Multimodal text: 'Inanimate Alice'

I have looked at Inanimate Alice as a key example of an interactive multimodal fictional text, similar to the one I will create. Inanimate Alice uses a wide variety of modes to convey the meaning of the text, such as the use of text, drawings, photographs, sound, videos, and animations. These modes often act to support and enhance each other, such as the dangerous atmosphere created by the text and sound, coupled with the graffiti warnings. The stairs in this episode act as a prominent signifier, leading the viewer (and Alice) to the next section, and the text at times is in line with the stairs, angling the viewer and Alice upwards.

The use of bright, over-saturated colour when Alice climbs the stairs effectively connotes danger, and this is juxtaposed with her memories of Moscow which are white/grey-washed and appear to be more hazy dream-like memories, showing the past.

The music is tense and repetitive, reflecting how Alice and the viewer are feeling, and this is vital to build atmosphere and tension. This is coupled with sound effects such as the use of white noise and noise interference between slides, creating an increasingly unsettling atmosphere.

The text is also used as an effective mode as it moves as if Alice herself is moving, as she ‘hauls’ herself onto the step the text makes a slow hauling motion. When Alice’s friends talk this is portrayed through speech bubbles, this is useful to differentiate between speakers and is more interesting than simply using speech marks.

There are also a variety of transitions utilised, swiping up, down, left, right, with the image of a Russian doll as well as others sweeping into the screen. There is the use of layering of many different images (a plane, a journey line, a map, and a pink filter in one example), this creates a deeper and richer quality to the text. There is also a definite interactive element, especially with the use of the hand which lets the viewer choose where to look on the stairs.