Abstract

Abstract

The overall aim of this article is a cognitive investigation of how, in the light of its epitext character – its commercial aspect – the film trailer manages to give the story of the film and at the same time to hold it back. In this article, three different film trailers, which are Danish directed and produced, are taken as examples: Elsker dig for evigt (2003) by Susanne Bier, Solkongen (2005) by Tomas Villum Jensen and Antichrist (2009) by Lars von Trier. A central observation common to all three is that they, so to speak, give priority to the basic emotional tone at the expense of staying in tune with the narrative chronology of the film. Film trailers often omit either complex elements or events that might contradict their basic emotional tone. In that sense the key purpose of the film trailer is to create an emotional atmosphere capable of making an impact on the audience. As a result, film trailers often appear monomaniac and very intense compared to the film itself, which of course also has to do with the fact that they operate within a limited time frame.

Keywords: Film trailers,Narration,Genre,Cognition and emotions