Movie Trailers and Book Blurbs
The National Association of Theater Owners (NATO–couldn’t they come up with a different acronym?!) announced recently that they are pushing for new marketing rules that would limit the length of movie trailers to two minutes. Currently, movie trailers are about two-and-a-half minutes long–though I’m sure there are many that run longer than that. NATO argues that customers are frustrated by the current length of trailers, and the fact that many trailers are riddled with spoilers.
This news caught my attention because on a recent trip to the movies (I think I took my son to see “The Hobbit”… recent is relative) I noted how long it took for us to get from the commercials, through the trailers, to the actual movie I’d paid for us to see. My wife always used to say she enjoyed going to the movies for the trailers, and until recently I might have agreed. Now the trailers seem interminably long. Not just the actual duration of each trailer, but there. are. so. freaking. many. of. them! I mean, my goodness! No wonder it takes so long to go see a movie these days. And a lot of the trailers are all the same. Flashy CGI, lots of explosions, fast cuts. It all gets a little bit much.
I understand that the trailer is an important part of marketing a movie. But we see these trailers on TV, and on the Internet too. With TV and Internet, we have a choice whether we want to see the trailer or not. In a movie theater, we’ve paid good money to see a particular movie. Do I really want to spend 20-30 minutes of that time being subjected to trailers for movies I’ll probably never see, nor want to see? Imagine you buy the last installment of Veronica Roth’s DIVERGENT series, ALLEGIANT as an ebook. But before you can read your ebook, you are required to read 30 pages worth of previews for a bunch of other books. You might be a little miffed. Put out. Annoyed.
Let’s work this analogy between books and movies. When you go to a bookstore, even if you’re there to buy a particular book, you’ll probably wander around and check out other books. You’ll pick up a title that looks interesting, turn it over, and read the blurb on the back. It takes you less than 30 seconds to read the blurb, and if the writer’s done his or her job, you’ll have a fairly good, spoiler-free idea what the book’s about and whether you might like to read it. As with a query, if your book blurb doesn’t communicate in 250 words what your book’s about and why someone should read it, then either the blurb’s not very good, or perhaps there are issues with the book itself.
Likewise with a trailer. If it takes you more than a couple of minutes to give me a good idea what the movie’s about and whether I might want to see it, then either the trailer’s not very good, or perhaps there are issues with the movie. And if the trailer is simply a bangs-and-flashes CGI adrenaline rush, then the movie is probably as insubstantial and pointless. Just think how many hungry children those millions of dollars could have fed.
And how about saving trailers for venues where I can choose whether I want to see them, and let me get on and watch the movie I paid to see? I understand that in years past, the movie theater was the only place you’d ever see movie trailers. That’s no longer the case.
Just a thought.
What do you think?
It’s adverts that annoy me more at the cinema. We always have these ridiculous Orange adverts and M&Ms are now at it. When it comes to the trailers we get about 3 and then film comes on. Compared to the adverts the trailers actually fly by fast and interest me. I don’t mind seeing what else is on or what will be on. But those adverts… gah!
Wow–only 3 trailers? Perhaps they already have rules about this in UK cinemas? According to the article I linked, there 7 or 8 trailers per movie in US movie theaters. I hear what you’re saying about the ads, but imagine if you had to wade through 8 trailers too!
Yeah, my dad and I timed the trailers before the latest Star Trek movie. They clocked in at 25 minutes, and the ones I was interested in were ones I’d already seen via YouTube/Facebook/Etc. Plus, depending on the genre of movie that you’re watching, the trailers may be really similar, meaning you’re wading through endless repetitions targeted towards whatever audience the studio thinks will be watching this movie. If I’m not the target audience, it’s even worse.
I’m not sure that changing the length of the trailers will help anything, though, not unless they limit the quantity and/or total time they can take up before a movie. Plus, spoilers will happen regardless of the length; it’s the choice of the studio to do that or not. NATO’s push seems to miss the bigger problems.
I’m encouraged that NATO recognize there’s a problem, and they’re in touch enough with movie-goers to realize it’s not just a handful of people griping. However, I totally agree with you, Rae: they’re missing the bigger problem. It’s not simply a matter of how long the trailers are. It’s the whole idea of forcing us to watch 20-30 mins worth of trailers before we get to see the movie we paid to watch. And it really bugged me on my last trip to the movie theater how many of the trailers–especially for effects-heavy movies–were so predictable. You have a basic premise stated and some snatches of dialog interspersed with loud noises (explosions, gun fire, laser fire–depending on the movie genre), stunning CGI, and perhaps some kissing or similar romance-type scenes. The actual story seems to get lost, like it doesn’t matter if there’s a plot, as long as there’s all this other stuff to keep you wowed. And, I could be wrong, but it seems that some of the best trailers are for movies that actually have substance.
What I wonder is, how many people decide to go see a move *solely* on the basis of the trailer, and no other factors? There are a couple of movies I’ve seen based on the trailer, but most of the time, the movies I watch are ones I’ve wanted to see anyway for other reasons (I like the actor(s), I’ve read the book, it was recommended by friends, I’ve read about it, it’s part of a series I’m enjoying, etc.).
I actually don’t see a whole lot of movie trailers because I don’t watch TV (on an actual TV, anyway…Hulu and Netflix are a different story) and the ones I see online are the ones the people I’m in contact with post – so, basically, YA adaptations and superhero movies. Because of this, I don’t really mind trailers before movies, at least in principle, because this is the only way I’ll be exposed to movies I might want to see that I haven’t already been hearing about. That being said, I do agree trailers before movies need to be shorter. I feel like they could just show a 30 second teaser, or something. Everything has a website these days, so if I’m really that interested in seeing more, I could just look it up when I get home.
I both agree and disagree. I actually love movie trailers. When I watch a DVD–even if I’ve watched the same movie fifteen times–I rarely ever skip past the trailers. Length isn’t really a problem with me, but I do have some other issues. I don’t like it when trailers spoil major events, to the point where I feel like I’ve seen the whole movie just by watching the trailer. It’s also a HUGE pet peeve of mine when the best, funniest scenes from the trailer aren’t even in the movie.
I agree that trailers are more accessible now with the Internet. I went to see Iron Man 3 a few weeks ago and all of the trailers I had already seen before. But there are a lot of movies I’ve watched for no other reason than I saw the trailer while in the theater for another movie.
I remember not too long ago going to the theater and watching three–just three–trailers before a movie. There weren’t any advertisements. There weren’t five or six trailers. And that’s what bothers me. I worry that if trailers were shortened, then there would just be more ads or trailers rather than just getting to the movie.