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Movie Trailer History

Initially, the movie trailer was nothing more than an afterthought — something so mundane that people would know it was time to leave their seats. By the early 20th century, new movies were promoted by the film’s first reel or a few key scenes spliced together. The 1960s saw an influx of independent houses surface that specialized in crafting enticing trailers clips to sell upcoming features. “There’s no questioning the fact that it’s an art form and completely indispensable. It’s become a very big part of the movie going experience,” says famous voice-over artist Don LaFontaine. “If you go to the theater, I’m sure you’ll find that a great majority of the audience are in their seats well before the lights come down, and the reason is that they want to see those trailers before the main feature.”

Some people wonder why we call it a movie “trailer,” if it’s shown before the movie. In the past, mini-films were shown before new movies to keep audiences entertained and trailers were shown at the conclusion of a film to encourage viewers to leave. Over time, movie trailers became an independent art form that began to attract viewers as much as the movies themselves. Theater owners then began showcasing previews first to entice audiences to come back for more. Many motion picture preview innovators surfaced over the years. Alfred Hitchcock previews were known for their wit and suspense, while Andrew J. Kuehn previews began a new standard of quick editing and thought-provoking narration.

Andrew J. Kuehn was an innovator in modern movie trailers production. In 1964, he released independently-produced trailer for Night of the Iguana that used fast-paced editing, high-contrast photography and suspenseful narration. When he realized the potential for this format, he partnered with Dan Davis to manufacture trailers for some of the biggest names and top movies — including Stanley Kubricks’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, James Cameron’s Aliens and George Lucas’s Star Wars. ”He came into the world of previews when they were done very conventionally, and he reinvented them,” said Bob Harper, vice chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment. ”He pioneered the idea of previews as a stand-alone piece of entertainment.”

You’ll note that many of the trailers for new movies have extremely fast cutting between scenes. Andrew J. Kuehn explains, “When MTV came along… it recognized that the retention, the ability of the audience to observe, had grown faster because of television: It’s not a matter of lack of attention span, it’s a matter of how much information people can grasp at the same time.” He added, “In the process you accomplished two things: One, you can get more information across. Two, you can hide your flaws more easily.” Thus, the modern trailer was born.

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