Kristen Bell and Robert Pattinson first met on the set of the Twilight movies in 2008. Little did they know that they were setting the precedent for a whole new era of celebrity pairings. Since then, they’ve starred in two more Twilight films, the comedy It’s Complicated and the musical The Proposal. In addition to their work in the movies, they’ve performed together on Broadway and in London’s West End. And in 2019, they finally tied the knot, welcoming a daughter, Ava, into the world.

The Making Of The Twilight Trailer

Bell and Pattinson both have incredible story arcs that they unspooled in the making of the Twilight films. For fans of the franchise, it’s worth rewatching the trailers to see how their relationship developed over the course of the four-part film series.

The first trailer for Twilight premiered at Comic-Con in 2010, and it was an immediate sensation. Before the year was out, it had accumulated nearly 5 million views on YouTube, making it one of the most popular trailers of all time. In it, Pattinson plays a vampire named Edward, while Bell, his human girlfriend, Bella, grapples with the idea of dating a vampire. In Part One, she meets his family, who invite her to move in with them and start a new life. The trailer ends with Edward biting off Bella’s right hand as a makeshift wedding ring.

The trailer for the second Twilight film, Twilight II: Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, had a more modern feel. There was no longer an emphasis on the horror aspects of vampirism, and instead, it focused on the romantic tension between the perpetually youthful vampire couple, Carlisle and Victoria. The trailer opens with a montage of exquisite stills from the film, then cuts to a shot of a handsomely suited up Pattinson and a glamorous Bell in Paris. The camera pulls back, revealing a cityscape below.

“There’s so much more to see,” a voice-over says, as the trailer transitions to an extreme close-up of the couple kissing passionately. By the time the trailer was over, it had accumulated 7.7 million views on YouTube.

New York City

Although Carlisle and Victoria’s Paris is a major setting in the second Twilight film, New York City is the true protagonist of the story. In addition to being the setting of the original Twilight film, New York City also plays a prominent role in the subsequent films. In the third installment of the Twilight franchise, Twilight 3, the action is split between London and New York, and much of the narrative takes place in the Big Apple. The trailer for Twilight 3 features an opening shot of the Manhattan skyline, then cuts to a close-up of Pattinson and Bell embracing. Together, they proclaim: “We’re back, and this time we’re staying.”

The trailer for the fourth Twilight film, Twilight 4, was another love letter to New York City, paying tribute to the greatest American metropolis. The music and the editing are exquisite, and the trailer ends with a shot of Pattinson and Bell walking down the Avenue One Promenade. The tagline for the film is “Welcome to New York City. Here’s looking at you.”

While The Twilight franchise may be over now, the story of Kristen Bell and Robert Pattinson is far from done. In addition to their work in the Twilight franchise, they have a joint musical stage narrative called The Producers, which they’ve been performing together since 2015. On May 23rd, they will release their live album, Bella (Ava Will Be Mad Too). The proceeds from album sales and live performances will be donated to Arthritis Research, a charity battling the disease that affects four out of ten Britons.

The Importance Of Story In The Trailer

What is the role of the trailer in marketing a movie, TV show, or album? There are a few principles to applying here. First, a trailer should tell an effective story about the product being promoted. It should pull viewers into the story and keep them interested until the very end. Second, the trailer should build upon previous marketing for the product and should amplify its major appeals.

Take a look at the trailers for It’s Complicated, a comedy starring Kris and Kate McClatchy from Esquire Magazine:

“It’s Complicated” tells the story of Sophie, a successful New York City executive who falls for a studio art director while on her way to an upper classman party. The trailer opens with a stylish shot of McClatchy, clad in an intricate dress and accessory panache. As she strolls towards her Drake BIG MAC, we see clearly that our heroine is shopping for a specific brand of wine packets: PINOT NOIR from Chile. This type of information is protean to the trailer. It not only telegraphs a brand of wine to our viewers, but it also confirms the movie’s narrative: Sophie is a woman who prioritizes fashion and wine.

After a fun rhyming game, in which Sophie tries and fails to spell the name of the wine packet brand, the camera pulls back, revealing our heroine in a full-length mini-dress. We then see Sophie in a brand new look: a bit poorer, a bit more coquettish. The trailer transitions to McClatchy, whose character will develop a romantic crush upon Sophie’s heroine. The narrative arc of It’s Complicated is fairly simple: Sophie, a strong, confident woman who knows what she wants, falls for a man she met on a journey and starts a romantic comtempary with him. What makes this trailer effective is that it uses a character arch to tell the story in a joke-filled manner, without too much serious momentum. It keeps the audience light and entertaining throughout.

This is the power of a good trailer. A good trailer needs to be interesting and informative, while never taking itself too seriously. The power of a good trailer is that it allows the audience to discover new aspects of the story unbeknownst to them. It allows the viewer to enter the story and be a part of the emotional arousal that the cast and crew are transmitting to the camera.

Broadway

With a musical score, sounds of pop and rock, and a cast of celebrities, the musical The Producers is bound for a niche within the stage world. It is a limited engagement that the Broadway world has for Kristen Bell and Robert Pattinson. It will run from May 23rd until June 9th.