The 2019 Trailaurality Awards

Now in the third year of our awards, as we close 2019 we wanted to look back and honour what we thought were a few key trailers that really moved the needle for placing film in concert with sound and music in a small-scale narrative form. 

Best Use of Original Music: Joker

Not only does Jimmy Durante’s version of “Smile” take on a delightfully sinister new tone in this trailer for Joker, but it even has a deeper narrative significance. The original instrumental version of the tune was composed by Charlie Chaplin for his film Modern Times; both Joker and Modern Times speak to social alienation in post-industrial, working-class society—moreover, a poster for Modern Times appears in the trailer itself, leading one to believe it’s not all coincidental. More than that, however, the orchestral treatment the music receives works feverishly to convey Arthur Fleck’s delusional self-image as a survivalist, or even an epic hero, and more importantly, the soundtrack even works to help the audience understand, if not accept, that point of view. The film went on to spark debate among critics and audiences alike, and we were part of that conversation.

Most Creative Editing: The Avengers: Endgame

For a series that wraps up a remarkable ten-year, twenty-two-film run, a fair bit of creativity is requisite to adequately encompass such a mammoth scale in a two-minute format. Changes on the level of the soundscape help facilitate the sense of jumping from narrative arc to arc as each film’s events is effectively summarized in tableau form—the section on Captain America, for example, is given the AM radio treatment (with his WWII-era origins), whereas Thor’s segment lends itself better to the Wagnerian orchestration that follows. A climbing scale at the end following a four-note motif offers a simple but effective way of denoting progression towards the climactic battle that Endgame promised (and arguably delivered).

Best Trailer Music Send-up: 6 Underground

More than one trailer this year has been for a film that is predicated on toying with expectations as a send-up of itself; chief among these would probably be 6 Underground, a collaboration between Ryan Reynolds and Michael Bay that amps up the Bay-signature explosions to comical degree. Sound effects that border on Mickey Mousing and a “tourist video” conceit intermingle with segments that read more like standard action fare; the key is that we’re not quite sure where the line is between self-serious and self-mocking. It’s the playing with that line that Reynolds arguably does best; the audio editing plays a key role here, knowingly indulging in action-trailer clichés.

What lies ahead in 2020?

2019 was another banner year for trailer music fans, with an incredibly wide range of style and techniques designed to maintain interest, and that in an age of millions of social media views across multiple high-profile trailers put out on a near-weekly basis. More than ever, trailer music editors are aware of the cultural relevance of their musical selections, of their aural references in the context of franchise series, and how the edit comes together in a concerted way to create a memorable experience.

Also, music editors seem ever more cognizant of balancing traditional devices and innovative trends. That, while audiences become increasingly savvy to certain tricks are might be perceived as tiresome, not least being the over-use of cover songs and pre-trailer micro-teasers. Other clichés include the hand clap, the ticking sound, the Inception-style booj, and the single, reverberant piano note. It will be interesting to see as a result whether the trailer music industry follows these well-worn paths or chooses instead to strike out in new (or old) directions in response to the evolving market.

— Curtis Perry with James Deaville