A multimodal discourse analysis of romantic comedy movie posters

This study further supports this theory by the analysis of the posters of fifteen top grossing American romantic comedies. Based on Kress and Van Leeuwen’s framework (2006), the research indicates the similarities and differences in using semiotic elements to create meaning and promote the movies. The results not only identify the patterns in designing movie posters but also examine the effectiveness of the framework in analyzing multimodal texts.
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A multimodal discourse analysis of romantic comedy movie postersVNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021) 79 A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ROMANTIC COMEDY MOVIE POSTERS Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh* VNU University of Languages and International Studies Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam Received 9 December 2020 Revised 20 March 2021; Accepted 18 May 2021 Abstract: Multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) is a new and prominent approach in discourseanalysis with a quite rapid pace of development. According to this approach, meaning is made not onlyby words but also by the integration of other semiotic resources such as images, sounds and colours.This study further supports this theory by the analysis of the posters of fifteen top grossing Americanromantic comedies. Based on Kress and Van Leeuwen’s framework (2006), the research indicates thesimilarities and differences in using semiotic elements to create meaning and promote the movies. Theresults not only identify the patterns in designing movie posters but also examine the effectiveness ofthe framework in analyzing multimodal texts. Key words: multimodal discourse analysis, romantic comedy movie posters1. Introduction* Multimodal studies originated in the early 1990s and the past three decades have It has been long agreed that words witnessed numerous research fruits in thisare not the only means of communication. field. Multimodality has considered differentInstead, the so-called modes including modes of communication such as the visualvisuals, gestures and actions always have mode of images, gesture, gaze, posture,social meaning (Kress & Van Leeuwen, colour, typography, composition etc. (Kress2001). When a text is constructed by the & van Leeuwen, 2006; Machin, 2007;combination of words with other modalities, Jewitt, 2009), claiming that these elementssuch as pictures, film, video images and transfer and generate meaning. Studies havesound, it becomes a multimodal text. This is not only focused on a single mode but alsothe subject of research of multimodal the integration of different modes indiscourse analysis (MDA). This approach of multimodal texts (e.g. O’Halloran, 2008)discourse analysis “considers how and even in dynamic multimodal discoursemultimodal texts are designed and how such as videos and films (e.g. O’Halloran,semiotic tools such as colour, framing, focus 2004). Subjects for research are alsoand positioning of elements contribute to the expanding, covering a wide range ofmaking of meaning in these texts” domains, from magazine covers (Machin &(Paltridge, 2012, p. 170). Thornborrow, 2003), movies (Bo, 2018),* Corresponding author. Email address: linhnguyen804@gmail.com https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4647VNU JOURNAL OF FOREIGN STUDIES, VOL. 37, NO. 3 (2021) 80websites (Moran & Lee, 2013), to children’s the movie, it has a great contribution to thestorybooks (Ton & Nguyen, 2019). impact of the movie and its sales. By In the area of advertisement and sparking interest around a film, it persuadespromotion, much progress has been made customers into a theatre to see it. However,with analysis of magazine advertisements a movie poster is not just promotional(Bell & Milic, 2002), beauty product material. It also provides basic informationadvertisements (Harrison, 2008), cosmetic of the movie and expresses the key messagesurgery leaflets (Martinez & Chovanec, and main vibe of the movie. As it is often2012), to name but a few. Such studies share said that “a picture is worth a thousanda common purpose of examining how words”, a poster can tell about the movie insemiotic modes are purposefully used to more detail than a thousand words could andhave certain desired effects on the recipients. in a very different way than words everIn order to achieve this aim, multimodal could. Therefore, although being consideredstudies have utilized different approaches. a sub-genre of advertisements, movieFirstly, there is a tendency that visual posters have their own dis ...