Special production companies
In Los Angeles and New York, for decades there have already been dozens of companies that specialize in the creation of movie trailers, and as trailers have been highly recognized, special trailer production companies have come out.
In 2010, Wei Nan who calls himself "China's No.1 trailer director" established the first trailer production company in China. As a professional trailer maker, Wei has made many trailers for domestic movies, like "A Simple Noodle Story" by Zhang Yimou, "Just Call Me Nobody," and "Wind Blast."
From 2007 to 2009, Wei was editing movies, but he wasn't very good at the job. In 2009, Zhang Yimou found Wei, and asked him to do a trailer for his movie, "A Simple Noodle Story." The trailer gained praise from Zhang, and helped to launch Wei's career.
"Producing a trailer is just like making a short movie," said Wei. "There are people in charge of music, sound effects, cutting, and special effects. We also prepare a small movie theater which for 20 people to examine the final version of a trailer," added Wei.
Double edged sword
Some audience members complain that the trailer does not reflect the actual movie, making them feel cheated after watching the whole film. They say that the trailer can present even poor movies in an attractive light.
But for Wei, trailers are different from a movie. The movie has logic and is a full story, which can sometimes be plain or boring. But a trailer is a combination of all the noteworthy parts of a movie which may be edited without logic.
A trailer is more like an advertisement for a movie and sometimes a trailer contains scenes that will not even appear in the movie, said Wei. The job of a trailer is to attract as many audience members as possible.
But some experts say that trailer makers and movie producers should not make trailers too flowery or have too many differences with the actual movie. The quality of a movie is what really matters, they say. Do not let the trailer ruin the reputation of a movie.
