Ahh, movie trailers. It’s time we did a tribute. Really, scifi owes a lot to movie trailers – they’re a part of the entire movie franchise experience and have been ever since theaters started showing them in 1912. Trailers are linked to the promotion of any new film and movie companies will literally scan you to see how well their movie will do based on how your brain reacts to the movie trailer. So for this Sci-Friday please enjoy this tribute to scifi movie trailers:
That’s not to say trailers are perfect. Some people hate them, film critics call them ‘a butchered mini-me version cooked up by the marketing department.’ They have a point. I consider movies and film to be a modern form of literature. But movie trailers? ‘[They] exist for one purpose only: to get you to buy in. Putting butts in seats.’ I can’t argue with that.
But they’re still fun and a chance to remember the first time you heard of a movie like ‘Westworld’ or ‘Capricorn One.’ Here are some fun facts about movie trailers:
- Movie trailers were originally shown after the movie, which why they are called “trailers”
- Don LaFontaine, who was nicknamed “Thunder Throat” and “The Voice of God”, voiced over 5,000 movie trailers. His final voice over role was for an episode of Phineas and Ferb, in which he said in his final line: “In a world … There, I said it. Happy?”
- Scientists scan people’s brains while they watch movie trailers in an attempt to predict which movies will have the best box office success
- A lot of the music we hear in movie trailers is composed by a husband and wife team in Hollywood
- The original The Empire Strikes Back movie trailer was made entirely of concept art and promotional photos
- Want to make your own movie trailer? Watch this Youtube clip to see how to do it right.
- Movie trailers are little films in their own right, every year there are two main events that give awards to outstanding film trailers: The Key Art Awards, presented by The Hollywood Reporter, and the Golden Trailer Awards.
Hope you enjoyed this discussion, please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Don’t forget to play Interactive Top Ten! Have a great weekend! 🙂
