You can learn a lot about pitching from trailers

I hope you already make it a habit to get to the theater early enough to watch the trailers. I find the previews interesting as a study of marketing, not only how well the trailers are made, but which film previews they choose to show prior to each movie. Most of the time it's consistent-go to see Paranormal Activity and you'll surely see a preview for The Fourth Kind. See Astro Boy and you'll get previews for A Christmas Carol and Planet 51. Every now and then they'll throw an oddball in there, but usually the theaters are aware of what demographics they want to target. Watching the trailers is also a practical way to get a glimpse of new releases and to start making a list of what you'll see next.

But the next time you go keep track of how many you see, jot down what movies they are for, and note which ones made you really want to go see the particular movie they were advertising. Thanks to the internet, you can easily find your favorites and watch them again at home to analyze how they work and what they did to make you want to watch. The best trailers work like the best pitches-they give you just enough to make you desperate to see the film-or, in the case of a pitch, to read the script.

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