Comparing Teaser and Theatrical Trailers 1

Below I will be looking at the similarities and differences of the teaser and theatrical trailer for 50 Shades of Grey:

• In the teaser trailer you can only hear background music, however in the theatrical trailer there is dialogue, as well as background music.
• However, a similarity between the two is that the same song is played in both.
• The teaser trailer is much shorter than the theatrical trailer.
• They both show the name of the film at the end of the trailer.
• The teaser trailer only shows one character, whereas the theatrical trailer shows several different characters throughout.
• The theatrical trailer conveys much more information than the teaser trailer and gives the audience greater narrative understanding regarding the film and the characters.
• The teaser trailer is very vague in comparison to the theatrical trailer.
• Many more words in the form of tag lines are shown on screen in the teaser trailer. The point of this is to tease the audience whilst not giving anything about the plot away. The theatrical trailer uses far more footage from the film, rather than tag lines, to reveal more about the story line to the audience.
• The theatrical trailer clearly shows the release date, however this is absent from the teaser trailer does - either because the release date is yet to be decided or because this is another way of withholding information and there teasing the audience.
• Some of the same footage is shown in both trailers.
• The theatrical trailer is overall much more powerful than the teaser trailer.