“How to create a movie/film trailer”
учебно-методический материал

Coming soon to a Theatre near you.

Doing a project “How to create a movie/film trailer”

Goals: To create and orally present a movie trailer (advertisement) that introduces key movie elements such as the main characters, setting, and plot; to listen for information about these elements in other movie trailers.

Materials: Three small containers, boxes or “grab bags”. “Grab bag” – a container or receptacle from which a person at a party draws a gift without knowing what it is or simply it’s just a bag in which there are many unknown things; sample movie trailers (see Figure 1): a movie trailer checklist (see Figure 2); pencils or pens and paper; scissors; chalkboard and chalk or whiteboard and markers; a clock or timing device; poster paper (optional).

Preparation:

Prepare for the student’s tasks – listening to and creating movie trailers – by doing the following:

1. Decide how you will present these materials to the class. You can prepare them as handouts, or you can display them on the board or on the poster paper during the activity.
2. Create movie – element “grab bags”: three small containers with a list of options-  time, place, character and adjectives. Use the ideas in the list or develop your own.

Procedure

1. Write “movie trailer” on the board. Explain or elicit the phrase’s meaning (“an audio or video advertisement for a movie”. Tell the class that a good movie trailer introduces some or all of the movie’s key elements, but it doesn’t share too much information. The purpose of the trailer is to get people interested in the movie so they will go to see it to find out what happens.  
2. Tell students that you are going to discuss movies as a class and that they will have a chance to create their favoutite trailers or their own idea for a movie. Start by telling students about a specific movie that you enjoyed watching; you might also mention the kind of movie you like best. For example, you might say, “” I really like happy and funny movies that make me laugh. For example, (movie title) is one of my favourites.”
3. Students work in pairs. They may need two minutes to think about the movies they have seen and answer the following questions.

• What’s the movie’s title? (What is the name of the movie?)
• Who are the main characters? (Who is the movie about?)
• What is the setting? (When and where does the movie take place?)
• What is the plot? (What happens in the movie? What is the main story about? Summarize in one or two sentences. But don’t tell us the ending or give too much detail about the movie in case anyone wants to see it!)

4. Read one of the sample movie trailers in Figure 1 to your class. Feel free to be dramatic and use your best movie-trailer announcer voice. Read the trailer two or three times so that students can catch most of the information they need to answer the questions on the board.
5. Have students review their answers with a partner. Then bring everyone back together and for each of the four questions, have a different student volunteer share an answer with the full class. If necessary, reread parts of the trailer aloud to help students find answers to questions they had difficulty understanding or answering.

Possible answers for Sample Movie Trailers 1 and 2.

What is the movie title? 

• Trailer 1:  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• Trailer 2: The Gift of the Magi

Who are the main characters?

• Trailer 1: a boy and a runaway slave
• Trailer 2: a poor, married couple

What is the setting?

• Trailer 1: the southern U.S. state of Mississippi, 20 years before the Civil War (1840s).
• Trailer 2: Christmastime in Rio de Janeiro City.

What is the plot?

• Trailer 1: The boy and the runaway slave fight for freedom. It seems they may be running away on the Mississippi River.
• Trailer 2: The husband and wife sacrifice something for each other’s happiness.

6. Tell the class you want them to analyze the movie trailer more carefully by asking the questions below:

1. How long was the trailer? (Less than a minute).
2. Did you learn the character’s name? (General information without including the characters’ names).
3. What did the movie trailer make you want to find out or think about?

• Trailer 1: What might happen on the journey?
• Trailer 2: What sacrifice will the main character make? What sacrifice would I make for love?

Besides plot, character, and setting, what other information did the trailer give?

• Trailer 1: gave the name of the production company and the author of the book that the movie is based on.
• Trailer 2: gave the name of the starring actors.

What is the movie genre?/ What kind of movie is it?

Do you want to see the movie? Why? (Have the class vote with a show of hands and then ask a few students to explain their preferences).  

7. Tell the students they will create and present their trailers in groups.

• And now let’s create three groups of 4. On the desks you have the time, place, character and adjectives containers or “grab bags”. Task: Using movie – element “grab bags” with lists of options in it, Group A and Group B will create “Your favourite movie trailer (decide what movie is one of your favourites in your group)”. And group C will create a trailer for a new movie. Nobody has seen this movie yet. Your trailer should be less than one minute long and you have 10 minutes to create it. When time is up, each group will present its movie trailer. After this activity, the groups should answer the question:
• Which movie would you like to see the most? Take a vote for “Best picture!”

To wrap up the activity, you can give an award (small prizes of your choice) to the authors of the trailer.

How to create a movie trailer

1. Начать кино-трейлер с того, когда происходило событие в фильме, т.е. определить его время (the time) (в прошлом, настоящем или будущем). Вот несколько вариантов: It’s in 1846, it’s 100 years ago BC, (до нашей эры) It’s 50 years before the Civil War, It’s present time (наши дни, наше время) It’s 25 years in the future (в будущем).
2. Вспомнить теперь, где происходило или происходит то или иное событие в фильме. Т.е. надо определить место (the place) действия фильма. Вот несколько вариантов: in a small town in the southern American state/ in the south – east of America, in the city of Los Angeles in the state of California, in the village of Pineland, in the countryside near the river… (указать город, сельскую местность, в каком регионе или штате той или иной страны.)
3. Вспомнить главных героев фильма (the character of the film). Дать характеристику героям фильма, использовав 2 или три прилагательных. Варианты: a strong and brave young man (сильный и храбрый молодой парень), a pretty and smart girl called (красивая и умная девушка по имени …).  
4.   Одним длинным или двумя короткими предложениями напишите о чем этот фильм, т.е. его сюжет (the plot). Вот пример: A headstrong New York painter embarks on a dangerous journey to meet Sitting Bull but must face off with an Army officer intent on war with the Natives. – Своевольная художница из Нью – Йорка отправляется в опасное путешествие, чтобы встретиться с Сидящим Быком, но сталкивается с офицером, готовым вступить в войну с индейцами.  
5. Придумать интригующий вопрос, который бы заинтересовал зрителя в просмотре фильма. Т.е. не раскрывал бы все детали основного содержания фильма (его кульминацию и конец). Например: What challenges the boys will have during their journey to the Mighty Mississippi river? С какими испытаниями столкнуться мальчики во время путешествия к Могучей реке Миссиссиппи?
6. В конце обязательно написать название кинокомпании, актеров (можно режиссера) и название фильма. Например: Paramount Pictures presents Oscar award – winning Kate Winsley and Leonardo DiCaprio in a brilliant romance based on a true story “Titanic” .