The basic necessities of a film trailer is that it contains the title of the film, a voiceover and contains the names of key personnel such as the starring actors and the director. They will often feature a tag line in order to build publicity about the film, such as "there is no Plan B" from the A-Team. Finally, institutional logos can always been found at the start of a trailer, a similarity to a film opening, as the institution who made the product will immediately change what people are expecting from it.
In contrast with this, a film opening will often contain the names of the cast and crew individually, as each cast member will have signed a contract to have their name on the screen for a certain amount of time. They will immediately give an introduction to character/character type, indicate the place and time where it has been set, an indication of mood and tone and an introduction to the signature theme tune (especially if it is part of a series of movies, for example Harry Potter or James Bond). Finally, the opening will also demonstrate the patterns/types of editing, and the style of mise-en-scene which will be evident throughout the rest of the film. This is usually much more detailed than the information which is given in the trailer.
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| An example of titles during an opening - each star gets their name on screen individually |
The most obvious difference between film opening and trailers is the use of titles. In an opening sequence, the titles are mainly used to give information about the personnel, whereas in a trailer they often make certain hints about the story, in order to create interest in the film among the audience. The titles within the opening then continue to build upon this hype in order to keep the audience interested.
Another difference between the two is that film openings are set in chronological order, whereas trailers often cut between different clips to show the best parts of the movie, as this is what will interest an audience to come and see it. However, a film opening will either show the very beginning of the action, such as Quantum of Solace, or will briefly summarise the whole story of the film in an intelligent way, such as Catch Me If You Can and Casino Royale. Note the difference below between the trailer and opening of Catch Me If You Can.
Another difference is the use of transitions within the two. Trailers often contain fade-to-black transitions, as these make it easier for the viewer to understand the idea that the clips are separate from each other and are usually in a non-linear order. A great example of these fade to black transitions can be seen in the trailer for Transcendence. However, film openings often contain continuity editing, which shows the audience that the events of the opening are all happening directly after each other.
A final difference between the two is the use of music. Within a film opening, there is often a repeated motif or theme song, which then becomes associated with purely that film and any spin offs of it. This music is rarely a song which hasn't been written for the film - if it is, then it will become known as the theme song of the film. This music will tell a lot about the story of the film and where it is set, for example in Catch Me If You Can, the sophisticated jazz music heard at the start tells us that the film is going to be set in the middle of the 20th century, and suggests that it is going to have a storyline with many confusing elements too it. However, a film trailer will often use a popular song or will have its own score to match the different parts of the film which it shows - popular songs are often used in trailers as they attract the attention of fans of that artist.
To conclude, the differences between film openings and film trailers are all because of the purpose - a film opening has the purpose of keeping a viewer engaged once they are already watching them by giving them a different taste of the parts of the film. On the other hand, a trailer has the purpose of creating an audience for the film without giving the story or themes of the film away.
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