Before the film begins
Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.
The trailers are my first encounter with films I might otherwise never notice. Last month, I arrived intending only to see the comedy I had booked. Before it began, a trailer showed two sisters arguing over an inherited boat. I knew neither the actors nor the director, but one exchange made me want to hear the rest. I wrote down the title after the screening.
A poster can tell me that a film exists. A trailer offers a little of its movement and sound: the length of a silence, a voice, the way a room looks when somebody enters it. That sample does not guarantee that the whole film will satisfy me. It gives me something more useful than a claim that I must see it.
The programme should distinguish the trailer sequence from the advertised start of the main film, and it should not become an endless advertisement. Some trailers reveal too much. Still, I would miss a brief, varied selection. Going to see one film can be an occasion for discovering that there is another kind of film I would like to try.
Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.
I have begun waiting outside the auditorium until the trailers finish. The films I have chosen are often introduced by previews of stories I also intend to watch, and the preview can remove the uncertainty that made the future visit attractive. Last week, it showed a character returning whom the opening scenes of the film apparently ask us to believe has disappeared.
A trailer may be skilfully made and still give away something I wanted to discover in its proper place. Its task is to persuade quickly; the film may have taken an hour to earn the same revelation. I would rather encounter the character through that hour than through a succession of moments selected to make me buy a ticket.
I am not asking cinemas to keep future releases secret. Titles, dates and brief descriptions would help me choose. Publish a clear time for the main feature so that avoiding previews is an ordinary option. A ticket for tonight’s story should not require surrendering the surprises in next month’s.
Compare how the writers present their ideas and perspectives about cinema trailers. Support your comparisons with detailed references to both texts.
260 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 2.3 Content: non-fiction study and transactional text types, covering 2.3.9 Write an article, 2.3.10 Write a letter, 2.3.11 Write a review, 2.3.12 Write a text for a speech, and 2.3.13 Write a section for a guide, textbook, leaflet or booklet. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.