I try not to watch trailers, because I don't want to have any preconceived notions. I think the problem with trailers is that the studios value getting people to watch a film over prioritizing the film watching experience.

I’m a trailer editor and I don’t think trailers have gotten more spoilery; it’s always been a mix of incredibly spoilery and some being evocative. Back in the day they’d show entire scenes and spell everything out. The big problem is when there are too many segues in the trailer or “and then” moments which even if they’re not spoilers, they FEEL like spoilers. I did a whole video essay about how A24 trailers manage to avoid feeling spoilery if you’re interested 😊 (and various other videos about movie trailer editing) I think a lot of Marvel trailers are also good at avoiding plot (I think plot spoilers are the worst), but even without any cool visuals at all can be considered spoilers too (I think those are less problematic because without context they can be forgotten more easily if you don’t see it over and over again) The Alien trailer is a classic that isn’t spoilery, but at the time that was an exception. It’s easier to make a trailer with more (and studio higher ups want to show all the things and rely on focus group testing which Gabor more story) every trailer editor I’ve met has always wanted to show less.

To be fair, historically speaking trailers have had a long history of sucking. There were trends that trailers have gone through… from the big voice in the 40s, 50s and 60s that tells you the plot and all the stars …to the “in a world” phase of the 70s, 80s & 90s where they teased a epic journey to the more recent trailers with all the best scenes mapped out: trailers from every age have had their good moments and their bad ones. My biggest pet peeve of today is the micro-teaser built into the front of a trailer. It’s shows absolutely no faith in the project. “Just in case you don’t care we’re gonna shove the whole premise of the film down your throat in 5 seconds”. Well, congratulations: now I care even less that I did before I knew nothing about your film! Having a micro teaser has its purpose, on it's own in certain mediums…but not at the front your 2min pitch(!) Today, there is almost never any mystery in trailers. Consider this: my absolute favourite trailer I’ve ever watched was for David Fincher’s “The Game” (1997). I saw the trailer in the theatre. I can’t find the version I remember or I’d share it here as a link. But as I recall it was basically black screen (or at least nothing from the film) You heard the voices of Michael Douglas and Sean Penn discussing the nature of the Game which was a lift from a scene from the film. The description of the game only hinted at what it was about. It put your mind on a precipice. You were left with a position of go see the movie and find out what the heck this darn Game was about … or forever let it be a mystery. I was totally hooked. I HAD to see the film. I went and saw it and the whole film was almost a blank slate (I new Douglas and Penn were in it and it was a some kind of game, that’s it.) It was wonderful to not know ANYTHING about what would happen. My brain wasn’t waiting for any scenes. Everything unfolded in the same way the main character was experiencing it. It was f*cking perfect. When it was out on video for rent I remember describing it to my dad. Dad rarely watched movies. He only tagged along into the den to watch something if we we were watching and often fell asleep. I described the Game to him the same way the trailer did. He’s ask me a question and I simply didn’t say anything else except “It’s about a Game” just like trailer. He stared at me long and hard and then said “Put the damn thing on NOW.” And we sat down right then and there and watched it together. He was gripped the whole time; occasionally uttering a “Jeezus” as the film’s plot unfolded. He loved it. Or there’s the time I watched Shawshank Redemption for the first time. Never saw a trailer. Only saw the box in the store and said “Ok. Sure.” Don’t even recall reading the description. The poster was gorgeous. I knew nothing about it and it was fantastic that way. The whole film was fresh, unbiased and magnificent. In fact, if I knew in advance it was based on a Steven King short story, I may have passed. In summary, we need more of that basic mystery in every trailer. As editor’s we’re story tellers for a living. Our job is to keep the audience engaged and interested. It is a delicate, refined art. And we know this to be true above all else: give away as little as possible.

Here's a question that's kind of the opposite of the point of this video probably haha, but how do you take hours and hours of footage and edit it into an hour without having feel like it drags, maintain momentum, etc. I've only dealt with short, trailer-length content, where every second counts. Scaling that up to a feature seems daunting.

I once went to the cinema with the guy who runs the "FilmSelect Trailer" channel. During the movie ads where they show a ton of trailers, he would just sit there with his eyes and ears shut. He then revealed to me he doesn't even watch the trailers he uploads

I feel the recent Madame Web trailer shows this trailer problem - it's long, reveals waaay too much plot and basically spoils the entire movie premise. It most likely will be a mediocre movie in the end, but I think my husband will enjoy it - which is why I'm not showing him any trailers. He'll actually get to watch the movie, not just the summary 😅

Its also the structure of modern movie trailers that i hate, they all have the same obnoxious loud drums banging every second or two with a pause, a character saying a corny punchline and then another massive drum at the end. Urggh its horrible.

I kind of disagree. Too many movies coming every single year, I need a quick way to know if the movie is for me. And most movies are not. DO trailers spoil a bit too much, yes. But also I know going to a movie I'll enjoy

Hello my friend 👍🙏☮️