Lame Trailer Clichés: 8 Things You'll Always See In Rom-Com Trailers

Ah, romantic comedies. When did we last see a good one? Well, if you did, chances are they weren't made for Hollywood's sake or they were made years ago. I think the question that we really need to be asking is when was the last time you saw a trailer for a romantic comedy and thought "YES. I'm going to see that because it looks so original." Yeah...didn't think so. That's because romantic comedy trailers employ the same techniques. Here are the main five:

1. "Meet this person in this glorious freeze frame."

The ironic thing about this freeze frame introducing us to Stephanie Plum, Katherine Heigl's latest 'heroine' from One for the Money, is that her facial expression is pretty much how I looked through the entire movie. Foreshadowing, perhaps? Oh One for the Money, you really are too good.

Lame Trailer Clichés: Pop Songs for Rom-Coms

One of the things that I dislike most about my job is the sound on the trailer disc. Sometimes, it'll be really quiet. Other times, I'll be half way through serving a customer and then the TV will suddenly burst out with some catchy but totally annoying pop song. More often than not, I'll look up and that annoying pop song will be accompanying a trailer for a rom-com. And then I'll get the song stuck in my head. So I don't know, I guess these trailers are doing their jobs:

A Conversation with New Year's Eve

Sorry for the day's delay. Someone decided it would be a good idea to have new releases spread out on three different days this week, leaving New Year's Eve and The Iron Lady until Friday, so I could only but watch it on Thursday. New Year's Eve was a film I wanted to 'converse' with from the get-go, and after seeing it I've realised how much fun I shall have with this one. So let's get going, shall we?

CHRISTOPHER: Even though it is the 27th of April, I figure it is always okay to interview New Year's Eve. After all, it didn't come out on New Year's Eve. Geez, even Valentine's Day made the effort to come out on Valentine's Day.
NEW YEAR'S EVE: I didn't want to undermine everyone's actual New Year's Eves by making them want to come see me instead of getting drunk and actually having a good idea. So I thought, why not come out at the start of December? Then I'd just undermine Christmas.

C: I don't recall you ever being successful. Christmas still went ahead. 
NYE: Still, I was top of the box office.

C: And in your second week you got beaten by some singing chipmunks.
NYE: I ended up earning more than the singing chipmunks.

C: The singing chipmunks have a higher rating than you do on Rotten Tomatoes.
NYE: I have a better cast than the singing chipmunks.

C: The singing chipmunks are probably more comfortable to listen to than you and your whiny cast are!
NYE: TOO FAR. I'll have you know that people enjoy seeing Katherine Heigl in romantic comedies!

C: Do they? Name some, then.
NYE: ...singing chipmunks?

C: Very convincing. Now, tell me a bit about yourself.
NYE: There is just so much to say. Well, it is New Year's Eve, a night where everyone falls in love and stuff and everyone's happy because they've started a new year and I tell the story of a whole lot of people who want to find love/have love on this magical night. First, there's...

C: Please don't feel compelled to tell us a brief summary of everyone involved in this film. I'm afraid if you did that you'd probably give away your entire storyline.
NYE: But really, I don't mind, everyone's probably figured it out anyway...

C: We really don't have time. If we did, we'd be here until Christmas, by which time you'd probably have another holiday themed movie out.
NYE: Well, you see, we thought that, but some British movie...I don't know, what is it called? Ah, Love Actually, already bet us to the punch with that one.

C: I guess being British helps when you're making holiday themed multi-plot films with big casts.
NYE: Yes, I've realised this, but the fact they've taken Christmas kind of shot that horse in the face. Maybe, we could set the next holiday film in Britain about a British holiday, starring American people. What's a British holiday?

C: Queen's Birthday?
NYE: Perfect. Maybe the Queen could fall in love, on her birthday.

C: For one thing, it isn't her real birthday. For a second thing, she's already married.
NYE: Damn. I thought Josh Duhamel would have been quite the catch for her. Well what about that king guy from The King's Speech?

C: I'm afraid he's dead.
NYE: COLIN FIRTH IS DEAD?

C: No. The actual...never mind.
NYE: Hmmmmmmmmm. I bet there are lots of ways we can show that people really feel the love of Queen's birthday. We have to involve Katherine Heigl and Sarah Jessica Parker. And make a really photoshopped photo, filled with blue and red because that what is on the British flag - but the Americans will think it is all about them since their flag is blue and red too. Genius. And we'll also have another musical montage, because that went down a treat. Maybe we'll get Colin Firth in there, even though you say that he is dead. But I dunno, I hope he has gotten over that stutter. That could prove problematic when he's filming his love story with acting maestro Katherine Heigl.

C: You really need to stop thinking.
NYE: I've got a tagline!

C: Oh good lord.
NYE: "Even though it isn't really the Queen's birthday, you can still find right royal love on this holiday."

C: And just when I thought you couldn't get much worse than 'Let love be your resolution'

What I got:

Lame Trailer Clichés: The Freeze Frame

Yes, another weekly feature. It was something I came up with while selling someone a Lotto ticket at work and gazing at the TV playing the trailer disc. I've seem craploads of trailers in my time thanks to working a DVD shop, and more often than not they're pretty silly. So every Monday, I'll look at a certain lame trailer cliché that seems to pop up in quite a few of them.

Ah, the freeze frame. They're activities we do in our first years of Drama, just so we can create complicated situations with a single movement. Alas, trailers use them in a different way. Many different ways, in fact. Some can be effective, others are just...well, what's the point? Freeze frames are supposed to be the production stills, not subjected to the trailer, which can move and speak. Let's take a look at the four different freeze frames:

1) The 'Introduction' Freeze Frame.

Most of the time, this one is quite effective. Especially in the case of The Change-Up - an otherwise awful film - which shows the life of Dave perfectly. And hey, the second freeze frame sums up the movie perfectly. It is a giant shit in the face. (full trailer here)