Gadgetory

- being an awakening have you felt it this scene this exact moment was the first time we saw anything from star wars the force awakens and we have watched rewatched and RiRi watched it over and over again along with the dozens of other teasers trailers and TV spots that have followed fans have dissected analyzed remixed and reacted to the clips that last trailer the aired during Monday Night Football that one alone was watched over 112 million times in just 24 hours it suffice to say people are kind of excited but even though we've seen a lot we still have almost no idea about this movies actually going to be about its hyped by omission and Star Wars is forging a new path at a time when most trailers are serving up sort of a Cliff's Notes version of a movie that they're selling the force awakens represents the latest evolutionary leap in the long history of the movie trailer somewhere in space this may all be happening right now this is the teaser trailer from the original 1977 version of Star Wars and that voice let's call him the voice-over guy so big sprawling space saga of rebellion and romance when Hollywood's blockbuster era kicked off the 1970s voice-over guy explained plot details introduced characters and just generally sounded really 500 rescued the princess destroyed the Death Star but their story didn't end there but today it sounds dated a little hokey that's partly because it was a long-standing holdout from the earliest days of movie promotion originally trailers were shown after movies hence the name trailer and were just hardcore sales pitches designed to get people back into theater in this spot for the 1927 version of the jazz singer he's just straight-up telling the camera about how awesome the movie is now these few little themes that you have duckstein only give you a vague idea of the red feet that is in store for you when America's foremost entertainer makes its appearance fear in the dad finger voiceover guy was an evolution of that same thing explaining why a movie was the most amazing romantic tale of adventure to ever hit the silver screen not a little burrito and while there were occasional exceptions the familiar voice over guy dominated trailers over time maybe got a little too familiar in a world where the Sun burns cold in a world without gas you know that's powered by violence in a world where only a radio was strictly forbidden in a time in an age in a city in a land and in a world where both of our cars were totally underwater we were in a world with a lot of voiceover but by the end of the 90s when trailers for Star Wars The Phantom Menace started coming out the medium had begun to shift voice over guy wasn't around as much and more subtle title cards were in the style was different to this new breed of trailer could be impressionistic at times almost Moody The Phantom Menace clips were more like mini films in the old heart cells turning trailers and to fully realize dramatic experiences you refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the force you believe it's this boy if old trailers were promises of a movie to come these could be enjoyed entirely on their own and they coincided with the emergence of the perfect distribution platform the Internet in 1998 sites crashed under the demand when a bootleg for the original Phantom Menace trailer made it online the next day Lucasfilm put out an official download and more sites crashed now you have to remember this was 1998 AOL was still a thing fans had actually download the video to watch it which meant they had to click the button and wait and wait and wait a little bit more it wasn't pretty but the trailer helped kickstart the idea of the Internet as a video platform watching the trailer over and over again fans could grow even more excited dissecting what would happen with those big space battles the new Jedi and Darth Maul's crazy double lightsaber then the movie came while it was successful it's safe to say it didn't quite live up to fan expectations where the trailers were sleek and stylish The Phantom Menace itself was clunky and awkward and subsequent Star Wars trailers left the solty behind for a plot heavy exposition Palooza and like the movies they were selling they were pretty good boy has exceptional skills his abilities have made him arrogant excuse me I'm in charge of security here milady by the time Revenge of the Sith rolled around you didn't even really need to see the movie at all with the trailer giving away nearly every major plot point in movies you're under arrest genzler are you threatening me master Jedi and for the most part that's the trend we still see today with predators using up every surprise movie has to get people into theaters hoping to avoid the big reveal in Terminator Genisys that John Connor is a bad guy whoops with so much info coming at fans and online culture making it so easy to share points of view it's given rise to a creative cottage industry the force awakens trailer comes in an era of dissection where fans don't just watch trailers they break them down analyze them post reaction videos make remixes even create shot-for-shot duplicates using cardboard sets okay seriously the hyperspace effect is awesome I can't say can I it's become a perfect match of art form and medium and Hollywood is paying attention because today we don't just get trailers we get TV spots commercials featurettes social media posts teasing a trailer for a trailer for a movie that's a year away there's no stopping it and it is everywhere which is exactly why the restraint of the force awakens has seemed so novel I mean just listen to some of this dialogue who are you I'm known for this first time in years were actually being teased and it's exciting after being told way too much for way too long audiences are desperate for a real surprise and here's what's cool with more blockbusters part of these huge expanded universes there's less reason than ever for studios to give away plot or spoil a movie secrets because you don't really need this in a world when you have this and this and that one - so will Star Wars change the way trailers are made forever possible trailer trends come and go as tastes and the way we process visual information change and as we've already seen where and how trailers are shown can have a fundamental impact on the art form itself but let's not fool ourselves no matter how wonderful and artistic the trailer may be it's still just marketing and the best trailer in the world can't make a movie great you