I recently saw a post on the audio drama subreddit asking who listens to trailers (also referred to as promos) for audio dramas and who uses the trailers to determine whether they listen to the show or not. The responses were a slue of angry responses in a near unanimous “trailers suck!” sentiment. But in reading through what everyone was complaining about, I saw quite clearly that they’d been exposed to so many BAD trailers, that now they assume all trailers are bad. So I thought I’d hit some of the low-lights (if you will) on what people complained about and how you can avoid the pitfalls if you are trying to make a trailer yourself. I’ve created 51 trailers now for Madison alone. So I have some thoughts on this…
TOO LONG!
Yes, trailers need to be a reasonable length. Think of them as a commercial for your show. The two ideal time lengths would be 30 seconds or one minute. That’s it. I see folks going up to 5 or more minutes long. This is not a movie trailer you see in the theater prior to viewing another film. That’s for a captive audience, for one, but also a chance to show off the movie on the big screen where the studio hopes you’ll view it. So they are longer. This is not at all the same environment. Think of consuming a movie trailer as a commercial on network TV. Or as a video on social media. Short is best.
Truly, if you can’t convey the draw of your show in a minute or less, there’s a problem. And that’s where the other issue with length is. The creators (we’re talking indie here, of course) are often too close to their material and can’t fathom not including every element in the trailer. You need to step back and hit the moments you think sell the show in tone, pacing, dialogue, and story. A good way to really nail this is who is your audience for the trailer? Your show is sci-fi so this is for sci-fi fans? Is it for the general public who like audio dramas? Maybe for fans you already have who are looking forward to more? Which moments in your piece will best grab that audience?
ONE SCENE AS THE “TRAILER”
No. Just no. Playing out a full scene in a trailer is not going to appeal to an audience. It’s long, it’s out of context, and, frankly, it’s lazy. You have to cut together something that will grab people’s attention. Play a few moments of a scene, but leave them wanting more.
PACING
Along the same lines as the one scene=trailer, you have to think about pacing. This should reflect the pacing of the show itself. I cut Madison together quickly, have music pumping behind it, and show off the comedic moments. If your show is a dark horror, for example, let your pacing reflect the pacing of your show’s feel and tone. That said, you still can avoid the trap of the one scene=trailer. Trim your dialogue IN the scene so the lines make sense, but aren’t the full scene played out. This can help pacing of the trailer and keep you in a good time length, too. Again, this is a mini intro to your show. Reflect it.
MUSIC IN TRAILERS
Yes, by all means, if you have a theme song, score, some music that people identify with your show, absolutely use it. But, please, please, do not let the music play alone with no action or dialogue. I have heard shows waste their precious few moments of trailer time on a lengthy instrumental bit of music before anything happens. This is not the intro to your show where we are setting the mood through music. A trailer audience wants to hear what the show is about. Unless your show is a musical and this is showcasing a song (presumably with vocals), get to the meat of the material immediately.
SERIES TRAILER VS. SEASON TRAILER
Again, know your audience. I have had many people when we’d do our promo swaps give me a “coming up in season 4!” promo. Okay, it’s your most current trailer, sure, but who is going to be hearing this trailer? A “coming up in season 4!” trailer is to excite the fans you already have. Putting your promo in someone else’s show is asking for NEW audience. They don’t know who Bill and Sharon are yet, to know how amazing their upcoming wedding is! Tell me about the overall series. Oh, it’s a romantic comedy set in New England in the early 2000s. Fabulous! I’ll get to know Bill and Sharon later. As an example for Madison, I put up my individual episode trailers on my feed for subscribers to tease them about what is coming next. But when I give my promo to outside shows, I give them a series overview.
SPOILERS
And speaking of Bill and Sharon’s wedding, I’ve seen both sides of the coin when “spoilers” are discussed. Naturally, your audience doesn’t want any important moments revealed in the trailer. But the flip side goes, again, back to creators being too close to the material. They feel like every single moment is earth shattering and they can’t bear to use any of it because surely it will ruin the audience’s listening experience! Find the happy medium, folks. Use the lead up moments, then cut away. Service a plot point with a good solid line that gives you tone/texture but not the surprise. And if you really are having a hard time with this, go watch some old movie trailers. A movie you already know. See how they teased you to get you excited with moments from the film, but didn’t show you everything.
TO TRAILER OR NOT TO TRAILER?
It’s all about marketing, especially at grassroots level. Films, TV shows and even the old time radio series have been doing trailers since the beginning of all entertainment. It continues to work, when done well. So why rob yourself of another avenue to potentially reach new listeners? Do some people refuse to listen to them? Yes. Bad trailers have turned them off of all trailers. But none of those people who said they hated trailers said they wouldn’t listen to a series that had one! Just that they wouldn’t listen to the trailer. So you’re not creating the trailer for them. You’re creating it for the people who want a small taste, so give it to them!
