Everything you've ever wanted to know about movie trailers

Movie trailers are mesmerizing, enchanting, and, yes, even addicting. Anyone who watched that first Gatsby trailer until their eyes bled (or fallen down an HD Trailer rabbit hole on IMDB) knows what exactly I'm talking about.

And so do the folks at Wired, who have compiled all of the information you'll ever need to know about movie trailers. Their elaborate piece walks you through the history of the film teaser, quotes professionals who have dedicated their careers to perfecting the art form, and features a list of the best trailers in the history of cinema.

In short, these previews have become a thriving industry, almost as popular as that of the movies they're teasing. But it wasn't always this way. To understand shifts in trailers, we watched scores of them and analyzed their defining elements: title cards, voice-overs, music, number of cuts. Condensing what we learned into usable intel was like cutting a trailer ourselves—extracting essential elements, picking the choicest bits, and ultimately getting us excited for what's to come—an age in which ever-savvier fans demand more (and better) trailers. Because really, 2013 is just a preview of coming attractions.

Additionally, if you're a true trailer geek, you might want to check out the spot for In a World..., the most meta movie trailer ever made. It's a preview of an upcoming film, starring Lake Bell as an aspiring voiceover actress who wants to follow in her father's footsteps and lend her voice to film trailers. [Wired]