Multimodality,
Film, and You
You saw a movie or a TV show or a YouTube video or whatever, and now you want to say something about it. Maybe it’s because you have something you just have to tell the world; maybe it’s because you’re in a class and need to write something (which does not cheapen what you want to say).
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But what is the most effective way to get your point across?
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This site explores a few different multimodal formats (academic paper, slideshow presentation, blog post, podcast, and video essay) you can use to discuss televisual media (which I refer to as film as a shorthand), some of the affordances and limitations of those formats, and some ways to incorporate film into these formats.
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This site is intended to be informational and, hopefully, educational. It includes some important things to consider as you’re choosing a multimodal format and beginning to work with it, but I can’t, on one site, explain all aspects of these formats. I hope that this website is helpful, but it is by no means exhaustive and relies primarily on my own experience working with film as a scholar and an educator.
How to Use this Site
Each multimodal format I describe (academic paper, slideshow presentation, blog post, podcast, and video essay) has a different sub-page, all nested under "The Multimodal Formats" in the top menu. Click to the one you want to check out or go through them all. Each page covers:
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What modes of communication that format uses
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The rhetorical situation of that format
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How to use examples from the film you're analyzing in that format
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How to make that format accessible
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A few suggestions for using that format
I also include a page on:
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The terminology I use throughout this site
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How to include accessibility in your project
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Different kinds of examples you can use from a film in each of the projects
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How to use sources, especially when working online
Feel free to share this site with others. If you're an educator sharing it with your students, all I ask in return for the work I've done here is that you let me know that you're using it and where you're using it--I'd like to see where this goes.
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Also, if there's any format that you think I should cover or something you think I should add to one of the existing pages, send me a note. Design and composition, especially online, are living, breathing things, so please help this project grow.