Research on Modal Complementary Mechanisms of Film Shot Grammar and Dialogue Narrative: A Multimodal Corpus Analysis Based on Dynamic Semantic Framework

Abstract

This study focuses on the modal complementary mechanisms between film shot grammar and dialogue narrative, analyzing how these two modalities work together to construct meaning through a dynamic semantic framework. The research employs multimodal corpus analysis methodology, collecting and annotating visual and linguistic data from 50 internationally awarded films and examining the complementary relationships between modalities using computational linguistics and semantic analysis techniques. The findings reveal: (1) Shot grammar and dialogue narrative demonstrate systematic complementary relationships in film narratives; this complementarity is not merely a rhetorical device but a fundamental mechanism for meaning construction in film; (2) Modal complementarity manifests in three core types: semantic enhancement (58.3%), semantic expansion (27.5%), and semantic contrast (14.2%), each type possessing unique semantic functions and formal characteristics; (3) Different types of modal complementarity play distinct roles in emotional expression, character construction, and narrative progression—the semantic contrast type proves most effective in expressing complex emotions and shaping the psychological depth of characters, while the semantic expansion type excels in establishing narrative backgrounds; (4) Modal complementarity exhibits clear narrative phase dependency, with expansion types predominating in exposition phases (52%) and contrast types in climax phases (53%); (5) Films from different cultural backgrounds demonstrate varied preferences for modal complementarity, with Western films favoring semantic enhancement and ironic contrast, while Asian films more frequently employ semantic expansion and dramatic contrast. The research results not only enrich the theoretical horizons of multimodal discourse analysis and film linguistics but also provide an empirical foundation for filmmaking and cross-cultural communication while offering new perspectives for multimodal semantic modeling in computational linguistics.