The Main Aim of Multi Modal Analysis - Research Paper Example

Multimodal Analysis Insert Task Introduction to Multimodality Multimodal analysis is the study of several or all of the different semiotic modes in a text or communicative event for example; the text, images and layout of a magazine or the images, spoken commentary and soundtrack of a film sequence (Kress 2009). The main aim of multimodal analysis is to explore how meaning is made in all the modes of separately and how the modes work together to create a unified text or communicative event. This paper will aply various tools for multimodal analysis and provides practical examples on how they are used in creating the audience to understand messages in the two newspapers which cover the 9/11 story. the paper will greatly deal with the top covers of two newspapers from USA that helped to inform the public on the events as they unfolded. As indicated in the appendices the newspapers are; The Daily News paper and the second one is the Newsday paper. The paper will be more interested in analysis images and the layout of the text to compare and identify if one newspaper has more than the other does. It is important to make this analysis since it will enable to identify the manner in which the newspaper communicates with a specific audience. Some people like observing pictures of the newspaper before they buy. In this relation, most newspaper manufacturers base on this factor to promote the market of their newspapers. Approaches to Multimodality In this context, we look at the current living situation whereby the meaning of a text can never be provided by language only. It is from this paper that language use together with other tools can provide strong meaning during communication (Van 2005). In this new field, it is important to pay attention to the following terminologies as they help in understanding a text for example, semiotic resources, the mode and the relationship of inter-semiotic. Some of the approaches to multimodal analysis include social semiotic, typography, word and image relations colour together with visual modality. These are the approaches that the paper will explore in providing analysis of two newspapers namely; The Daily News and the Newsday papers, which enjoy large market throughout USA (Kress 2009). News Context Several agencies that provide the public with news occur in various parts of the world. The agencies use Newspapers, televisions and radios to pass information to their audiences. When the September 11 attack on the World Trade center and Pentagon took place, many news reporters took up their roles to inform the world concerning the event. They reported that terrorists hijacked jetliners and attacked the buildings outside Washington. The fourth plane crashed away in the field of Pennsylvania before reaching its targeted region. This event created a lot of tension in the city causing great damages to people’s life and property. The federal Administration reacted by beefing up the security level while President Bush addressed the nation on the developments of the attack. He called on the security and investigation personnel to ensure that they find those who were responsible for causing such havoc in the nation. Analysis of multimodal analysis in this context will enable the discovery of how newspaper manufacturers apply the technology to hue a large group of buyers at the market. They use skills relating to typography, layout and colour skills to attract the attention of the readers. The most important factor in this context is to analyze critically at the manner in which the two newspapers communicated with the audience inside and outside USA (Nikolajeva & Scott 2000). This will help in identifying how the media used different ways in creating meaning in their audiences. Lay out All the newspapers have employed critical context of layout to make appeal to its customers at the market. As indicated in the above diagram there is four different parts in relation to layout. They include the real given margin, the real new margin, margin new ideal and the margin given ideal together with the central parts of view. Editors of the daily news made it to appear with the vast viewing of the destroyed building across all the margins. This indicates how the incident was fatal giving it the weight it requires in the newspaper. The major photograph of lifesavers mostly cover three margins; the real new margin, the real given margin and parts of the centre. This technique enables to create a focal point on the newspaper. Editors of the Newsday have employed the layout technology. The heading of the paper covers the area in the margin given ideal and the margin real ideal. This helps the readers find their favorite newspaper easily. It has an airplane in the real new margin heading towards the burning building, which is covering almost all parts of margins. This becomes the centre of the story in the entire newspaper (Jewitt & Oyama, 2001). The Newsday has also provided two different Headings, Extra! Moreover, AMERICA ATTACKED. These headings catch the eyes of the reader faster and make him desire to read whatever is written inside. For instance, the Daily News has its heading on the upper part of the front page. This gives space for the photograph to appear below it indicating what happened after the attack. The Newsday has its heading slightly below the middle of its front page giving some space to the approaching airplane on the lower right side. The papers have given all margins coverage to ensure that they attain their intentions in most of the readers (Kress, 2009). Images Through observation of the photographs of the burning tower, the approaching airplane and the rescuers on the front pages of the two newspapers gives evidence in supporting event of September 11 that are reported verbally in the text of the story. The Daily news has an image showing police officers and the rescuers carrying the dead bodies from the site. Newsday on the other side has only two images on the front page. Through analysis, it shows that the newspapers may only report the news of the event in the entire papers (Forceville 1999). This is because both the papers do not have any other report on their first pages. It indicates how the matter was grave to USA and the world at large. The effectiveness of the image in the Daily News indicate that the participants were going towards the space which is beyond the frame of the image, combining with the verbal communication through the heading and the image on the fore frond. It indicates the victims and the building that collapsed (spread all over) (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2000). This indicates that the newspaper was on the actual scene and among the action. It means that the actual murders were not present but it took shows the aftermath during the movement of the bodies. The News Day photographs combined with its heading give the reader a caption of the fatal attack (Forceville 1999). Color All the newspapers have employed a red color in their headings. The red color stands for a sad story, which the reader will find inside the paper. People who were killed in the attack had blood and the attackers had blood as well. The destruction of the two towers led to the death of many unsuspecting people who were carrying out their normal activities in the buildings. Most of the rescuers in the Daily News have blue tops while others have reflectors. Some of them have black trousers and the remains of the collapsed house cover the remaining environment. These types of colors only appear in dangerous zone where one should be very careful while attending to any activity (Jewitt & Oyama 2001). This zone left many people dead and many others injured. The colors fit to give the reader the impression of what took place during and after the attack. The colors fit in to give proper explanation before reading the details in the paper. The News Day has black soot, which gives the reader the impression of burning that caused damage to property and many lives. The black soot also creates the dark moments through which the American went through during the attack. The dark soot is also appearing in the moving plane and the lower parts of the paper. The paper has also a yellow color at the middle of the paper and a blue color in the on the upper part of the paper. The yellow color gives the empty space that appears after the tall buildings and has some light that is reflected by objects. The blue color indicates the sky around the buildings. The red color in the community is associated with blood. People who died during the 9/11 attack lost a lot of blood thus the red colour on both the newspapers act as symbols which signify the death of people. Typography The two newspapers have employed same technique of typography. Names of their tittles remain in black and white although the Daily News has blocked letters the News Day has used small letters. Analysis of the typography in all the news papers indicate that the headings have block letters and brought to the fore ground for the reader or the audience (Stöckl 2005). For instance, 10,000 FEARED DEAD creates curiosity in the audience to move quickly inside the paper and get information on what killed the people, where they were killed, how and by who. On the other hand, the fond used in writing the words on the cover paper is large and easily visible. This gives the reader the ability to read the top story of the newspapers with much ease. Such questions running through the minds of an individual sustains the interest in the news to learn more from the newspaper. On the other side, AMERICA ATTACKED is another creative application of typography. It creates that enthusiasm in the audience to read the newspaper without wasting any time. It also creates the feeling of desiring to understand why America is attacked hoe and why. The typography in this case helps the editors to capture the interest of their audience thus getting more sales from their sales (Stöckl 2005). The newspapers combine typography and other techniques to communicate effectively with the audience. The heading also covers some parts of the burning building. It is symbolic since the tower, which was attacked, and therefore it is part of the typography technique. Conclusion Communication plays a very critical effect in making people understand different scenarios as they unfold. The media takes up the role to enlighten people of the unfolding events by applying different methods. Multimodal analysis indicates that they employ a mixture of strategies to create and sustain interest in the audience. The combination of typography, images, color and the layout of the newspaper makes it appealing. The ideas that come from the discussion leading to this conclusion are the type of typography used in writing letters, the fond. This is also combined with figures of speech like exclamation mark in the sentence creating eagerness in the readers to inquire much about the topic. At the same time, it gives special meaning to the reader while sustaining interest. Multimodal analysis helps to understand meaning in different text as used by different authors. References Forceville, C. (1999) Educating the eye? Kress and Van Leeuwen’s,“Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (1996)”. Language and Language and Literature 8(2): 163- 178, extract. Jewitt, C. and Oyama, R. (2001) Visual meaning: a social semiotic pproach. In van Leeuwen, T. and Jewitt, C. (eds.) Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage: 134-156. Kress, G. (2009) What is mode? In Jewitt, C. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal analysis. London and New York: Routledge: 54-67 (Extract 54-57). Stöckl, H. (2005) Typography: body and tress of a text – a signing mode between language and image. Visual Communication 4(2): 205-214. Nikolajeva, M. and Scott, C. (2000) The dynamics of picturebook communication. Children’s Literature in Education. 31(4): 225-239 Literature 8(2): 163-178, extract. Van Leeuwen, T. (2005) Introducing Social Semiotics. London and New York: Routledge. Chapter 10. Appendix 1. Front Newspaper from the Daily News of USA that reported the attack of November 11th http://www.september11news.com/AAAnydailynewsthu.jpg 2. The Newsday newspaper reporting of the November 11 attack on USA http://www.september11news.com/NewsdayExtraLrg.jpg Read More