On the multimodal analysis of animated films

Abstract

This paper analyzes the animated films produced by the CDU and SPD during the third federal election in Germany. During this period, the country had partially overcome the wounds of the Second World War and, thanks to targeted policies, embarked on a path of reconstruction. Political stability had a positive impact on economic prosperity. Political communication represents a significant object of analysis, as it influences, among other things, which parties govern the state for a four-year term. Animated films can be considered an interesting text type within election campaigns, characterized by their brevity (a maximum of 2 minutes and 49 seconds). Accordingly, the use of every design element must be carefully considered. The strategies employed in election advertisements are manifold and encompass linguistic, non-verbal, paraverbal, and film-technical aspects. The (moving) image contributes to complementing the verbal text or to providing informative redundancy, thereby enhancing the impact. Using a qualitative method, this study identifies multimodal resources that political parties preferentially employ to communicate their messages more effectively to voters.