Gallery: The Gripping, Mind-Blowing, Thrilling Evolution of the Movie Trailer
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1 | Editors Abound The accessibility of editing software expands the base of trailer editors. Boutique outlets with genre specialties emerge. One is Mark Woollen & Associates, which prefers director-driven Oscar contenders (like *The Social Network*) over standard summer fare. *Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures*
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2 | What Footage? Studios want trailers way before a movie is completely shot. Woollen was given only 20 minutes of film, so he had to look elsewhere for additional material—specifically, his own office. The 50-second opening montage of Facebook screenshots was produced by Woollen's team entirely in-house.
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3 | Working Titles Where title cards once called out stars and spectacle, now they telegraph a movie's story: "You don't get to 500 million friends," we're told, in bold text, "without making a few enemies." As always, audiences want to know what to expect. This trend delivers themes and messages writ large—literally.
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4 | Killer Song Woollen popularizes an artsy move: A single piece of music (in this case, not from the film) perfectly captures the tone of the movie. Woollen chose a Belgian girls' choir cover of Radiohead's "Creep." The song, about being profoundly misunderstood, climaxes as the betrayed Eduardo Saverin bursts through the door.
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5 | Fans and Trolls "Can anyone tell me the point in this movie?" a YouTube commenter asks. Even Woollen admits to reading through message boards. Studios want to know how trailers are received so they can better address audience expectations in future campaigns.
