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'Honest Trailers' YouTube star offers advice for Hollywood

After poking fun at Hollywood movie trailers for five years, voiceover actor Jon Bailey has noticed some patterns in the previews. Here's his advice on how to intrigue moviegoers without giving away the whole film.

After poking fun at Hollywood movie trailers for five years now for Screen Junkies on YouTube, voice actor Jon Bailey has noticed some听trends that may be shaping moviegoing habits. 鈥淭here tend to be two kinds of trailers,鈥� he explains. 鈥淪ome don鈥檛听show you anything at all, and then there are trailers that show you way too much. I don鈥檛 know what it is, but half of听them these days听[also]听fade to black 鈥� pitch black 鈥� as a visual effect and the only thing they show you are the huge action听scenes, so you hardly get any of the story.

鈥淥ther trailers show you all the best parts to try to get you to want to see the film, which can lead to a disappointing听experience since there are no surprises in that case 鈥� everyone鈥檚 already seen everything,鈥� Mr.听Bailey adds. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also听a type of trailer that emphasizes the 鈥榙ark moment鈥� toward the end 鈥� where you don鈥檛 know whether the hero is听going to make it 鈥� and with those听[trailers],听you often feel like you鈥檝e already seen the whole movie.鈥�

Studio marketing departments are of course incentivized to generate a significant turnout during the first weekend to get each film to open well financially. As a result, studios will sometimes take a kitchen-sink approach,听including the best jokes听or special effects in the clip. And while this can sometimes help put more people in seats, many believe it spoils the actual moviegoing experience, as audiences are less likely to be wowed by a听show-stopping sequence they鈥檝e already seen several times in an ad.

鈥淰ery often there is a lot of sleight-of-hand that goes into making your standard movie trailer,鈥� Bailey explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a recurring thing to make a film look better somehow or different than it actually is. Then people get to the theater听and they say, 鈥楢w, come on!鈥�"

While a studio marketing department might not make a weepy听Nicholas Sparks film seem like a laugh riot in a trailer, they might position听a film like the recent release "Arrival," starring Amy Adams, as a science fiction thriller rather than as a听thoughtful meditation on humanity鈥檚 place in the universe. Of course, if they're satisfied by the film,听audiences will likely be pleasantly surprised and not听annoyed by the marketing effort. But if they find a film that they've been convinced to see to be听disappointing, audiences can feel burned and turn to Twitter听and Facebook to vent, which could lead to steep drops in attendance during the听second weekend as word gets out.

"...I think people may stop going to the movies in theaters if they feel they鈥檝e been听fooled once too often or if Hollywood keeps making the same kind of trailer," Bailey says. "I mean, how often do we hear that听foghorn sound from [director Christopher Nolan鈥檚 movie] 'Inception'? ... They use that during those fade-to-black moments in between the visuals, but it鈥檚 a little overused by now.鈥�

So who鈥檚 doing it right these days? 鈥淭he trailer for [Marvel movie] 'Doctor Strange' shows just enough to intrigue the viewer without听giving the story, the ending, or the big moments away,鈥� Bailey says. 鈥淸Upcoming 'Star Wars' movie] 'Rogue One' has made great trailers that show听just the right amount to get people in theaters. [The 2015 'Star Wars' movie] 'The Force Awakens' was also a good example of a solid trailer. They听showed some really cool elements without showing anything at all. We didn鈥檛 know what the plot was at the time,听because they did a masterful job of editing. There was that shot of the Millennium Falcon doing that loop above the听desert floor 鈥� it looked amazing, but we had no idea from the trailer if they were running from something or chasing听after something. So that gives me hope for the future of movie trailers.鈥�