Soundbites
are one or two line clips of spoken dialogue taken from the film, used as an
easy way of summing up characters and genre. As opposed
to captions or voiceovers, soundbites are in effect, 'straight from the horses
mouth'. They are taken from the film itself and serve the same purpose for a
dialogue/character based film as showing a plane exploding would for an action
film. In terms of storyline, the editing together
of a series of soundbites constructs a mini-narrative usually in an order similar
to the film's. The most important plot points can be boiled down into a few
lines in order to inform the viewer.
When
constructing a trailer one of the most obvious ways of giving an audience a
taste of the film is to include clips from it. In films where action sequences
and special effects are the main selling point these clips will simply be images
cut to music. But in a film where character and dialogue
are what is important, most notably in dramas and comedies, these clips will
come in the form of soundbites.
A
soundbite is usually the most effective method of ending a trailer. After the
music has come to a crescendo and stopped, the title page has come up and the
trailer seems to be at an end there will be one more line spoken that sums up
the film.
Watch
this trailer for Jane Campion's 1997 period drama The Portrait of a Lady and
notice how there are no outside voiceovers, only soundbites that follow a narrative
flow in keeping with the film's.
"Unfortunately, no-one
can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." - The Matrix
"This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds"
- Mission Impossible
