Marketing And Movie Trailers – The King’s Speech

Been a while since my last “Marketing And Movie Trailers” post…

…and as I’ve been to the movies a couple of times recently…

(to see “The King’s Speech” and “The Black Swan”, since you ask)

…thought it was time for another.

“The King’s Speech” is attracting widespread praise and picking up numerous awards.  Thoroughly deserved in my opinion.  Loved the film and everyone I know who has seen it feels the same.

Wonderful story, great acting and production and very moving. I confess I cried at the end.

Now, I remember seeing the trailer at Christmas when I was in the UK…

…and it immediately grabbed my interest.

I wished that “The King’s Speech” had been showing at the time…

…in contrast to the mediocre fare that was served up (I endured the latest “Harry Potter” and “Gulliver’s Travels” unfortunately).

So, I thought it well worth reviewing the trailer to see just what made me want to see this film.

Here’s the trailer…

OK. let’s go through this…

A – Attention

Starts off with a hint of mystery.  The swirling mist is a nice touch.  Announcing that it’s something to do with “public speaking” is clever because so many people fear this.  Add in that this involves royalty (in our celebrity obsessed culture, the royals fascinate many people) and you have a pretty solid attention-getting start to the trailer.

Score – 2.5

I- Interest

This really develops in two parts.  The first develops the story a little more, expands on the problem and introduces us to the characters.  It’s good, but at this stage seems little more than a charming period piece, telling an interesting but little-known story.

Then drama is introduced with the approach of World War 2 and things get a lot more serious.  One man’s personal struggle assumes a much larger significance.  It’s this second part that really builds the interest.

Score – 3.0

D – Desire

The final section continues to build up the drama and the tension and we are left wondering how this all turns out.  We kind of suspect that it’s going to be OK, but most people won’t know the details of this true story.  More importantly, the trailer has done a good job of making us care about the characters.

Score – 2.5

Bonus Mark – 0.5 (I’ve already scored this pretty highly!)

Total – 9.0

It’s the middle section of this trailer that does a great job, I think.  As mentioned, when I first saw this trailer it really caught my attention and made this movie a “must see”.

And I wasn’t disappointed.  It’s been nominated for a hatful of Oscars and would be worthy winner.

Couple of other upcoming movies have caught my attention, notably the remake of “The Mechanic”.  So watch this space…