Movie trailers were originally shown at the end of a film which is why they were called “trailers”. Part of a film’s marketing, they are released months in advance of a movie’s premiere. However, coming after the film, they proved rather ineffective as audiences would not stay around to watch them.
Many of these early official trailers by the studios had the same format that is used today; important eye-catching scenes from the movie while using dramatic voice-overs and text. Trailers seemed to get their name from where the extra piece of film was placed, which “trailed” the main feature. In the case of serials, it only made sense to put it after the main episode since this was what enticed people to come back to the theater to see the next episode the following week.
The trailer was also a tool to clear audiences out of the theater since movies that ran were shown in a loop, and patrons could simply stay for as long as they liked. For some people arriving at the theater, it appeared as if they were watching a clip about an upcoming movie before their main feature. This was because of the continuous loop of movies that were shown even though the trailer was placed after the main feature.
At some point, someone figured out that more people were more likely to see a clip about an upcoming attraction if it was placed before the main feature began. This became the preview set in the spot we know today, but the industry term for this type of movie clip continues to be referred to as a trailer.
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