The Psychology of Movie TrailersAnna Rinko

Research Question How does the audio/visual content of

movie trailers affect viewers? Two parts

• Actual effects• How those effects are achieved

Personal Rationale

Early Interest

Hobby Projects

Physical Responses “Chills” “Shiver down the spine” Piloerection (goosebumps)

• Gender differences Tend to serve as markers for

emotional response Music

• Dopamine

The Power of the Human Face

Facial Close-Ups• Focus on individual

emotion• Pulls at natural tendency

to center on the human face

• Possible evolutionary connection

Associations Evoke specific genres Trigger context-

dependent memories Connect advertised

movie to past successful films• Usage of music tracks

from other trailers and films

Advertising (Tying It All Together)

Purpose of the trailer is to garner greater sales• Exploitation of natural human tendencies

and psychology Feelings Memory Associations

• Manifest as physical and emotional reactions

• Higher reactions are correlated to higher profits

ProductTwo parts

1. Trailer-esque Film Production

•Style of a modern movie trailer•Created using music pieces from official trailers•BBC News clips • Reduce bias

2. Experiment

•Presentations to multiple classes•Self-reports for data collection•Are the desired emotional effects present?•Do the data trends (relating to intensity of emotion, gender, etc.) match those of the research.

The Video Close-ups Contrast Music Choice

Results Engagement Level (0-3)

3% 4%

35%

58%

Total Percentage0 1 2 3

• Average Engagement Level: 2.49• Average Male Engagement Level:

2.33• Average Female Engagement

Level: 2.59

Results Intensity Level (0-3)

3% 1%

34%

62%

Total Percentage

0 1 2 3• Average Intensity Level: 2.55• Average Male Intensity Level:

2.40• Average Female Intensity Level:

2.66

Results Emotions

96%

4%

Total Respondents

Target Emotions Not Target Emotions94%

6%

Male

Target Emotions Not Target Emotions

98%

2%

Female

Target Emotions Not Target Emotions

Results Emotions Continued

Sad Inspired Anxious Tense Other NoneEmotions

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Percentages MalePercentages Female

Results Physical Reactions

72%

28%

Total Respondents

Physical Reaction No Physical Reaction57%

43%

Male

Physical Reaction No Physical Reaction

82%

18%

Female

Physical Reaction No Physical Reaction

Results Physical Reactions Continued"S

hiv

er

dow

n t

he s

pin

e"

Goose

bum

ps

Chills

Tin

gling

Oth

er

None

Physical Reactions

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

50.00%

MaleFemale

Conclusion Successful application Corroborated research

• Gender Differences

General Bibliography Anderson, Lisa, and Arthur P. Shimamura. “Influences of Emotion on Context Memory while Viewing Film Clips.” The American Journal

of Psychology 118.3 (2005): 323-37. Web. Baughman, Brent. “The art of the Modern Movie Trailer.” NPR.org. NPR, 15 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Benedek, Mathias and Kaernbach, Christian. “Physiological correlates and emotional specificity of human piloerection.” Nih.gov.

National Center for Biotechnology Information, Mar. 2011. Web. 27. Sept. 2013. Brown, Royal. “Modern Film Music.” The Oxford History of World Cinema: The definitive history of cinema worldwide.Ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. 558-66. Print. Devantier, Alecia T., and Turkington, Carol A. Extraordinary Jobs in Media. New York: Ferguson, 2007. Print. Frazer, Bryant. “Q&A: Creative Director Federico Ponce on Making Movie Trailers.” Studiodaily.com. 8 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Groom, Jim. Email. 2 June 2014. Hart, Hugh. “9 (Short) Storytelling Tips From a Master of Movie Trailers.” Fastcocreate.com. Fast Company & Inc., 29 May 2014. Web.

17 Dec. 2014. Hoeckner, Berthold, Emma W. Wyatt, Jean Decety, and Howard Nusbaum. “Film Music Influences How Viewers Relate to Movie

Characters.” Psychology of Aesthetics Creativity and the Arts 5.2 (2011): 146-53. Web. Holtzclaw, Robert P., and Robert A. Armour. “Film” The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture. Inge, Thomas M., and Hall, Dennis, Eds. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print. Jerrick, David. “The Effectiveness of Film Trailers: Evidence from the College Student Market.” Uwlax.edu. UW-L Journal of

Undergraduate Research XVI, 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. Kar, Anita. “Musical chills: why they give us thrills.” Mni.mcgill.ca. Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 27

Sept. 2013. Kehe, Jason and Palmer, Katie M. “Secrets of a Trailer Guru: How This Guy Gets You to the Movies.” Wired.com. Wired, 18 Jun. 2013.

Web. 17 Dec. 2014. Lipscomb, Scott D. and David E. Tolchinsky. “The role of music communication in cinema.” Lipscomb.umn.edu. Northwestern

University, 2004. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. Parke, Rob, Chew Elaine, and Kyriakakis Chris. “Quantitiative and Visual Analysis of the Impact of Music on Perceived Emotion of

Film.” Usc.edu. University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering. Web. 28 Sept. 2013. Patches, Matt. “How a Movie Trailer is Made: Behind-the-Scenes of ‘Dark Knight Rises,’ ‘Great Gatsby,’ and More.” Hollywood.com.

Hollywood.com LLC, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. Rathus, Spencer A. Psychology: Principles in Practice. Hold McDougal, 2010. Print Tan, Siu-Lan. “3 Reasons Why We’re Drawn to Faces in Film.” Psychologytoday.com. Sussex Publishers, 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Web.

2014. Williams, Kathleen. “Fake and fan film trailers as incarnations of audience anticipation and desire.” Transformativeworks.com. Web.

29 Sept. 2013. Yanagisawa, Kazuka, Takayuki Iida, and Kakuro Amasaka. “Constructing a Model for Creating Movie Trailers Increase Customers’

Desire. Research in Applied Economics 6.1 (2014) : 73-84. Web.

Media Sources Bibliography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVt32qoyhi0&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&feature=mh_lolz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCTen3-B8GU&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ItBvH5J6ss&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTZ2Tp9yXyM&index=4&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bz0QOOT9Hk&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pgmFAOgm5E&index=6&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM&index=7&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm6V6QnkGQc&index=8&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke1Y3P9D0Bc&index=10&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bFZJ-3zNFg&index=11&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

Media Sources Bibliography Continued https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8&index=12&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYj

RRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4&index=13&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiTiKOy59o4&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufsrgE0BYf0&index=15&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s&index=16&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokKUqLcvD8&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0WUpsErUBA&index=19&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQm5doF_Uc&index=20&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87E6N7ToCxs&index=21&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw8VCDx399I&index=22&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhJjCmYi1M&index=23&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN10QltBBtE&list=PLNZ6uy9DRQm7G4L8y7QYjRRPbI2OFQnOy&index=24

Questions?