The aim of this paper is to examine the American movie trailer particularly its history, marketing and functions, presented as an historical overview from the serials of the early 1910s to the trailers of today. A trailer from each decade of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries is selected which represent typical trends and shows how trailers historically functioned, including their formal, generic differences.

The introduction focuses on the market in which the trailer operates, and raises the issue of the entertainment value of art or marketing, how the film industry works and to role of advertising. The second part of the introduction focuses on the development of film stars, and their importance in trailer campaigns. This brings in the question of the growth of Hollywood and new media forms/technologies. The manner in which new media also create a new type of audience is considered, which demonstrates how the trailers capture audience attention in new ways.

The second part of the paper focuses on the history of the trailer and examines typical structures, of the different periods.

The third part analyses how different trailers operate, and how the trailer industry stands at the beginning of a new era, the so-called Post-interactive era, which is discussed with regard to Spider-Man 2 and The Da Vinci Code.