How can nothing be something? A multimodal analysis of the short film Zero

Abstract

Multimodality is a way of composing and combining different semiotic modes in meaning making. The fundamental idea here is that we are interacting with multimodal mediums which include verbal, visual and audiovisual elements during communication. As a consequence of this, everythe term multimodality has become one of the essential categories in several disciplines that deal with text analysis such as linguistics, semiotics, media studies and film studies. Films are one of the most examined multimodal text types in these research fields because of their potential for multiplying the highest level ofsemiotic modes. Christine and Christopher Kezelos‘ stopmotion animated short filmZero(2010) is about a fictional world where people are born into a numerical class system. This is a world in which the social standing and destiny of individuals are predetermined based on their number, that define their value in society. The protagonist of the film is born with a zero. As a member of the lowest class, he is constantly discriminated and persecuted by larger numbers to make him feel like nothing. In the form of a numerical caste system, the film contains a sharp criticism of how certain groups of people are treated and discriminated by society in every level of the daily life. Considering films as multimodal texts, this study focuses on the short filmZero(2010) and aims to analyze the film‘s distinctive multimodalelements on the basis of Hartmut Stöckl's (2004; 2012) and Janina Wildfeuer‘s (2014) theories ofmultimodal film text analysis.Moving towards a multimodal oriented method,the results ofthis study demonstrate how filmic semiotic modes are used as film‘s narrative to reflect thechallenge between social gender and discrimination in society.