Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

A movie trailer editor deconstructs iconic trailers

How trailers work, explained by someone who makes them.

Phil Edwards
Phil Edwards was a senior producer for the Vox video team.

Trailer editor Bill Neil works at Buddha Jones making movie trailers that scare, excite, and, most importantly, get people to want to see a movie. His work includes Jordan Peele’s Nope, Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Old.

In this video, he explains the things a trailer editor notices about trailers old and new, great and terrible, and somewhere in the middle. Starting with trailers from the ’60s, he gets all the way to the present while reviewing techniques like sound design, “rug pulls,” and how to hide fake blood. And if you feel the urge to complain that today’s trailers give too much of the plot away, Neil shows us how that’s not a brand-new trend.

For more videos on the film industry, check out Vox producer Ed Vega’s latest video on subtitles and why we all seem to need them now.

You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube.

Related

See More:

More in Video

Video
What would J.R.R. Tolkien think of Palantir?What would J.R.R. Tolkien think of Palantir?
Play
Video

How The Lord of the Rings lore helps explain the mysterious tech company.

By Benjamin Stephen
America, Actually
The progressive plan to reclaim the working classThe progressive plan to reclaim the working class
Podcast
America, Actually

Progressive caucus chair Rep. Greg Casar on his movement’s new playbook.

By Astead Herndon
Video
The Department of Holy WarThe Department of Holy War
Play
Video

What Pete Hegseth’s fascination with the Crusades can tell us about the war in Iran.

By Nate Krieger
Video
Live Nation lost. Will anything change for ticket prices?Live Nation lost. Will anything change for ticket prices?
Play
Video

A jury ruled Live Nation and Ticketmaster a monopoly, but what that means for ticket prices is not so simple.

By Frank Posillico
Eating the Ocean
Why are states unleashing millions of these fish?Why are states unleashing millions of these fish?
Play
Eating the Ocean

America’s fishing paradox.

By Nate Krieger
Video
Why Americans can’t escape credit card debtWhy Americans can’t escape credit card debt
Play
Video

Credit card APRs are now as high as 20 percent.

By Frank Posillico