Film trailer vs Film opening

Film Trailer vs Film Opening

Features of a film trailer-

• Trailers will present the story line of the film however not giving away the resolution
• Long shots to establish character, setting and the 'dilemma'
• Short shots and quick cuts of some of the most exciting moments from the film at its climax, the ‘events’ that lead to resolution but not necessarily in chronological order
• Accompanied with music often quiet music to establish a story and menacing music to highlight villains
• Sudden moments of quiet and silence between and after music and SFX, which have equal impact on mood and pace.
• Commonly fades of black may be used to suggest a shift in time
• Often uses shot cut pieces of speech not a full conversation 

Features of a film opening-

• The film  opening will need to establish the main idea of the plot and where the story line of the film will go
• May introduce the antagonist and protagonist early on 
• It will have to be arguably, one of the most tension building sequences in order to grasp the attention of the viewer

We need to ensure that our opening is not too trailer-like by exposing the main idea of our film very clearly. Furthermore, we will need to build up the tension throughout the short clip in order to hook the audience to the film early on. In addition we will try to limit the dialogue in the opening scene to attempt to build up focus on the suspense.