Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Vivarium

Abstract

The aim of this research article is to illustrate the use of multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) on Vivarium (2019) directed by Lorcan Finnegan. Multimodal discourse was an expanded work of Halliday’s theory Systemic Functional Linguistic (1961). Later on, it was analyzed by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen in the 1990 and the early 2000s. It upholds the notion that meaning and ideas can be understood by various modes such as gestures, color, spatial elements, structure, background and atmosphere rather than language alone. It is a qualitative research work. The researcher has analyzed some particular scenes of the movie from the perspective of multimodal discourse. Two protagonists in the movie, Gemma and Tom begin to live a meaningless and haunted life in suburban community named Yonder. There is no way out. The researcher has specifically examined the framework of the movie, designs and all these various modes mentioned above in order to convey the central meaning that is existential entrapment and forced imposed rules. Multimodal discourse promotes rich practice of deducing meanings out of these different modes to enhance the creative, critical and logical evaluation of the movie.

Keywords:  Existential entrapment, gestures, multimodal discourse, modes, spatial elements