Analysing Teaser Trailers - Introduction

A teaser trailer is a brief summary of the film, to tease the viewer's interest. It gives the audience an indication of what the film is about without revealing the entire plotline or including major spoilers. Typically they will be released many weeks or months in advance of the main release of the film and their purpose to to create a buzz  before the film is fully released. The reason that they are called teasers is because they are meant to "tease" viewers about what the film is about, not giving much away. However, the audience will be able to learn what type of genre it is and whether they want to see it or not. 

The teaser will set the mood and identify the themes and genre of the film in addition to introducing the key characters and action that will happen in the film (though often only very briefly). It will typically have an important hook that will gain attention from the audience and want then to watch the film to find out what happens, but more importantly, will want to keep an eye out for any further information regarding the film's release. It will be apparent that there is some kind of conflict or issue that needs to be resolved and the protagonist and antagonist may be briefly identified or alluded to. 

In summary a teaser gives the audience a glimpse of what the film is about and presents key elements of the film to make the audience want more information. 

I am going to look at two teasers, from different genres, in more detail. The films are:

'The Penguin Lessons'

'Gladiator II'