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Book trailers generally contain a brief synopsis like one you would find on the back of a book.

Images or filmed content runs simultaneously with this synopsis.

Some trailers use narration, while others just include background music.

The trailers always end with the cover of the book being shown.

10/23

Book trailers are relatively new, and they serve to engage young people who primarily get their information through short-form video content.

Book trailers are very similar to movie trailers. They introduce the main characters and the inciting incident of the plot, as well as provide an insight into the themes of the story, all in a short amount of time.

A book trailer should let you know if you are a part of the implied audience, and it should help you know whether or not you have an interest in reading the book.

Students can participate in book trailer competitions, and teachers have a litany of examples to provide for students.

Book trailers can vary greatly in style, but they can also vary in how informative they can be.

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An effective example of a YAL Book Trailer

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White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson | Official Book Trailer

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10/16

1. There is generally a single narrator

2. The book is very briefly summarized

3. Book reviews and notes from the author might be included

Movie trailers include scenes from the film with the characters talking. Most of the book trailers I watched had a narrator that did a voice over while actors or graphic images created a visual representation

10/23

-montages

-still images representing the source text

-animated images

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Flirting with Fate by J. C. Cervantes | Official Trailer

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Observations:

— Voice-overs

— Review quotes — Really, just words on the screen

— Music (usually dramatic and fits the genre!)

— Very minimal talking between characters (usually)

One I Enjoyed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjIJFW8Uetw

10/23 Prep Work - Takeaways from "Not so Innocent: Book Trailers as Promotional Text and Anticipatory Stories"

— Relevancy is important, because it was part of the formula for book trailers to work is for people to share the videos on their platforms so that other people can see them!

— Familiarity & Novelty. If the video is an image-centered trailer, it also feels similar to a movie trailer, which we all know and enjoy. They also have awards for book trailers, which is honestly kind of awesome, complete with online voting.

— Kernan observes that most film trailers share common attributes, which provide a familiar framework for viewers. These attributes include: a) an opening or closing address to the audience about the source text (e.g., young adult novel); b) an introduction of the main characters; and c) a selection of scenes from the source text or montages of "quickcut" action scenes.

— There are two types! The first uses still and/or animated images, and usually includes text and a soundtrack. Actors and dialogue are usually absent. The second includes actors, live action scenes, and narration and/or dialogue.

— Book trailers allow readers to interact with a text and "fill in the blanks", which creates a certain expectation, and then they'll read the novel to see if their expectations were correct!

— The results of showing these book trailers are varied. In some instances, 95% people wanted to read the novel; on the flip side, only 30% wanted to read another one.

— "As artifacts of popular cultural practice, compelling book trailers also prompt readers to make connections to other cultural stories and media... Over 46% of the participants read the trailer (for The Hunger Games) in the context of popular culture and made connections to reality television; mentioned were current shows such as Survivor, Lost, and American Gladiators; films such as Saw; as well as popular science fiction books."

— "These connections also reinforce the theory that readers recognize and relate to stories through multiple formats that extend beyond books." (Is this multiliteracy in practice?)

— How good a book trailer and what it gives away is directly related to if viewers seek it out and read it, based on this quote: "One student writes, "I don't think I would be interested in reading this book based solely on the trailer. It doesn't seem to give much information about what direction the book would be going, or really who the characters are and why they are running through the woods with a compass. Nothing about it really grabbed my attention, so I can't say I would go out and read the book.""

— A good summary of this entire article: "The results of the studies imply that as digital, multimodal texts, promotional online video trailers can strongly influence viewers' expectations of books and affect readers' decisions to purchase, borrow, and/or read new book titles. Moreover, the studies suggest that readers' engagement with online book trailers is shaped by cultural practice and informed by the readers' knowledge of popular culture."

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-Minimal Talking

-Background Music

-Voice Overs

-Book Cover

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Love Radio By Ebony LaDelle | Book Trailer

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Most trailers are short-most less than 3 min

Music that adds to the tone

Don't give too much of the story away

Cinematic

Hear character's voice

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THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN by Holly Black

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10/16 Observations - (Linked Video)

Contains a brief voice over summary of the book accompanied with video or image representation.

Contains engaging sound effects, making the viewer feel immersed.

At the end of the video, it shows the bookcover similar to an advertisement.

Feels similar to a movie trailer!

10/23 Prep Work -

Takeaways from Denise Davilla (2010), "Not So Innocent: Book Trailers as Promotional Text and Anticipatory Stories"

When asking students to create a book trailer, you can model an example by showing one to the class, and discuss the similarities and relevancy to social media posts like TikTok's thirty-second videos: "promotional book video trailers are cultural artifacts within this global cultural practice of viewing online videos" (Davilla, 2010, p. 33).

When modeling to students how to create a book trailer, the teacher can present them with an outline of "trailer attributes," of an opening or closing of the YA novel, "an introduction of the main characters," and chosen cut action scenes from the events in the book (Davilla, 2010, p. 34).

Since there are book trailer competitions, students can compete to create the best book trailer and explore the features of Canva, which include free video and audio editing tools. Danvilla highlighted how the published trailers influenced the increase in sales for the books: "The video book trailer for Fallen, created by filmmaker Benjamin Bliss, won the contest. On December 1, a week before Fallen was released, the novel was already #72 on Amazon.com's best-selling teen book list" (Davilla, 2010, p. 34).

Assigning a book trailer project to students is similar to a multimedia project or an anticipatory narrative, and it helps fulfill the standards for their ability to summarize a text. Anticipatory stories in film form allow the viewer to make inferences when they're left with little-to-no information, "When readers begin to fill in the gaps with an idealized storyline, the promotional value of the trailer rises because readers will likely see the film or read the book to confirm their expectations surrounding the source text" (Davilla, 2010, p. 36).

The author discusses having students view book trailers similar to a book tasting activity: "As a class activity, I required that students in my adolescent literature courses view the publishers' book trailers on YouTube at least twice and write a response to each of the trailers" (Davilla, 2010, p. 36). In doing this activity, the students showed an interest in reading some of the books, despite the responses being used for data collection. The author summarized the data from the students' responses and found that book trailers "reinforce the theory that readers recognize and relate to stories through multiple formats that extend beyond books" (Davilla, 2010, p. 39).

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They'll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman | Official Trailer

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-Minimal talking

-Voice over

-Background music

-Book Cover included