Short promotional video — typically 60–120 seconds cut from scenes and clips. Targets cinemas and streaming; teases, never tells the story.
Trailer
The trailer operates with a different grammar than the film itself. You don't cut to tell the story — you cut to create desire. This sounds simple, but it's a completely different craft. On set, you often already know: this scene will end up in the trailer. The director thinks in images that sell. The best action, the most intimate reaction, the biggest visual moment — everything is mentally flagged for the 90 seconds that will later play in the cinema.
In practice, a trailer works through rhythm and information in bite-sized pieces. You work with jump cuts, rapid cuts that drive the rhythm forward — never staying on a shot for too long. Sound design here isn't atmosphere like in the film, but impact: a hit song, a whoosh, a dialogue snippet of the right length. You often edit against the spoken words or against the music to build tension. This is reminiscent of editing techniques you know from teasers — only with more substance. The teaser hooks you with curiosity, the trailer sells you the premise: What is this film? Who are the characters? Why should you sacrifice the next two hours for it?
Trailer editing requires a different psychology than feature film editing. You pack visual information into a very short time. Longer sequences are never used as-is — you cut individual moments out of scenes and reassemble them. Sometimes this results in dialogue combinations that never exist in the film. This is allowed, even desired. The music carries more weight here than in the film itself; it's the invisible director of the tempo. You need different versions for different markets — the German version can be significantly faster and more direct than the Anglo-American one, which tends to allow more breathing room.
Regarding timing: 60 seconds is the web standard, 90 to 120 seconds for TV and cinema. You have to make decisions in a few frames. Cut points don't lie on natural pauses — they follow the music, not the logic. On the monitor, it's immediately clear if your rhythm works. If you're boring after the third second — everyone notices. Trailer professionals are often ex-advertisers or music video editors. The techniques overlap. The difference: with a trailer, despite all the speed, you have to preserve the DNA of the film. A drama trailer looks different from an action film trailer — not just in terms of visuals, but in editing tempo.