Research into Radio Trailers

Radio trailers are advertisements which are shown/ heard on radio stations. Radio trailers will be shown on different radio stations depending on the subject i.e horror, comedy, thriller ect. Radio trailers have a different effect compared to television adverts as they focus mainly on the atmosphere whereas television advert focus largely on the visual aspects of the film. Radio trailers for horror movies are particularly effective as they create an eery atmosphere for the listeners and so they have to use their imagination to fill in the rest. By advertising films through the radio they are being heard by a wider audience which raises publicity and raising awareness of the film. A large percentage of people listen to the radio daily e.g in the house, at work or in the car so it is a practical method of advertising. Which radio station the film is played on depends on how much of the subject they share in common for example a horror film is likely to be played on Radio one as it has a high statistic of listeners which are more often than not adults, and will be played at a late time e.g 9 o'clock+ as it is likely children will be in bed, unable to hear. 

This is a graph to show the percentage of people what listen to different radio stations. The high numbers prove that the adverts hit a wide audience through the radio. One of the main conventions of radio trailers is Music. For example films such as "Halloween" and "Jaws" have that famous motif so that when people hear the music they know what film is it immediately. When the music is heard without the film, it also makes people remember the parts which they were most scared of, so in a way it is tailored to everyone's individual fears. Another convention of the trailers is sound effects. These are effective as it means the audience have to rely only on what they can hear. Voice overs are another convention commonly used, this usually tells the story of the film and gives the audience an idea of what is happening in the film as it is hard to do this through just sound. This often includes some speech and sounds from the film directly to include some of the most favorable scenes of the film. Other conventions also include information at the end of the advert such as the certificate and viewing details and the slogan of the film.




Here is an example of a radio trailer for a film. At the beginning of the clip we hear voice-over narration to introduce the audience to the film and inform us about what is happening in the film to begin with. The voice of the narrator is over exaggerated and when the music starts playing the listeners get an idea that the film contains humerous features. There also also direct pieces of speech from the actors for example when the man starts singing into the microphone and everyone cheers. These are diagetic sounds taken directly from the film. The music played is also relevant to the film and towards the end of the trailer we are told the names of the actors which can be very iconic raising publicity for the film e.g Richard Gurtis.