Multimodal stance and engagement in digital video methods articles

Abstract

The proliferation of digital media technologies has led to fundamental changes in the way that we communicate, changes that have also been felt in the realm of scholarly communication. One underresearched scholarly digital genre is the “video methods article” (VMA) in experimental science, which is published by the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), and whose purpose is to share advances in scientific methods with members of the scientific community. The genre draws on the medium of digital video in order to communicate new methods through multiple modes (e.g., spoken, written and visual), making it possible for scientists not only to read about but also to see new scientific methods as they are demonstrated on screen. In addition, the genre opens up possibilities for interpersonal engagement with the audience (such as the ability to speak directly to the camera) that are not present in traditional methods articles. This article draws on a corpus of 11 VMAs (1 per year from 2006 to 2016) in order to provide a multimodal analysis of key sections. It aims to show how stance and engagement are realized in VMAs through a complex multimodal interplay constructed by multiple individuals. Semiotic resources identified include elements of the researcher’s video recorded performance such as speech, gesture, facial expression, gaze, dress, and body; elements of the setting, such as chosen location, represented human and non-human participants and represented action; use of scientific visuals and animations; filmic elements such as camera angle, movement, and distance.