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).
But what is the most effective way to get your point across?
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.
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.
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.