(Ecns.cn)--Made up of scenes from an upcoming film that is being promoted, movie trailers used to be considered as just a form of advertisement and were often ignored by viewers. But as the competition in the movie market increases, the role of trailers is changing.
Without producing spoilers, a good three-minute trailer often contains a series of the most exciting, funny, or noteworthy shots of a film. Trailers tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion with maximum appeal.
They are now an important tool to not only attract viewers for the movie, but also to create new careers for some industry insiders who have shifted their focus onto making high-quality trailers. Unheard of in China as a marketing strategy until recently, Chinese producers and investors are injecting more money into making dazzling trailers in a bid to make higher profits.
Though short, it makes a great contribution
Nowadays, more and more audience members are choosing to watch the trailer in advance and make a decision on whether to go to the theater to see the movie. Sometimes, the short trailer can be a big influence on their decision.
The domestic movie, "Just Call Me Nobody," that was screened at the end of last year, was proof that a high-quality trailer would bring large profits to movie producers. The movie itself was low-cost, but ultimately won a good reputation and box office receipts of 100 million yuan ($15.5 million) with the help of its trailer.
About half of the audience members that decided to see the film said they did so because of its trailer which they thought was funny and relaxing, according to a survey done by a consulting website. Only one fourth of the audience members who went to see another movie "Sacrifice," released almost at the same time, were because of the trailer.
As a significant means to market a movie, Chinese movie industry insiders have gradually begun to think highly of trailers and are trying to take every opportunity to publicize their movies now.
Nowadays, movies often show advertisements just before the screening. Some movie producers are now using this time to show their trailers.
For example, if you have gone to a theater to watch the "Transformers 3" movie recently, you will see trailers for three different upcoming Chinese movies before actually watching "Transformers 3": "The Grandmasters" by Wong Kar-Wai, "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" by Tsui Hark, and "It's Love" by Ching Siu-tung.
The intense publicity of these movie trailers helps to attract audiences, which will directly help to increase the box office value of a movie.
Trailers to be more professional
In the United States, trailers of some blockbusters will be shown a few months or even a year before the movie's screening. Some even make more than one version of the trailer to show via different media sources and theaters.
In the past in China, movies used to have no trailer or only had a very rough trailer telling when the movie would begin screening and who was in it. Since 2008, many domestic movie insiders have begun hiring people to do trailers for their movies, and in order to make a good trailer, the producer of a movie will invest specifically into this aspect of the movie.
A movie with a tentative name "The Monkey King" has not yet started filming, but the producer has already invested 1 million yuan ($155,213) into its trailer.
