The kineikonic mode: Towards a multimodal approach to moving image media

Multimodality theory can offer new ways to think about the combination of sign-systems to be found in such cultural forms as narrative film, television, animation, moving image art installations and machinima. Why we might need such a theory is a question for specialists in Film Studies, which will be briefly considered in the conclusion. Meanwhile, this chapter is aimed mostly at those with a more general interest in analysing the moving image, particularly in relation to other media and other art-forms, and in relation to conceptions of literacy which move beyond print and language. I will examine two examples: one from a narrative film produced in 1948, and one from a machinima film made by 11 year-olds in 2013.