Résumé
The authors investigate the dynamics of experiential emotions felt while attending a movie in a theatre. They believe that during the movie consumption experience individuals feel a variety of emotions that are organized into specific sequences (patterns) and can be combined into more complex (second-order) emotions. In this qualitative inquiry, the authors observe emotion patterns that are spontaneously evoked by individuals as they recall a movie. The emotion dynamics is intrinsically anticipated by individuals, especially experts, and this impacts on their overall evaluation of the film. Three typical sequences (patterns) are identified. Individuals are observed to combine prototypical emotions such as joy and sadness to generate second-order emotions such as romanticism. These appear to play an important role in the evaluation of the experience. The intensity of emotion (low vs. high) plays an important role in the dynamics at play.