Image Schema as Means of Persuasion: Analysis of American Drama Movie Trailers

Abstract

This study contributes to an understanding of the nature of achieving persuasion via cognitive semiotic means to the analysis of drama movie trailers. It aims at finding out how persuasion could be achieved through employing a cognitive multimodal analysis of movie trailers. The present study intends to analyze three drama movie trailers by applying Johnson’s (1987) image schema model. Johnson’s model is used to analyze the relation between the meanings of words presented in a trailer and how they are connected to contribute to the trailer’s meaning making and persuasive function. The analysis clarifies how movie producers integrate textual material to persuade audience to watch a movie. Results indicate that the prevailing image schema concept is IDENTITY (32.80%), followed by EXISTENCE (24.84%), and then FORCE (19.11%). LOCOMOTION, MULTIPLICITY/ UNITY, CONTAINMENT, and SPACE follow next with (8.92%), (5.42%), (4.78%), and (4.14%) respectively. Image schema patterns are found to aid in inferring details about the characters and the story events, which arouses the audience’s curiosity and thus enhances the promotive function of the trailer. In conclusion, image schema concepts employed in drama movie trailers contribute to the overall persuasive function of movie trailers, and to the audience’s understanding of the logic behind using such words.