Film Trailers and Film Opening Sequences

The differences between film trailers and film opening sequences is essential to know for the production of the opening sequence that my production company will be making. Here is a list of features prominant in film trailers and film opening sequences.

Film Trailers:

- Gives information about the film

- Fade to black editing techniques are often used

- Shows a montage of clips from the film

- Shows sections of the film that will grab audiences and encourage them to watch the film at the cinima

- Title of the film is shown at the end of the clip with voice over and actors names

- The trailer will have a tag line e.g "My time as a human was over. But I've never felt more alive.
I was born to be a vampire." from Twilight Breaking Dawn part 1

- Institutions logo is shown at the start

Film opening sequence:

- Details of cast and crew and institution producing the film

- Title is shown at the start after the institutes and the actors names have been shown

- An indication to character or character type

- Indication of historical period

- Information regarding mood and tone

- Information about genre

- Questions the viewer finds intriguing

- Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film

- mise en scene and cinematography that will be echoes or elaborated upon later in the film

- Sets the film up

- Titles /Credits may be integrated into the setting of the film

Here is a film trailer of Les Miserables to illistrate the difference between film trailers and opening sequences

The film trailer shows a montage of clips from the film to create tension and excitement in the audience.

Here is the typical tag line at the end of the trailer.
During the trailer there is a lot of fades to black. The editing is fast and creates tension and suspense; typical of a trailer.