Author(s)

Wenhui Qiu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of English Studies, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, 710128, China

Corresponding Author

Wenhui Qiu

ABSTRACT

Film posters constitute an important form of multimodal discourse in the visual culture. By integrating linguistic, visual and graphic resources, they convey key information about a film and shape audience expectations. Drawing on the framework of multimodal stylistics and visual grammar, this study conducts a case analysis of the promotional poster of the animated film Soul. The analysis focuses on five semiotic modes: verbal, image, layout, typography and color. The findings reveal that these modes interact systematically to construct the thematic meaning of the film and guide viewers' interpretation. Specifically, the verbal mode provides concise narrative cues, the image mode constructs narrative and interactive meanings, while layout, typography and color enhance visual salience and emotional atmosphere. Through the collaborative functioning of these modes, the poster effectively communicates the philosophical theme of exploring the meaning of life. This study enriches empirical research in multimodal stylistics and offers insights for film poster design and visual communication.

KEYWORDS

Multimodal discourse analysis, Visual grammar, Film poster

CITE THIS PAPER

Wenhui Qiu. A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of the Film Poster Soul. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2026). Vol. 9, No.1, 56-63. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2026.090108.

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