Conventions of radio film trailers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9 sijw2hzHs

Radio is the theatre of the mind This means that the audience has to participate (i.e. listen and visualise things) So they are actively involved from the start. Audience participation makes advertising much more likely to be effective. But this also means that to work well the trailer must construct powerful pictures in sound.

Contents A radio ad for a film can range from 30 secs to 60 secs, but the average is 40 secs. We speak roughly at the rate of 2-3 words a second. Therefore at the very most the ad will contain 120 words. There will be a music bed/soundtrack. There will be some dialogue from the film. There will be a v.o.

Contents continued. 40 secs is not much time, so any radio ad will just concentrate on the USPs. Therefore it will: Emphasise the title of the film and state the date of release and certification. Give a slogan/tag line. Quickly identify the genre of the film – this is often done through the soundtrack, director’s name, dialogue and v.o.(quoting reviews etc.) Reveal something of the narrative (with enigmas.) Reveal something of the main character/s to engage the audience.

The Voice Over The V.O. must be appropriate to the genre of the film and the audience. (i.e action films often use a younger male, rom coms often use a younger female and so on.) The V.O. will talk directly to the audience. The language will be tailored to the audience. The tone will be appropriate to the genre of the film and the audience.