New WT trailer

Worth having a look at http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/menu_greenzone.htm
Its for a movie not out until next year ... yet not really a teaser - have a look and consider blogging on why this wouldn't be considered a teaser but rather a main trailer.

Location, location...

Interesting quote from an article with an unfortunate title (if you want to read the rest here be warned that it contains strong language from the off):

Filmmakers usually send location scouts to look for places to film a pre-existing script. Independent film icon Roger Corman has long advocated doing just the opposite, urging young filmmakers to find a striking location—say, an empty mine or a dramatic old mansion—and write a script around it. It’s a practice that led to such Corman classics as The Abandoned Train Station By The Lake With The Guy In The Monster Mask and The Vacant Castle We Paid Boris Karloff To Wander Around For Several Days.
Roman Polanski followed that directive with 1972’s What? (a.k.a. Che?, a.k.a. Diary Of Forbidden Dreams), a half-forgotten disaster he made using the lovely Italian villa of producer Carlo Ponti as his primary set.

Does that reflect your creative decision-making at all?

A new model for film financing? The £10 Brit horror...

have a look at this article for some info on an Indie film-maker's efforts to sidestep the usual funding process through canvassing for contributions in return for access to the shoot

Rotten Tomatoes' Top 50 Horrors (and other lists)

Its worth a look at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/special/2007/top_horror
The site also features a number of other lists, eg on rom-coms (listed here), plus another horror list.
I think you'll come across a variety of films you might not have thought about which could be useful for your general research, as you strive always to link your productions to real-world texts...
Any thoughts or comments on what you see on these lists, or suggestions for other useful lists/resources, are welcomed!

I found it rather inexplicable that Wes Craven's Scream (1996) wasn't on either list while his badly dated, if inventive (original, not the forthcoming 'reimagining'), slasher Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (not the typically lousy remake), with its excoriating take on mindless consumerism, should really be much higher in the list, and Halloween (not the typically lousy remake!!!) should surely be a contender for top spot, not outside the top 30? I'll continue to admire the not-so critically lauded Jason X, the best horror/sci-fi hybrid since Aliens with an additional lashing of schlocky comedy, and the stylistic achievements of de Palma's critical disaster Dressed to Kill (it did well at the Razzies! see here and here - interesting review as part of a horror-heavy blog here).

Night of the Hunter (Robert Mitchum, pictured, stars) is one to look up, might give you some ideas outwith the conventional slasher model.

A WT favourite features in the top 10, as does another contemporary British classic by Danny Boyle. Shockingly enough, neither Granny nor Leprechaun made it! I think there is a list for worst horrors though...

You could also look at http://www.best-horror-movies.com/ which has its own top 100 horror list and some interesting articles. Or even '15 Horror Films for Wimps'!

Just to finish off, I know some of you are looking at reversing the typical gender roles; do look at Ginger Snaps and Carrie when considering gender, not to mention Laura Mulvey (and other feminist film theorists) and the male gaze theory. This article might be useful.

Short film as 'calling card'

Hope you caught the Culture Show on BBC2 tonight, a special on the London Film Festival. WT's Tim Bevan interviewed, and an in-depth analysis of the squeezing out of mid-range, non-franchise/tentpole movies...
Also noted Mark Kermode citing Sam Taylor-Woods' short film debut (a film our own Joe S. had recommended in a comment, complete with link) as the reason why he was so excited about her Nowhere Man feature debut, on John Lennon - a nice example of the notion that SFs act as a calling card for would-be feature directors. (see wiki or IMDB)
Now, Question Time time!

Gifted and Talented

Those three words could well be applied to a lot of you! Having just reviewed the criteria for Media Studies, I have entered 7 names today as Media Gifted and Talented, something you may wish to flag up in your UCAS applications.You can find an outline of the criteria applied here. Even if you are not amongst the names put forward, it might well be useful to have a look at this, in effect a checklist of positive attributes in a Media student.

John Motson

A famous football commentator for those who don't know. An indirect way of re-stating that I'd like you to be commenting on the posts you see on this blog.

What do you think of the imminent new equipment? What do you think about the various outlets for young film-makers posted? I've heard you discussing these, so try and reflect some of this here on this blog!

And I will be reminding some of you tomorrow of your failure to post comments with suggested resources as requested - here, here, here, oh, and here!!!

Your comments should be insightful, intelligent; basically rather unlike some famous Mottyisms:

"It looks like a one man show here, although there are two men involved."

"Nearly all the Brazilian supporters are wearing yellow shirts - it's a fabulous kaleidoscope of colour."

"The World Cup is a truly International event."

"The goals made such a difference to the way this game went."

Last chance to get me details of requests for composers etc

If you want to try to hook up with potential actors, soundtrack composers, and possibly make-up/costume/props whiz-kids, then get the following to me by the end of Thurs 22nd (copy/paste into Word and add details, then email Word doc to me):
YOUR FILM'S WORKING TITLE:
TRAILER OR SHORT FILM?:
SYNOPSIS (no more than 2 sentences, preferrably one):
(SUB-)GENRE/S:
COMPARABLE TO (any films/TV shows its somewhat like):
WHAT I'M/WE'RE AFTER: COMPOSER?
                                             ACTORS? (give brief details of character role, with any appearance requirements - age, hair colour, height etc)
                                             MAKE-UP/SFX/PROPS/COSTUME/MISE-EN-SCENE (give brief details)
YOUR BLOG/S ADDRESS/ES:

There are no guarantees with this; you're asking fellow students, as busy as you are, to give up their own time to work on YOUR project for YOUR grade. IF we do manage to get some volunteers, I expect you to show your appreciation, and to listen when these folk make creative suggestions. Think back to our discussions about the auteur theory, and how this concept soon breaks down when you consider the influence of lighting technicians, casting directors, editors, sound recordists, actors... Film-making is always ultimately a collaborative process, even when its the vision and energy of an individual that has got a project going, a point well worth remembering!

If I get enough responses I can put a dossier together to pass to colleagues in Creative Arts, and hope they can find some lesson time to talk through this, with the intention of using a lunchtime 1st week back to bring together any interested volunteers with yourselves. If you can't manage to put this together and email to me by the end of play tomorrow you've missed your chance.

Dead Cats Rode to Ilkley

Wee bit of rather good news: we've attained funding for a boom mike, extension pole and 'dead cat' windshield, which could potentially make a huge difference on the sound front. The feedback from the exam board on your work last was effusive in its praise, flagging up sound as the only real area of some weakness, an aspect which in many ways was beyond your control using the camcorders mics.

This is expensive equipment and loaning out to use outwith school will stop instantly if anyone returns it in any way damaged; I would also urge you not to loan it out if you're not certain you can look after it, given that you're liable for any equipment you loan out.
The order should go in before mid-term, so with luck it will be here and ready to use in good time for your location shoots after the break.
You can see the 3 items ('frequently bought together') here.

[UPDATE: they are here, we're sourcing a 10m connector lead from camera to mic before we can loan it out] 

Film Fests and The Cornwall Movie Massive!

Another quickie: partially as it links into the research you need to do to show your grasp of the instiutional context of film, but also because its simply intriguing, check out http://www.britfilms.com/festivals/browse/

For similar reasons, but also as it might inspire some of the more energetic and ambitious amongst you, have a look at this: http://www.devon-cornwall-film.co.uk/2009/06/ - a quite extraordinary record of/resource for amateur/hobbyist film-makers in one overlooked corner of England

As promised...info on the Co-Op's summer film-making camp!!!

I did promise you, if anyone reminded me (and Miss Kennedy duly did!), that I'd post details of the Co-Op's young film-makers summer camp...and I'm a man of my word! Check out http://www.byfa.co.uk/
 




I wouldn't generally recommend the Express, owned (with the Daily Star) as it as by the disreputable Richard Desmond, famed for his porn empire (a quick Media Guardian search will bring up the wry tale of his unsuccessful attempt to sue an author who painted a highly unflattering picture of him), but...the following is a good feature on the summer camp. A quick excerpt:

What is special about this particular film, however, is that many of the 500 people on set in July and August will be aged from 14 to 22, some with little or no experience of the film world. This unusual project is just one the Co-operative British Youth Film Academy (BYFA) is planning in its bid to produce the David Leans, Danny Boyles and A-list actors of the future.

“You think how hard it is to get into showbusiness,” says Todd, who has already directed six episodes of the television soap Doctors. “It gives them a little taste of it to see if it is what they want to do and learn the skills. It gives me a chance to give a bit back and it reminds me of when I was 15 doing my thing as well.”

 See http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/108943 for more

Short Films as social campaigning tool

Couple of quick points, which tie into the Cs & Cs of SFs...
(1) key audience seems to be the young, more willing and able to access SFs on multiple digital/web 2.0 platforms such as smart phones, iPods etc, and very often made by young film-makers (such as yourselves!) Does this reflect what you've found when viewing shorts for entertainment through YouTube for example?
(2) the SF as a campaigning tool for social causes seems to be on the rise. C4's long-term support of short docs (after C4 News) has been influential here, but so has the success of feature films such as Al Gore's environmental film and M.Moore's efforts. Have a look at http://www.ethical.tv/ as an example

Deadlines Headline

Short & sweet this one: create a new post and add details of any and all deadlines and tasks to complete
You should be getting to the point of starting to develop a (pre-)production schedule, working out exactly when you can scout/shoot etc

Follow Me

Its been interesting to see the number of followers some of you have managed to attract, using fair means or foul. Let me spice this up by offering a golden ticket to the person who has gained the most followers by 8am Friday- so long as you can tell me which lizard king sang the following:
"Tell all the people that you see
Follow me
Follow me down
Tell all the people that you see
Set them free
Follow me down
You tell them they don't have to run
We're gonna pick up everyone"
If necassary, a tie-breaker will be to name all 4 mutton-chopped dudes opposite!

Outlets for student productions

In addition to the festival we attended, there are several outlets for student productions (relevant when considering the institutional context of your work...). I'll suggest some below, if you know of any more, please add details as a comment below. If someone reminds me I'll add details of a summer film-making camp (producing actual feature films) run by the Co-Op on Monday.
RAW CUTS
CATCH21
BBC BLAST
MEDIA BOX (the link includes more possibilities; MB are also on MySpace, and FaceBook, and YouTube)
CHARGE ON COMMUNITY
(and PropellerTV if its good enough!)

Try this too: http://4talent.channel4.com/?id=9026

The Institutional Context of SFs: The Case of Leeds-Based Propeller TV

You should have seen this referenced in an earlier Word doc on the institutional context of SFs. A local company running a Sky channel (I spoke to them last year about possibly coming in, I'll try again...), they are one example of an exhibition outlet for SFs other than websites - though they do of course run a fully-featured site at http://www.propellertv.co.uk/
You can also see their selections at http://www.youtube.com/propellertv
Furthermore, they are running a horror season at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT1rpUKN4Hw
Alongside FutureShorts, with its innovative model of international festivals, and Channel 4, with its short film strands (usually documentary, though some dramas do get air time in the early hours - try to find some examples, or use digiguide to keep an eye out for upcoming examples) - when was the last time you saw a short added to a feature film screening at a cinema? - this is a key company to consider when trying to set out the institutional context of SFs.
If you look here, you'll see that Propeller take part in the Latitude Festival, suggesting that their audience is far from limited to the youth market - though they do run a student competition...

Broadcast from Yorkshire, Propeller is the first digital satellite television channel in Europe to screen 100% new and original programming. Since its launch in February, Propeller’s programming has become widely regarded as among the most creative on the Sky platform, showcasing raw, edgy and challenging television.

The channel also hosts Studentfest, a search for the best student short film in the UK. All films submitted had to be under 10 minutes long and the winning short will be broadcast at this weekend’s festival.

Some additional outlets:

• C4's Raw Cuts
• Catch 21
• BBC's Blast
• Media Box
• IEFILMI is a UK-Indian organisation worth having a look at (page on shorts here, general news page here)

Its worth having a look at two examples of productions that have been screened on the channel (though their length might bar one from being considered a 'short' by some, including the Oscar organisers!); there is a level of film-making which exists at a financial level well below even the likes of the Warp X circa £1m budgets.

KISS OF THE MOON

One Hundred and Ten Percent

(REVISED) Deadlines through to half-term...and suggestions for half-term...

4 deadlines were given:
1) By lunchtime Weds, have recorded an intro to your AS production
2) By period 3 (13D)/P5 (13A) Friday 16th have recorded details of 30-40 SFs/TTs you’ve analysed
3) By the end of Tuesday 20th have blogged your acting / music / costume / prop requirements
4) By Friday 23rd have completed initial pre-production tasks

As discussed, the viewing of enough TTs/SFs to enable you to confidently outline the codes and conventions of the format - and get well into observing genre conventions - has been rolled over to Monday, when your blog should be fully up to date. This means your initial idea/s, animatic and audience feedback, revised individual or group proposal, details of SFs/TTs viewed (each with a clickable link so it can be viewed directly, or details of DVD; year of release [which may be in the future], director's name and main production company/s), and a follow-up post where you outline your conclusions about the codes and conventions of your format - backed up with some wider reaqding, not just viewings.
In addition to this, there are a number of other posts, as outlined on the guide documents in earlier posts (which are still being revised on an ongoing basis), which should have been completed, and a start made on others (eg Software, the various exam topics related to coursework)..

Most of you have recorded intros to your AS productions, which I'm told were very well received on the Gifted and Talented evening yesterday. There have been sound/tape gremlins with three of these, and some students off, so the following need to (re-)record their intros: Saskia; Lucy/Kristie; Megan/Lorna/Bethan; Sophie G/Laura/Emily. The intention is to put these onto a compilation DVD of all your AS coursework productions, complete with some footage from the film festival, and maybe some of the June/July This Is Yorkshires etc time/space permitting, which then may (as you have suggested) be sold at the screening event planned as part of the Creative Arts Evening in December.

I would like a teaser poster (with the intention of creating at least one more as work progresses) from each production, for enlarging, guillotining and displaying by the end of next week, but will not insist on all pre-production tasks being finished by then. A revised set of deadlines then:

1. Evidence of 30-40 SFs/TTs having been critically viewed, with a clickable link (or DVD details) for each, plus director, year, main production company/s details and some key points for each (might be just 2 or 3 brief bullet points for many) for Monday 19th
   
2. Tie this up with a separate posting on the codes and conventions of SFs/TTs, which needs to include reference to some written material (preferrably a mix of web and book/magazine material). Consider providing a bullet pointed list, then using each a 2nd time as sub-heading and listing some examples (or additional details) of where you've seen this done for Monday 19th. The institutional context of SF/TTs production/exhibition/distribution is part of this!!! It may be a good idea to treat this as a separate posting - there is a Word doc on the blog to help with this, which you'll have if you've been using the blog as suggested... Some themes: user-generated content; web 2.0/new media and new patterns of production and consumption; limited space for SFs in mainstream media (any slots on C4, BBC2, in cinema, on digital channels - look up Propeller TV, a Leeds company; micro-budgets; SFs as 'calling cards'; SFs as art; Oscars def of short film; influential companies; audience; studios targeting selected fans with TTs, and viral marketing...
   
3. Everyone to have posted as a comment a useful article or book they've read, with a link where relevant, and some DETAIL!!! If you have already posted a simple link, please re-do with some information on what we might find there, and why you recommend it - for Monday 19th
4. Everyone to be signed up as followers of the main A2 blog and the A2 coursework blog, plus at least one fellow student's blog (if you're in a group, make sure you follow each other). This means you see details of new posts in your blogger Dashboard. Also look out for modified post headings - eg, I've added to the Define a Teaser Trailer post, and signified this by adding 'extended Oct 16th' (for Monday 19th)
5. By the end of Wednesday 21st have blogged on, but also emailed me (look out for a Word template on the blog) details of costume/props/make-up/SFX/actor/music requirements that your colleagues across the Creative Arts may be interested in helping out with
6. By the end of Thursday 22nd have emailed me a jpg (not a .psd Photoshop file) of a teaser poster [see earlier post on this]
7. Have made significant progress on pre-production by the start of Friday 23rd. You may still have parts of this outstanding, which is fine, but we do want to be commencing production quite soon after we return.

You could be using the week off to shoot a wide range of material (it needs to be thoroughly planned, and well linked to existing media texts - remember the Evaluation questions - including detail of relevant viewing of scenes from feature films and TV, plus extensive reading on genre. Indeed, your week off could revolve around a range of viewings - consider getting together with other groups, including from the other class (part of the thinking of getting teaser posters is to open up lines of communication between you all), who might be looking at (and own!) similar fare to you.
Or, of course, watching a boxset of a unique series such as Twin Peaks, with its great narrative enigma (who killed Laura Palmer) and legendarily oddball (typical of David Lynch) style, source, in case you were wondering, of all the images in this post, starting with 'the lady with the log'...

Getting and using the updated Blogger post editor

UPDATE: there is 1 drawback with this otherwise vastly superior update; blogger have bizarrely removed the video upload tool!!! It is worth sticking with the new editor, BUT when you are wanting to upload video, just toggle the settings to revert to the old editor complete with video uploading tool. I assume they'll wise up eventually, there have been lots of complaints to blogger about this - feel free to send your own!

By default, many of you will still be using the same post editor you saw when you first worked on blogger. This has now been updated, with new features including a very useful tool which allows you to get rid of the HTML code Word inserts into any lines you've copied/pasted into a post. (You'll find blogger simply won't publish a post filled with Word code, but will ask you to delete this piece by piece)

Follow these three steps...

STEP ONE: CLICK SETTINGS




STEP TWO: SCROLL DOWN, AND CHECK 'Updated Editor'










STEP THREE: ENJOY USING THE UPDATED EDITOR, WHICH LOOKS LIKE THIS...

Teaser Poster Task - for all to do!!!

To generate a greater sense of a variety of productions being in process, I'd like to see at the very least one teaser poster from each production, though preferrably some additions as work progresses. Teaser posters, as with the Nightmare... poster in the post below on defining teaser trailers, tend to feature a single, striking image, tagline, web address and some indictaion of release date (possibly a year).

We've got one example of a teaser poster, which you can see here but also shortly up in F6 and possibly outside too, and I'd like one from everyone before we break up next Friday.

When you start getting out and about, undertaking pre-production tasks such as location scouting, look for opportunities to take a still image, possibly combining a location with a strategically placed object, or someone in silhouette/with their back turned (so it won't matter if you have the actual actor/costume at this point), and start listing possible taglines. Some of you will have a poster to do as one of your ancilliary tasks, so some practice and forethought now will help!

As a promotional device, many posters will feature URLs for sites featuring the trailer, short production/behind-the-scenes exclusives etc ... or fake sites, taking the film's world as their diegesis (so, fictional characters will give interviews, for example, as if they are real people) to imbue it with a heightened sense of realism. From the early example of Blair Witch, this has been especially true for horror films, and is an option for you to explore.

A good recent example of this is District 9, as discussed in this Film Guardian article. Elsewhere, a film buff has listed examples he found over the past decade, starting with Blair Witch, which really invented this trend. Rather controversially, a comedy film has also recently done this, sparking an international incident in the process. I found additional results by googling 'promo fake horror film website' (and the same without 'horror').

Your Blog URLs [last year's added Oct 19th]

To help you follow each other's blogs, here are the URLs for your blogs: 13A and 13D

Your blog URLs from last year: 12A     12C

Recommended Links & Resources: Short Films

This one is down to you: please add any suggestions as a comment, with some brief detail as well as the URL (if a book, copy/paste in an Amazon.co.uk link, if a newspaper/mag/periodical article edition details and page number/s)
What I'm after here is not a repeat of the links I've already provided for you, but an example of an article or site that will further your colleagues' understanding of the format they are working in. So please add some detail of why you think the resource you're suggesting is useful, and what we can expect to see there. Don't simply post a URL.
The point of this is to highlight your need to combine viewings with wider research - crucially, you must not be wholly reliant on the web - as well as making this blog more interactive. Please post comments on any of my blog postings!

Recommended Links & Resources: Teaser Trailers

This one is down to you: please add any suggestions as a comment, with some brief detail as well as the URL (if a book, copy/paste in an Amazon.co.uk link, if a newspaper/mag/periodical article edition details and page number/s)
What I'm after here is not a repeat of the links I've already provided for you, but an example of an article or site that will further your colleagues' understanding of the format they are working in. So please add some detail of why you think the resource you're suggesting is useful, and what we can expect to see there. Don't simply post a URL.
The point of this is to highlight your need to combine viewings with wider research - crucially, you must not be wholly reliant on the web - as well as making this blog more interactive. Please post comments on any of my blog postings!

Putting out a call for actors etc

I'll put togther a Word doc for you to complete shortly, but start working on summarising your needs as regards actors, set/costume/prop designers and make-up/SFX artistes, plus soundtrack composers. As soon as you get me the details I'll distribute these to my colleagues in the Creative Arts department to pass out to their students (in Art, Drama, Music etc), and will also add a note in staff news + student news!
You need to be able to succinctly but clearly outline your narrative synopsis, and crucially describe it in terms of existing films/TV shows (the more examples the better) and genre. Be clear on what you envisage for each character, and what you're ideally looking for (it may well be that someone quite different shows up and changes your mind - Sarah Michelle Gellar originally tried out for the Cordelia Chase role in Buffy...)
If you've any idea of likely filming dates/locations, say so, and provide links to blogs and some contact details (if you don't want to give out a number or email I'll provide my email and pass on any queries)

Progress on YOUR blogs

A good 6 weeks into this process, there are too many blogs evidencing too little work/progress!!!.
When the exam board come to verify the marking, they rely on your blog to see if your work deserves the mark it was given. The blog is intended as an up-to-date, essentially live record of what you've done/are planning to do, and the 20% for Research and Planning, as well as part of the marking on the production (60%) is at stake here.

According to much of what I'm seeing, many of you have not developed an individual idea, have not created an animatic, have not settled on a final idea, have not done any research into the codes and conventions etc etc

You also need to make sure your blog is named 'Forename Surname's A2 Production' (you can change this by clicking Customise). When I'm looking at your blog named 'Media work' I can't readily see whose it is.

Your blog MUST be set to accept followers. I need to be able to follow it, and if you're in a group so does your colleague.
Check the time is set to GMT-London (it is set to an American time by default).
Try to make use of the ability to add link lists etc (customise - add a gadget).
When you're providing a link, use the link tool in the post editor to make this a clickable link when someone reads your blog.
Dumping Word docs into posts does not make for a good blog either, Mr CB! There should be few occasions when its necessary to include a doc uploaded to Scribd (screenplay, storyboards perhaps)

Every post should really have some graphical content; the updates to blogger mean that you can now customise the size and positioning of an image much more than you could last year.

Most of you impressed with your blogs last year, so lets not drop the standard when it actually has to rise to meet the challenge of A2!!!

Attract a Following

You should by now be 'following' both the main A2 blog and this one, and looking at doing the same for the variety of other blogs which I'll be posting to through the year. This means that, when you sign in to blogger and click on you'll see a list of new posts which you can click through to directly.

I'd very much like to see you all adding some comments, for example on the new post about teaser trailers: have you an example you could share? What about the list of links? Any in particular proving to be especially useful, or have any sites you'd recommend? I'll create a new post, Recommended Links and Resources specifically for this.

I've tweaked the settings so that comments won't appear until I've read them first to safeguard against random morons who stumble across the blog, so be aware your comment won't appear instantly.

Are you following anyone else's blog? At the very least you should be following the blogs of anyone you're working with. For Friday, I'd like each of you to have posted a comment on either of the two main A2 blogs plus on one of your fellow A2 colleagues' blogs. Has anyone watched the trailer for Albania's finest film yet?!

Define a 'Teaser' Trailer [extended Oct 16th]

So...how does a 'teaser' trailer differ from a main trailer?
Its not as simple as length, and there is no definitive length for a main or teaser trailer. Teasers can be very short, just a few seconds, although most will be circa 30-60secs, up to around 2mins. Effectively, yours should be at least 60secs, but, as part of your work on codes and conventions, make sure you're noting the length of the trailers you watch and are able to justify the length of your final production by referencing real-life examples. Also, make sure you're clear (and are noting) whether or not each trailer you view is actually a teaser!
Many trailers today reveal virtually the entire narrative of a movie, reflecting the film industry's lack of confidence in an audience's ability to work things out for themselves. A teaser, clearly, maintains a much higher level of narrative enigma and mystique. They can be produced while a film is in production, and may feature footage which doesn't make it to the final cut (Pixar generally produce material exclusively for the trailer)
Teasers normally appear well in advance of a film's release date, in the hope of generating interest and hype in the run-up to the main marketing blitz. This can be as much as a year or more in advance of release. I seem to recall the first Star Wars prequel being heavily trailed a long time before its release, initial teasers lasting just a few seconds.
Given the cost of advertising, teasers are generally produced for studio, not Indie, movies, though there are always exceptions. Teasers can be intended as viral marketing too, however, with a very limited paid-for release and with hopes pinned that fans will download and share the trailer. In one case (Batman - see the Wikipedia entry on teaser trailers), a teaser was rush-released to assuage comic fans who were publicly sceptical about the nature of the upcoming film adaptation.
If you look at this example of a trailer for the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, you can see how the industry at times directly target a fanbase, hoping they will effectively do their work to distribute and publicise a trailer. The discussion of this centres on the trailer's teasing on Freddie's image. At 2:07 its quite long for a teaser, but with the film not due for release until next year its is clearly a teaser.
I'd welcome any thoughts on this in the shape of comments!
I'd also like to see a range of teaser posters being produced, starting now, so you can actually start to engage in your own marketing campaign! The Nightmare poster might spark some ideas!

Another definition here from wisegeek, with a range of additional useful material on the film biz. Star Trek teaser trailer (and others) here. Momento/Dark Knight director (auteur?) Christopher Nolan's latest production had its teaser trailer linked to screenings of Tarantino's controversially named latest...what film/s might yours be linked to (have a look at upcoming release schedules!!!)?