The Art of the Trailer

The other day as I was sitting in the theater waiting for my movie to start, the movie in the theater next door began. Since the door was still open, I could hear the trailers as they began. Within seconds, by audio cues alone, I knew what trailer was playing. It was the trailer for "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." It was a sign to me that the trailer had developed a familiar pattern that was easy to recognize and that I had seen it WAY TOO MANY TIMES.

But that got me to thinking, there is an art that goes into crafting a trailer. One of my favorite parts of going to the movies is sitting there and seeing trailers for coming attractions. Sometimes they make you groan, sometimes they make you cry, and sometimes they get you pumped. But the idea is that a trailer is supposed to give you a window into the coming attraction.

Of course, sometimes that works to the benefit of the film that's coming out and sometimes it works to the detriment of everyone. You probably don't have to think very hard to think of films that had awesome trailers that turned out to be duds. By the same token, sometimes it's clear that not a lot of effort went into the trailer, but the movie turns out to be incredible.

Here are some examples of trailer imbalance — mostly the negative side. Anybody remember the trailer for "Jarhead?" It was a movie about the war in Iraq. The film featured Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, and a sweet tune from Kanye West — "Jesus Walks." I saw that trailer and couldn't wait for the movie. In fact, I think if you showed me that trailer today, I'd probably still get excited. Then I'd remember the movie was an unmitigated disaster.

How about the trailer for "Public Enemies." It featured Johnny Depp, it was a crime drama from Michael Mann, and it rocked an awesome trailer song. How could it miss. Well, the movie wasn't a disaster but it wasn't a hit either.

Or how about those awesome trailers for "Charlie St. Cloud." They made it look emotional, riveting and employed great musical numbers. The film itself, not so great.

On the flip side, I'll never forget the first trailer I saw for "Gladiator." It was a short spot before the Super Bowl and it featured a few action-packed clips from the film paired with a song from Kid Rock. It was darn near perfect. I was immediately pumped for the movie, and it didn't disappoint.

So I guess the thing is a trailer can be a memorable experience. Sometimes that turns out to be a good thing, sometimes it doesn't. Despite my love-hate relationship with trailers, I still get excited.

Here's a couple trailers for films that have me pumped up right now:

"Waiting for Superman" — Opens September 24. If you care about public education, I defy you not get a little dusty during this trailer. It is the perfect blend of passion, storytelling, and a great tune, the Jewish Reggae number "One Day."

"The Town" — Opens September 17. This gritty crime drama from Ben Affleck looks incredible, at least the trailer does. I was a fan of Affleck's last film, "Gone Baby Gone," so I have high hopes for this one too. But even if the film isn't great, the trailer sure is.

"The Social Network" — Opens October 1. This film from David Fincher is about the origin of Facebook, or rather the legal battle that surrounded its creator and his Harvard classmates. After seeing the trailer more than a dozen times I'm still not sure what the film is about, but I know I will be there opening day.