by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
FX has made effective use of movie trailer techniques to promote their series, but they’ve fixed all the things that make movie trailers suck. What FX has borrowed from movie trailers is what movie trailers have hijacked from MTV: the musical montage. FX uses it to great effect, conveying the mood of a series rather than what characters will actually be doing/saying. The recent popularity of FX’s shows, like the Shield, Nip/Tuck and Dirt can be traced back to their unique style of promos. Even before Dirt aired, the distinctive promo style caused a massive buzz.
This promo style (albeit in embryo form) also is what launched Nip/Tuck’s 2003 debut season as the highest rated new series on American Basic Cable. The series has grown in popularity ever since, in no small part due to the slick, mood-setting season promos.
Unlike movie trailers, they don’t reveal too much. After I watch some movie trailers, it feels as though I’ve seen the whole damn flick. They throw nearly every interesting/funny moment into most trailers, thereby sucking the enjoyment out of the actual movie. Apparently, many people want to know EXACTLY what they’re getting if they see a movie in a theater because they have to go out and spend money on a ticket. In contrast, it barely takes any effort to tune into a TV show if you’re already paying for basic cable. On a TV series promo, the less dialogue snippets from the actual show—the better. All of FX’s promos, in particular the Dirt promos, leave a viewer with a sense of curiosity because they allow the series to retain an air of mystery. FX has perfected their technique since those first promos of Nip/Tuck, creating the South Beach atmosphere so effectively in the viewer’s mind that they don’t need to constantly show shots of liposuctioned bikini babes and slick shots of Miami in the actual series.
Interesting music choices (Goldfrapp on the past season of Nip/Tuck) and fantastic imagery (the swirling, massive red dress of Dirt, with all the souls trapped beneath) have been crucial in branding each show or season of a show.
So far, the promos that broke the most from the FX formula were for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which featured clips from the actual show, likely because the show is a flat out comedy. For the same reason FX’s newest series, The Riches, has veered a little bit away from FX’s highly effective promo formula, though not as much as Sunny. The promo for The Riches is more explanatory in nature than Dirt but they’ve still branded it with the ponderous and simultaneously ethereal horn orchestration from Julee Cruise’s Floating Into the Night. Fortunately, the material in each promo seems to be made especially for the promo, rather than culled from the show.
The standout thing they’ve done with their promos is this: they’ve made them works of art in and of themselves. When an FX promo comes on TV, if you haven’t seen it, you don’t run to the kitchen for a snack because it’s commercial time. You stay for the ear and eye candy--you’re intrigued. That’s why people are sending links of the promos to their friends, and that’s why FX has become a hot commodity.
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