Trailer Conventions

I watched trailers in varying sub-genres of comedy to get the idea of what is included in a comedy trailer. This will also allow me to make a final decision on what comedy sub genre I wish to focus on.I watched 9 romantic comedy trailers, 13 action/horror comedy trailers, 7 pure comedy trailers, 3 black comedy trailer and 4 parodies.

Romantic Comedies (rom coms)

 These trailers focuses mainly on the romantic aspect of the film; they very  often open with a reference to love or girlfriends. They include the occasional gag or joke, throughout to represent the comedy part. Usually for this, the soundtrack stops, giving more emphasis on it. The background music also changes at the disruption part of the film, to more disheartening, reflective sounds. Also voice over directly reflects the shot on screen. One trailer that obeys these conventions is Made of Honour (2006, dir. Paul Weiland)



Action Comedy
Starts with the use of parallel editing, like romcoms. However, shows more contrast between the superhero and ordinary boy, than the simple reference between the two girls. Zooms, parallel music and other editing techniques are used to emphasis the action. Quick cut montage of action towards the end to build tension. Has titles between shots to give extra information and to break up the action. Several gags throughout, in which the music stops for, also ends on a gag either before or after showing the information relevant to the film. A trailer that follows these conventions is Kickass (2010, dir. Matthew Vaughn)



Black Comedy
The trailer opens with an introduction, to identify the issues addressed in the film. There seems to be more title screens or a more prominent voice over in black comedy, opposed to other types of comedy, perhaps to emphasise the drama aspect. The music changes to more uplifting towards the end of the trailer, to stop the trailer seem too 'depressing' or to hint at a happy ending. There is more gags and comedic aspects in a black comedy trailer as the other content is more dramatic and therefore needs more balance. Black comedies seem to be more of a 'journey', whether emotional or physical. An example of a trailer that follows these conventions is 50/50 (2011, dir. Jonathan Levine)



Parody

Parodies start with a serious scene from what they are mocking, with titles that correspond with the serious film. There is then a comedic spin in one of the clips, showing there is comedy, often the titles will change too. There are exxagerated sound effects in parodies than other films and the soundtrack is usualy comedic once the comedy has been introduced. Trailers usually consist of clips that some up the whole film, some emhasising on the comedy more than others. The trailer below is for Vampires Suck (2010, dir. Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer)



From looking into these conventions, I have realised a comedy with a prominent action aspects, would be unsuitable for me to do, as a reasonably a lot of action is shown in the trailer. And this action may be not possible for me to do, and look professional; with limited resources. However fromm my audience feedback, parody and black comedy were the next most popular. I personally prefer Romantic comedies, and I could put more into a subgenre that I enjoy more.