The History of Film Trailers

The first ever film trailer was made for a film called 'The Pleasure Seekers' and was first shown in November 1913. From then on, trailers have evolved and adapted to be formed into what we see as an important part of advertising for films today. Although a rare feature for many years, now we are surrounded by trailers, becoming a distinct part of the modern cinema experience.

One of the oldest examples of film trailers is that for the 1937 animation, Snow White. Obvious and immediate traits of the trailer, as with many early creations, are the heavy focus of large text and the use of superlatives. This is something that was very common in the beginning but was slowly replaced by the advance in technology which allowed the focus to switch more to effects. The Snow White trailer is also unusual in the fact that no moving image is actually shown, which is uncommon for a film trailer. It also featured the creator, Walt Disney, part way through the trailer delivering dialogue on each character. These features are clear in portraying just how far trailers have changed.

Just a couple of years later, the trailer for the 1939 film 'Gone With The Wind' shows major developments from Snow White. Although large bold text, and superlatives (inc. voice over) are still all very prominent, the trailer is made up of moving images from the film. Even more interestingly, some of the clips aren't in the final production, as the trailer was compiled before completion, this is something that is still very common today but sometimes goes unnoticed. Furthermore, although the characters and the actors/actresses playing them are introduced, it is not through speech delivered by the director, but through text and voice over, a stark contrast to Snow White and something that is not too dissimilar to modern trailers.

A stark contrast and clear example of evolution from above if not all previous trailer comes over two decades later in the form of the trailer to the film Psycho. This trailer is one of the most famous, allbeit for its extraordinary length of 6.5 minutes or for the guided tour of the infamous motel by Alfred Hitchcock himself. These were both and remain to be unusual features for film trailers. The decision to place the title screen at the end of the trailer also had a lasting effect, now a common feature in most modern trailers, it had been previously thought that the optimum place for the title would be at the beginning. 

A somewhat extraordinary and unique example of its time would be the film trailer of the 1964 film Dr.Strangelove, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The trailer incorporates a mixture of fast jump cuts (136/minute) with dialogue that is partly delivered through text/voice over and then finished with words cut out of the actual film footage. The combination goes well to leave the viewer with an overall disorientated feeling, that suites Kubrick's style.

One of the most ground-breaking trailers of it's day came in the form of that for the 1977 Star Wars film that started the iconic film series. By this time, technology had began to advance enough to allow for a greater, more professional use of special effects in the film than had ever been used, which the trailer was not shy of showcasing. Although a voice over is still featured, Star Wars: A New Hope, marked a significant point in film-making technology, that would continue to evolve into the SFX and CGI filled films (and trailers) that we see today.