, in this tornado’s humble opinion, informs about the upcoming film, sets up the gist of the plot, and offers taste of the tone that is to be expected. Is this a horror film? Is it a comedy? Action film? If it’s a horror, I expect a sampling of the type of frights we are to expect. If it’s a comedy, give me a few gags. Action film: I want to see something explode.

It’s very simple: I want the tone of the film reflected in the trailer. A comedy with one tone may not interest me, while one with another tone will. Bait and switch is not a pleasant experience. I do not want to go into a movie expecting to see The Marx Brothers and end up seeing The Three Stooges.

Plot, in movie trailers, is a tricky thing.  There is a fine line between “just enough tantalizing tidbits of the plot to make you lick your lips in anticipation” and “so much plot you have to unbutton your jeans.”

However, trailer authors do not seem to see any such fine line, and if they do, they view it as the line in front of the long jump. Most trailers view their audiences as a bunch of five-year-olds, incapable of reading between the lines. Truthfully, that is a little harsh on five-year-olds.

Unless it is a teaser trailer, shown to you 6 months to two years prior to the film’s release date, most trailers do everything in their power to safe-guard audiences from never having to see the film.

Seriously.

My film tonight was proceeded by 5 trailers, three of which perfectly laid out the beginnings, middles, and ends to their respective films. They saved me about thirty bucks worth of movie tickets, but at least one of those I would have liked to have seen in its entirety.

I think trailer editors give audiences way too little credit. I don’t think box offices would hurt if trailers were a tad less revealing. In fact, there are several movies out there that I would have actually paid to see, had I not been given the cliffnotes ahead of time.

So, yes, giving away too much of the plot, and certainly too much of the action (gags, stunts, frights…whatever assets a film has) is a big concern when reviewing trailers.

Other criticisms I have are usually about cohesiveness, creativity, and emotion. I love a trailer that gets my heart pounding or tears jerking. I like when authors are snazzy with their music or clips. I especially love when a trailer is such a perfect miniature of a film that I can watch it over and over until the mommy film is actually available to me. In some cases, the trailers are even better than the film!

I truly respect a well orchestrated montage, even in trailer form. I believe film trailers are an art, just as valid as the actual film, just bite sized. I think a trailer is truly important because it is the advertisement that will draw the crowds.  The movie itself depends on these ads. Therefore, previews should not be looked over or disregarded, but nurtured and evolved, and very much critiqued.

So, I hope you will look past this seemingly pretentious, irrelevant waste of time and just listen to my opinions and totally ignore your own…and bow down to my will, for I am the queen of the trailer reviewers.

All hail Tornado Ari!

For more information about Film Trailers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(film)