Film Trailers: Unique Selling Points (USPs)

Trailers utilise unique selling points (USP) to help stand out from other film trailers in the same genre. Typical USPs may be an unexpected location, different narrative viewpoints or famous people starring or producing the film. An example of this is in One Hour Photo, a feature length thriller film, which starred Robin Williams as the main character. His tendency to be involved with comedies surprised people, and perhaps influenced comedy fans of him to watch this film.

Another example is the modern film In Darkness, set in World War Two. This particular film has two main USPs: not only is it based on a true story, but the film is mostly set in underground sewers; as opposed to your stereotypical WW2 battlefield-based film.

Abraham Lincon Vampire Hunter:
The main USP of this film is the juxtaposition between Abraham Lincon, a famous US president, and the aspect of him being a vampire hunter. This extreme contrast, created purely from the title of the film, has already created a sense of mystery and hooks the audience to watch the film. The audience want to see how the film will subvert what they would expect from Abraham Lincon as a politician, whilst appealing young vampire-craze lovers.

Anna Karenina:
Anna Kariena was produced by the same people who made Pride and Prejadice; this statement can be seen in text during the official trailer. Obviously this serves as a large USP as many people who have seen Pride and Prejudice will not associate what they thought of that film with this film. This film also features a few famous actors such as Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who are also advertised during the trailer.