Social Semiotics, 2014

Vol. 24, No. 1, 124–151, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2013.833722

A multimodal framework for tracking Sesshomaru’s character

development in an anime movie – Inuyasha: Swords of an Honourable
Ruler – an appraisal and gestural perspective
Weimin Toh*

Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore, Singapore,

Singapore

In this article, I propose an integrated multimodal framework for tracking a Japanese

character’s development, that of Sesshomaru, in the anime movie, Inuyasha: Swords
of an Honourable Ruler. The language part of the framework focuses specifically on
the appraisal analysis of the language spoken by the characters. The visual framework
builds on Lim’s system of gesture by integrating Martin and White’s system nodes for
appraisal analysis into Lim’s gesture framework for a nuanced analysis of the
characters’ gestures. The framework is then illustrated through a close comparative
analysis of two scenes from the anime movie. I explain how the relationship between
the language and visual semiotic resources based on appraisal analysis changes from
convergence between the language and visuals to divergence, which could be
correlated with character development. I conclude by discussing how the narrative
context influences the semiotic representation of the character Sesshomaru.
Keywords: multimodal discourse analysis; appraisal theory; multimodal framework;
character development; anime; gesture; intersemiotic meaning potential

1. Introduction
This study proposes an integrated framework for tracking character development in a
narrative. It focuses on the analysis of a single text, the anime movie, Inuyasha: Swords
of an Honourable Ruler, to demonstrate its applicability. The framework focuses
specifically on appraisal analysis. Appraisal analysis offers a relevant approach which
deals with the emotional appeals of the character in relation to the character’s archetypal
role in the anime. Individuals who are not familiar with anime might question its
representation of characters. This study specifically aims to show the type of ideology of
language, for example, how a specific character speaks/behaves, through a focused
analysis of a single character, Sesshomaru. This makes it easier to understand the
representation of anime characters. This study will be useful to people interested in
narrative studies – those who would like to understand the ideology of the representation
of anime characters semiotically and how the character develops from a multimodal
perspective. An understanding of how visual and verbal semiotic resources interact with
each other will allow the reader to better appreciate anime.
To achieve this study’s aims, the constituents correlating with character development
that underlie the narrative are analyzed. The specific constituents that signal or correlate

*Email: a0019282@nus.edu.sg
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
 Social Semiotics 125

with character development include the language used by the characters and the visual
elements; I focused on the characters’ gestures. From a multimodal perspective, my
primary objective of this study is to propose an integrated framework for tracking
character development in a narrative. This integrated framework is explained in Section 3
with examples from the anime to show how the analyst can apply it for tracking character
development in a narrative. Specifically, I intend to show that character development can
be indicated by the changes in the relationship between the character’s language and his/
her gesture. In Section 4, I discuss the proposed framework. The specific constituents of
the framework, the strengths of the framework and how this framework can be applied to
other texts will be elaborated upon. Based on the microanalysis, I relate my study to the
wider narrative context of the anime by showing the ideology of language in terms of
the visual and spoken language signs in the anime. I then highlight how the shifts of the
intersemiotic meaning potential can be used to track character development in the anime.
In the next section, I provide a brief outline of the framework used for this study.

2. Theoretical discussion
2.1. Overview of the appraisal framework
In this section, I give a brief overview of the appraisal framework. A more detailed
description of the appraisal framework is available online at The Appraisal Website
(White 2005). Appraisal here refers to the “systematic resources used to negotiate
emotions, judgments, and valuation, alongside resources for amplifying and engaging
with these evaluations” (Martin 2000, 145).
Affect is the reflection of positive and negative feelings toward behavior, text/process,
and phenomenon (Martin and White 2005). Speakers make use of the affect to construct
their stance, which is done through making explicit their emotional response to a certain
phenomenon. Judgment “deals with attitudes towards behavior, which we admire or
criticize, praise or condemn” (Martin and White 2005, 42). Judgment values are grouped
into two groups: social esteem and social sanction.
According to Martin (2000, 159), appreciation is “the institutionalization of feeling in
the context of propositions (norms about products, performances, and naturally occurring
phenomena are valued)”. “Aesthetic evaluation is not confined to inanimate objects and
states of affairs. It may equally apply to human subjects” (White 2005). Martin (2000,
160) organizes the system around four variables – reaction, composition, complexity, and
valuation.
Martin and White (2005) define engagement as the semantic resource used by writers
to negotiate their statements with awareness of differing and contrasting opinions. In my
study, engagement is adopted to analyze how the verbal resources used by anime
characters open or close down the other characters’ space available for the negotiation of
contrasting opinions.
Graduation is the textual component of Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal
framework. Graduation is the semantic resource used to assess the prototypicality of an
object, person or phenomenon, or to upscale or downscale the interpersonal impact of an
attitudinal or engagement value. In my study, the analysis of the (non)prototypical
behavior of the character in terms of verbal and/or visual resources and of how these
resources interact with each other in the context of the anime are used to highlight the
character’s development.
126 W. Toh

2.2. Lim’s (2011) system of gesture

Lim (2011) builds on Martinec’s (2000, 2004) and Hood’s (2007, 2011) systems of
gestures to analyze classroom discourse. In this section, I outline Lim’s (2011) system of
gesture. The focus of this section is to modify Lim’s (2011) system of gesture to cater to
the analysis of character development in anime. The modification is carried out by
integrating Martin’s (2000) appraisal theory into Lim’s (2011) system of gesture.
Martinec’s (2000, 2001, 2004) system of gesture is reproduced as shown in Figure 1.
From a systemic functional perspective, Lim (2011) further develops and builds on
Martinec’s (2000, 2001, 2004) system of gesture by adding ideational meanings to
presenting action, ideational, interpersonal, and textual meanings to representing action,
and ideational, interpersonal, and textual meanings to indexical action. Lim’s (2011)
ideational meanings in presenting action are reproduced as shown in Figure 2. In Figure 1,
communicative gesture is a gesture that conveys a meaning to an addressee. Performative
gesture is simply a gesture without intention to convey a meaning, but is movement
performed practically to execute a task (Lim, 2011, 157). Because performative is related to
the linguistic term in pragmatics which is associated with a communicative consequence, a
modification of Lim’s (2011) terminology to performance gesture has been made in order
to avoid a conflation of the linguistic term with the term in the gesture framework.
Performance gesture includes presenting action. Communicative gestures can be
subdivided into representing action, which can be understood without the use of speech
to decode its meaning (language independent gesture), or they co-occur with speech, but
their meanings can be accessed and interpreted without relying on the accompanying
language (language correspondent gesture) (Lim 2011, 157). Indexical action is a
language-dependent gesture, which is a gesture that co-occurs with language and requires
the accompanying language to fully access and interpret its meaning (Lim 2011, 157).

Figure 1. Classification of gesture.

 Social Semiotics 127

Figure 2. Ideational meanings in presenting action.

2.2.1. Ideational meanings in representing and indexical action

Lim’s (2011) ideational meanings in representing action are reproduced as shown in
Figure 3.
Lim’s (2011) ideational meanings in indexical action are reproduced as shown in
Figure 4.
Lim (2011, 177) mentions that indexical actions are communicative gestures and
language-dependent gestures because they necessarily accompany language, and require

Figure 3. Ideational meanings in representing action.

128 W. Toh

Figure 4. Ideational meanings in indexical action.

it for interpretation. While language-dependent gestures usually co-contextualize with

language, they do not replicate the exact meanings, but the intersemiotic interaction
brings an additional ideational dimension to the meanings made through the gestural
realization (Lim 2011, 177). Hence, an important factor distinguishing between indexical
action and representing action is that the former requires language to disambiguate its
meaning, while the latter does not.
According to Lim (2011, 179), the representation of (positive) receptivity is
instantiated by open palms along with the regular rhythmic movement of the arm. Under
the system node of receptivity, I provide the addition of positive, negative, and neutral
subnodes. Negative receptivity is indicated by closed palms and neutral receptivity by
hands at the side of the body. The indexical action realizing the representation of
receptivity conveys welcome and openness (Lim 2011, 179), while negative receptivity
conveys an antagonistic or oppositional stance. The representation of relation is realized
through pointing as an indexical action (Lim 2011, 181).

2.2.2. Interpersonal meanings in representing and indexical actions

Lim’s (2011) interpersonal meanings in representing and indexical actions are reproduced
as shown in Figure 5.
In Figure 5, Lim (2011) divided the attitude system network into positive and
negative. I integrate Martin and White’s (2005) affect, judgment, and appreciation into
the attitude system network for a more nuanced analysis. The attitude network now looks
as shown in Figure 6.
In Figure 5, Lim (2011) divided the engagement system network into expansion,
contraction, neutral, and possibility. I integrate Martin and White’s (2005) heteroglossic
and monoglossic networks into the engagement system network for a more nuanced
analysis. The engagement network now looks as shown in Figure 7.
 Social Semiotics 129

Figure 5. Interpersonal meanings in representing and indexical actions.

In Figure 5, Lim (2011) divided the graduation system network into fast, medium, and
slow. I integrate Martin and White’s (2005) force and focus system networks into the
graduation system network of Lim’s (2011) gesture framework for a more nuanced
analysis. The graduation system network now looks as shown in Figure 8.
In Figure 8, force refers to the movement of the character’s gestures, whether it is fast,
medium, or slow. These gestures are in turn categorized in terms of the number of beats

Figure 6. Modified attitude system network for gesture framework.

130 W. Toh

Figure 7. Modified engagement system network for gesture framework.

Figure 8. Modified graduation system network for gesture framework.

in the movement of the gesture. For example, a fast movement consists of more beats
than a slower movement. Focus refers to the character’s gestures – whether the gestures
are typical or atypical of the character. When applied to character analysis, the
prototypicality of the character’s gestures can be used to shed light on character
development as the anime develops. I also add positive and negative classifications to the
force and focus networks, and they are applicable when evaluations are made by
characters in the anime in relation to the characters’ gestures. The positive and negative
classifications refer to the inclinations of the character. A positive classification means
that a character is positively disposed to the other character.

2.2.3. Textual meanings in representing and indexical actions

Lim’s (2011) textual meanings in representing and indexical actions are reproduced as
shown in Figure 9.
 Social Semiotics 131

Figure 9. Textual meanings in representing and indexical actions.

2.3. The intersemiotic meaning potential

In order to explain how the verbal and visual semiotic resources interact with each other
to give rise to the overall meaning in the text, this article adopts part of Tan’s (2005)
notion of an intersemiotic meaning potential, which is an expansion of Royce’s (1998,
1999) analytic frameworks for visual–verbal intersemiotic complementarity. Royce’s
(1998, 1999) framework looks at the interplay between visual and verbal semiotic
resources and provides an account of the meaning relayed through conjunctive relations.
Because of the differences between Tan’s (2005) study of an advertising text and my
study of the anime and the relationships between the characters, I adopt only the
intersemiotic meaning potential from the experiential metafunction and the interpersonal
metafunction in Tan’s (2005) study. The relevant parts of the table of intersemiotic
meaning potential are reproduced as shown in Table 1. In Section 3, I will explain what
the terms in Table 1 that are relevant to my study mean. I will also explain how the
analyst can instantiate these terms using my model using relevant examples from the
anime.
In the next section, I discuss the proposed framework to show its value and/or
limitations. To support the discussion, I select concrete examples for analysis from the
anime to explain the conceptual terms of the framework. The analysis focuses on
emerging patterns in terms of the shifts of the intersemiotic meaning potential in two
different scenes of the anime in the representation of multimodal resources in relation to
character development. The goal of the analysis is to show how combining the analysis of
visual and linguistic signs yields more accurate insights (or other benefits) than an
analysis of only one type of sign.
132 W. Toh

Table 1. Partial reproduction of Tan’s (2005) intersemiotic meaning potential.

Experiential Metafunction

INTERSEMIOTIC MEANING POTENTIAL

Interplay between Visual and Verbal Semiotic Resources
Intersemiotic complementarity Synonymy Same or similar experiential meaning
Antonymy Opposite meaning
Meronymy Relation between part and whole
Interpersonal Metafunction

INTERSEMIOTIC MEANING POTENTIAL

Interplay between Visual and Verbal Semiotic Resources
Modality Attitudinal Congruence (similar attitude)
Attitudinal Dissonance (opposite or ironic attitude)

3. Approach and analysis

In this section, I explain the respective components of the integrated framework, how
these components work together to analyze a text, and also how the analyst can use it for
the analysis of other texts by proposing an Integrative Multisemiotic Model (IMM) (Lim
2004) for anime analysis. Two scenes are analyzed in the anime to develop and explain
the proposed framework. The first scene is Sesshomaru’s initial encounter with Inuyasha
after Inuyasha has possessed Sounga. The second scene involves the final battle between
Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Sounga.

3.1. An IMM (Lim 2004) for the analysis of anime

Lim (2004) proposed an IMM as a meta-model for the analysis of a page or frame which
involves the use of both language and pictures as semiotic resources. Lim (2004) explains
that the term meta-model is used to describe the IMM as a model which brings together
and incorporates the systemic-functional matrices and frameworks currently available in
the field of multimodal studies. His aim is to unify these contributions for the expression,
content, and communication planes of language and visual images in the IMM. However,
he also argues that “there is a need to further develop the model into one that can account
for meaning arising from other semiotic resources in dynamic environments such as video
texts and hypertexts” (Lim 2004). In this article, I propose an IMM for the analysis of
anime.
The integrated methodologies of Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal framework,
Lim’s (2011) gesture framework, and Tan’s (2005) analytical framework for analyzing
intersemiotic meaning potential in television advertisements are brought together in the
IMM (Lim 2004) proposed for the analysis of anime (see Figure 10).
The IMM (Lim 2004) shown in Figure 10 demonstrates how Martin and White’s
(2005) appraisal theory, used for the analysis of verbal semiotic resources, and Lim’s
(2011) gesture framework, used for the analysis of the visual semiotic resources, can be
integrated for the analysis of an anime. The columns in the table represent the meaning-
making potential of each of the semiotic resources in the anime.
In this section, I am providing analysis examples to demonstrate how to apply the
method of analysis, show the benefit(s) or shortcoming(s) of the model, and to show
 Social Semiotics 133

Figure 10. The Integrative Multisemiotic Model (Lim 2004) proposed for anime analysis.

analysts how to assign feature values and identify signs. First, let us discuss how to
instantiate the model.

3.1.1. Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory

For the linguistic analysis, the analyst needs to first obtain a transcript of the dialog which
is spoken by the characters. This can be done by manually transcribing the dialog or
copying the transcript in a separate document if the subtitles are present or hardcoded into
the anime. The decision to transcribe the Japanese dialog or the English subtitles is
dependent on the purpose of the analysis. For example, if the analyst is focusing on
uncovering cultural features in the anime, it would be more appropriate to transcribe the
Japanese dialog. But for purposes of demonstrating the application of the framework, it
would be sufficient to copy the English subtitles from the anime which are hardcoded
into it.
The second step is to perform the appraisal analysis of the transcription. The analyst
performs the attitude analysis which consists of affect, judgment, and appreciation. To
increase the accuracy of assigning feature values to the linguistic transcript, the analyst
needs to take into account the context such as the character’s tone of voice, the other
characters’ utterances, the character’s visual gesture, and the character’s relationship with
the other character in the anime. So the analyst needs to refer to the video when doing the
linguistic analysis.
The analyst also needs to identify which signs to include and exclude. The analyst
needs to define the criteria for the inclusion and exclusion of linguistic signs. These
criteria would be useful for the analysis of other texts in relation to the selection of
134 W. Toh

linguistic signs. The purpose of the analysis could help to narrow down the criteria for the
selection of linguistic signs. The analyst may decide that the purpose of the analysis is a
focused character study in relation to character development. Therefore, the analyst will
analyze only a specific character’s utterances and the other character’s utterances in
which s/he is interacting with which shed light on character development. Another
important criteria might be that the entire utterance is taken into consideration as opposed
to analyzing a single linguistic token when labeling individual appraisal tokens. The
entire utterance serves as the context to minimize the misinterpretation of the linguistic
token.
Then the analyst will label the transcription with appraisal tokens such as satisfaction,
dissatisfaction, security, insecurity, inclination, disinclination, happiness, and unhappiness
from the Affect analysis. It is important to discuss the criteria to identify appraisal tokens.
So I will devote a short discussion on how to identify them. One of the methods to
identify appraisal tokens is through the engagement analysis. First, the analyst can
highlight the power relationship between two characters in a scene. This is shown on a
discoursal level through the changes of the patterns from the appraisal labels. For
instance, when Sesshomaru first encounters Inuyasha, the engagement analysis shows
that there is a predominance of disclaim tokens mostly manifesting as deny used by
Sesshomaru. The use of deny tokens by Sesshomaru gives dialogic space to Inuyasha, but
it is a negatively defined space where Inuyasha’s voice is permitted on the condition it is
negated and maximally contractive:

Don’t tell me that another one of Father’s swords chose you?

You are not fit to wield the Sounga or the Tetsusaiga!

Inuyasha’s tokens serve to defend himself in response to Sesshomaru’s deny tokens:

How would I know?

… but it seems you’re going to have to take it by force.

Who cares about that!

The use of linguistic tokens by Inuyasha therefore reflects his defensive position in
relation to Sesshomaru’s verbal attack. Despite the fact that Inuyasha possesses (or is
possessed by the spirit of) the Sounga sword, Sesshomaru’s use of deny tokens puts him
on the offensive, while Inuyasha’s linguistic tokens reflect his defensive position.
Therefore, based on the power relationships, the analyst identifies Inuyasha’s linguistic
tokens as counter because of his lower power.
The analysis is then presented in the form of a table. For example, as a starting step,
the affect analysis of the transcription displaying the distribution of tokens is presented in
Table 2. The total number of linguistic tokens is displayed at the top row of the table and
the bottom row displays the breakdown of the respective linguistic tokens. The remaining
analyses for appraisal such as judgment and appreciation were done similarly.
Following the conceptual discussion of the linguistic analysis using Martin and
White’s (2005) appraisal theory, I will show in the next section how to apply the theory to
the linguistic analysis, what its results are, how these results are beneficial, and what
benefits it offers that other theories do not.
 Social Semiotics 135

Table 2. Attitude tokens.

Affect (18)

11 dissatisfaction
2 insecurity
2 inclination
1 disinclination
2 unhappiness

3.1.2. Linguistic analysis of scene 1

Table 3 shows the attitude tokens in scene 1. The summary and benefits of the analysis
are as follows. First, the three subcategories of the attitude analysis – affect, judgment,
and appreciation serve as a context to disambiguate visual semiotic resources. More
importantly, appraisal analysis serves as a starting point to indicate to the analyst the
relationship of the character being analyzed with the other character, at the beginning of
the anime in which s/he is interacting with. The main character being analyzed and his/
her relationship with the other character in the first scene then serves as a basis for
comparison with the next scene analyzed. The comparison highlights the character’s
development, based on the changes in the relationship between the semiotic resources in
the two scenes during the interaction with the other character.
In short, the affect analysis provides the analyst with a general overview of a
character’s stance toward another character. The judgment analysis reveals the character’s
underlying beliefs about another character. The appreciation analysis enables the analyst
to reveal the underlying motives of the character’s action. For example, the following
linguistic token in italics demonstrates Sesshomaru’s dissatisfaction toward Inuyasha:

you are not fit to wield the Sounga or the Tetsusaiga!

3.1.3. Lim’s (2011) gesture framework

For the visual analysis, the analyst needs to know how to identify and label the gestures.
First, in order to identify the gesture, the analyst needs to take into account the context
such as the character’s utterance, the other characters’ utterance which characterize the
main character being analyzed, and the character’s relationship with the other characters
in the anime. The utterance can serve to disambiguate the character’s gesture. For
example, as shown in Figure 11, Sesshomaru’s utterance helps to identify his gesture. In

Table 3. Attitude tokens in scene 1.

Affect (18) Judgment (6) Appreciation (6)

11 dissatisfaction 1 +capacity, 3 +valuation, 1 − valuation

2 insecurity 5 −capacity 1 +reaction − like
2 inclination 1 −reaction − dislike
1 disinclination
2 unhappiness
136 W. Toh

Figure 11. Identifying gestures. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·Sho-

Pro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX
PTE LTD.

the appraisal analysis, Sesshomaru’s utterance is defined as deny tokens toward Inuyasha.
Therefore, it helps to disambiguate his visual gesture as dissatisfaction, [−receptivity] and
heteroglossic: contract (disclaim) – deny toward Inuyasha (Lim 2011).
Second, there are rules to label the gesture. For instance, an important point to note in
the analysis is that the gestures are sometimes both noncommunicative (presenting) and
communicative (representing or indexical). This is because the characters’ gestures also
communicate their antagonism to each other while they are raising their swords to attack
each other in the scenes. Therefore, in this framework double labeling exists.
This also highlights the fluidity of the framework which does not impose a single
label but can support multiple labels for gestures. There are advantages and disadvantages
for this. The advantage is that the analyst does not impose a strict interpretation of the
gestures. The interpretation of the gesture can be enriched because of double labeling as
further analysis conducted reveals another labeling of the gesture depending on the
evidences uncovered or perspectives taken. The disadvantage is the subjectivity of
interpretation of the gestures as different analysts who emphasized on the different
evidence or contextual factors will indicate a different label for the gestures. This might
lead to conflicts in the analysis.
The analyst also needs to know the criteria to decide when a specific gesture has
finished and the next gesture has started. This is usually indicated by contextual factors.
These contextual factors include the utterances spoken by the character being analyzed or
the other characters’ utterances. For example, Kagome’s utterance which is spoken to
Inuyasha at the end of the first scene is heteroglossic: contract – disclaim (deny). This
utterance is spoken to drive off Sounga. Therefore, her utterance helps to indicate that
Inuyasha’s gesture has changed from one which is inclined toward Sounga and
nonprototypical to another which is disinclined toward Sounga and prototypical.
Regarding the mapping of a gesture to the speech of a character, it is not simply the
mapping of the gesture in the same shot with the utterance. The criteria for mapping is that
 Social Semiotics 137

the analyst has to take into account the contextual or discoursal variable when deciding the
mapping of the gesture to the character’s speech. For example, taking into account the
contextual factor of Sesshomaru’s relationship with Inuyasha in scene 1, which is
antagonistic, Sessomaru’s gestures (disinclined toward Inuyasha) are hence in a relation-
ship of intersemiotic synonymy with his utterances (dissatisfaction toward Inuyasha).
The analyst needs to decide whether to give priority to the speech or the character’s
gesture if their features do not agree. The criteria for deciding which of the semiotic
resources is given priority is decided based on contextual cues. These contextual cues
include the other characters’ utterances, the relationship between the characters and the
character’s development due to an epiphany. For example, when deciding whether to give
priority to Sesshomaru’s gesture or utterance in scene 2, Miroku’s utterance, “It seemed
that Sesshomaru also protected Inuyasha” is an important verbal semiotic resource which
indicates to the analyst that priority is to be given to Sesshomaru’s visual gesture.
Miroku’s utterance highlights to the analyst that Sesshomaru’s gestures have become
inclined toward Inuyasha. Sesshomaru’s inclination cannot be revealed by his own
utterance as Sesshomaru’s utterance is negatively predisposed toward Inuyasha.
When deciding what features of gesture to keep or discard, the criteria which the
analyst utilizes is related to the purposes of the analysis. In this study, which focuses on

Figure 12. Visual evidence as contextual criteria for labeling of gestures. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.
138 W. Toh

Table 4. Engagement tokens in scene 1.

ENGAGEMENT (24)

5 Heteroglossic: expand – entertain

9 Heteroglossic: contract (disclaim) – deny
8 Heteroglossic: contract (disclaim) – counter
2 Monoglossic

character development of a character, the analyst would select shots which highlight the
character development and discard other shots which do not provide evidence for the
interpretation of the gestures. For example, a key moment of Sesshomaru’s character
development occurs when he has the flashback of his father who prompts him to protect
the people who he cherishes. The shots which follow Sesshomaru’s flashback of his
father are important. These shots contain Rin, a little girl Sesshomaru rescued in the
anime series and Jaken, Sesshomaru’s loyal follower. Sesshomaru cares deeply about Rin
and Jaken. These shots provide evidence to the analyst of Sesshomaru’s growing
compassion and is an important criteria which highlight to the analyst that the gestures
are to be labeled as inclined toward Inuyasha (Figure 12).
The analysis is then presented in the form of a table. For example, the engagement
analysis of the visual gesture displaying the distribution of tokens is presented in Table 4.
The total number of visual tokens is displayed at the top row of the table and the bottom
rows display the breakdown of the respective visual tokens. The remaining analyses for
gesture analysis such as attitude (affect and appreciation), graduation, presenting action,
representing action, and indexical representation were done similarly.

3.1.4. The intersemiotic meaning potential

Royce (1998) argues that “although the visual and verbal semiotic systems utilize
meaning-making resources in ways that are specific to their particular modes” (Royce
2002, 193), they also “work together” (Royce 1998, 26) and “collaborate to realize
complementary intersemiotic meanings when they co-occur on the page or the … screen”
(Royce 2002, 193). Royce (1998, 2002) construes this collaborative meaning-making
propensity as Intersemiotic Complementarity, where “visual and verbal modes semant-
ically complement each other to produce a single textual phenomenon” (Royce 1998, 26).
Intersemiotic Complementarity also refers to the intersemiotic meaning potential of a
multimodal resource. Intersemiotic Complementarity includes forms of intersemiotic
cohesion such as intersemiotic synonymy, intersemiotic meronymy, intersemiotic
antonymy, attitudinal congruence, and attitudinal dissonance. In the following sections,
I will define these terms as they are used in this study, explain how analyzing the
intersemiotic meaning potential could reveal the overall meaning of a scene, and finally
highlight how analyzing the shifts of the intersemiotic meaning potential in different
scenes of the anime could enable the analyst to track character development.

3.1.4.1. Intersemiotic synonymy in scene 1. Intersemiotic synonymy is a form of

intersemiotic cohesion where the same or similar experiential/representational meanings
are co-contextualized in the visual and verbal modes. Except for the opening exchange
between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru in scene 1, indexical representation and representing
 Social Semiotics 139

Figure 13. The characters’ antagonism. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunri-

se·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX
PTE LTD.

action for the remaining hand gestures are predominantly [−receptivity]. This is indicated
for the most part by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s closed hands as they hold their swords to
fight each other. The visual shots of [−receptivity] are seen in Figure 13. The visual shot
demonstrating intersemiotic synonymy are seen in Figure 14. This observation is
supplemented by the engagement analysis, which indicates deny and counter tokens in
the same shot.

3.1.4.2. Intersemiotic meronymy in scene 1. Intersemiotic meronymy is a form of

Intersemiotic Complementarity which realizes part–whole relations. Toward the climax of
the conflict between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, there is a reoccurrence of [+receptivity]
tokens, especially indicated by Inuyasha’s gesture as he becomes inclined toward
Sounga’s bidding. This can be seen in the representing actions of Inuyasha’s hand
gestures and body movements which indicate his following of the orders of Sounga. The
shots in Figure 15 provide examples of these instances.
[+receptivity] tokens are important clues to show the increasing influence of Sounga
as he begins to exert control over Inuyasha to do his bidding. This observation is
supplemented by Inuyasha’s visual token of [+reaction − attention] toward Sounga and the

Figure 14. Intersemiotic synonymy. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·

ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX
PTE LTD.
140 W. Toh

Figure 15. Sounga’s increasing influence over Inuyasha. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi /
Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage
Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

change of Inuyasha’s gesture from one which is focus[prototypical] to one that is focus
[nonprototypical]. At the same time, Inuyasha’s verbal semiotic resource has changed
from counter tokens toward Sesshomaru to animalistic growls. Inuyasha’s animalistic
growls indicate that he has lost control. In this instance, Inuyasha’s verbal resource
together with his visual gestures can be considered as “parts functioning in some larger
whole” (Baldry and Thibault 2006, 21). The overall meaning conveyed is thus of
Inuyasha succumbing to Sounga’s influence and becoming his tool.

3.1.4.3. Attitudinal congruence in scene 1. Royce (2007, 69) defines attitudinal

congruence as a similar kind of attitude being conveyed. The two monoglossic tokens
that are present in Sesshomaru’s gesture toward Inuyasha (and Sounga, which has
completely taken over Inuyasha) stand in a relationship of attitudinal congruence with
Sesshomaru’s utterances in scene 1. Sesshomaru’s utterances consist of deny and
monoglossic tokens which indicate his displeasure both at Inuyasha’s possession of
Sounga as well as at Inuyasha’s weakness as shown by his subsequent possession by
Sounga. The two monoglossic tokens are seen in Figure 16. Sesshomaru swings
Tetsusaiga downward to release Kaze No Kizu [literal translation: Windscar] against
Inuyasha and Sounga without hesitation. Sesshomaru’s gesture indicates his deep
animosity toward Inuyasha and Sounga.

3.1.4.4. Attitudinal dissonance in scene 1. Attitudinal dissonance is defined by Royce

(2007, 69) as an opposite or ironic attitude. The final change of Inuyasha’s focus
[nonprototypical] tokens to those of focus[prototypical] tokens, supplemented by focus
[−fulfillment (realization)] tokens, occurs with the timely arrival of Kagome. Inuyasha’s
begins to behave like his old self, indicated by the change to focus[prototypical] tokens.
The presence of [−fulfillment (realization)] tokens indicates that Inuyasha’s action of
harming Rin has been disrupted as a result of Kagome’s interference. Kagome activates
Inuyasha’s enchanted beads through the voice command, “sit” to subdue him. However,
Inuyasha’s verbal resource is still at this moment an animalistic growl, which indicates
that Sounga still has partial control of Inuyasha.
The relationship between Inuyasha’s verbal resource and his visual gesture is thus at
this moment of the anime attitudinal dissonance. Kagome’s action subsequently releases
Sounga’s demonic hold on Inuyasha and it detaches itself from Inuyasha’s right hand,
thus releasing control of Inuyasha. An instance of a focus [−fulfillment][prototypical]
 Social Semiotics 141

Figure 16. Sesshomaru’s two monoglossic tokens toward Inuyasha and Sounga. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

token is seen in Figure 17. Figure 17 shows how Sounga’s control over Inuyasha is
interrupted by Kagome with the presence of a focus[−fulfillment (realization)] token.
Inuyasha then reverted to his old self with the presence of a focus [prototypical] token,
indicating his inability to carry out Sounga’s orders.

3.1.4.5. Shift from intersemiotic synonymy to intersemiotic antonymy in scene 2. In

scene 2, receptivity tokens are more balanced. This shows that on the one hand,

Figure 17. Inuyasha’s liberation from Sounga’s possession. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi /
Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage
Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.
142 W. Toh

Sesshomaru is not receptive to Kagome’s suggestion that he work together with Inuyasha
to defeat Sounga. In this instance, Sesshomaru’s verbal resource is in a relationship of
intersemiotic synonymy with his visual resource as he competes with Inuyasha to defeat
Sounga. On the other hand, Sesshomaru is still alert to the changes in the fight with
Sounga and becomes receptive to Inuyasha as the fight proceeds. Sesshomaru’s
receptivity to Inuyasha is complemented by the greater number of [insecurity –
concerned] tokens than [security] tokens.
These positive tokens are present because Miroku’s utterance has recontextualized
them to become positive. Therefore, Sesshomaru’s visual gestures have now shifted to a
relationship of intersemiotic antonymy with his verbal resource, namely, when he still
denies protecting Inuyasha. Although [+inclination] tokens are still fewer than [−inclina-
tion] tokens, the [+inclination] tokens, which show Sesshomaru’s interaction with
Inuyasha, are more significant. The [+inclination] tokens show Sesshomaru’s compassion
toward Inuyasha in scene 2 as he consistently strives to protect Inuyasha from Sounga.

3.1.4.6. Intersemiotic meronymy in scene 2. The presence of state process in the

analysis of scene 2 provides visual evidence that the two brothers are initially not united
against Sounga. State processes are proposed by Martinec (2000, 314) to describe
processes that have no significant movement and have no obvious expenditure of energy.
These state processes do not have body movements and indicate the characters’
incapacity to defeat Sounga on their own because of their disunity. These state processes
can be seen in the screenshots of Figure 18. The polarity of these state processes is
negative. The visual and verbal semiotic resources of the state processes are in a
relationship of intersemiotic meronymy.
For instance, in the picture on the top left hand corner of Figure 18, Sesshomaru said
that his weapon, Tokijin, had become useless after fighting Sounga over a long period of
time. Sesshomaru’s verbal resource then combines with the visual resource to represent

Figure 18. State processes signify Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s incapacity. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.
 Social Semiotics 143

Sesshomaru’s weapon as having a worn-out appearance. In this case, Sesshomaru’s verbal

resource, together with his visual gesture, where he does not show any body movement,
can be considered as “parts functioning in some larger whole” (Baldry and Thibault 2006,
21). The overall meaning conveyed is Sesshomaru’s incapacity to defeat Sounga on
his own.

3.1.4.7. Shift from attitudinal congruence to attitudinal dissonance in scene 2. Miroku’s

utterance “It seemed to me that Sesshomaru also protected Inuyasha” has an important
function. It provides a contextualizing function to disambiguate Sesshomaru’s visual
gesture in scene 2. In the context of Miroku’s utterance, Sesshomaru’s visual gestures
toward Inuyasha have changed from [−satisfaction] and [heteroglossic: contract –
disclaim (deny)] to [insecurity – concerned], [+inclination] and [heteroglossic: expand –
entertain]. The visual shots (Figure 19) are now recontextualized as Sesshomaru protects
Inuyasha from Sounga.
Additionally, while many of the gestures and body movements of Sesshomaru in
scene 2 might be interpreted as Sesshomaru competing with Inuyasha to be the one to
fight and defeat Sounga, these gestures are recontextualized by Miroku’s utterance to be
positive. For instance, the visual shot in Figure 20 is actually [heteroglossic: expand –
entertain]. The reason is that Kagome is about to slip down the cliff in the next shot
(Figure 21). By engaging Sounga’s attention when he fights him, Sesshomaru is able
to indirectly provide Inuyasha time to notice that Kagome is about to fall off the cliff
(Figure 22) and rescue her before she falls off. Thus, the intersemiotic meaning potential
between Sesshomaru’s visual resources and verbal resources has shifted from one of
attitudinal congruence to one of attitudinal dissonance. Specifically, Sesshomaru’s visual
gestures after being recontextualized show the opposite attitude (positively inclined)
toward Inuyasha compared to his verbal utterances (negatively inclined; Figure 19).
Interestingly, the visual evidence that signifies Sesshomaru’s final character develop-
ment, compassion to finally cooperate with Inuyasha to defeat Sounga, is also present in
the form of state process. The state process occurs when Sesshomaru has the flashback of
his father asking if he has someone to protect (Figure 23). Sesshomaru’s state process is
positive in polarity, as it is a key moment where he has an epiphany from the flashbacks.
Sesshomaru finally realizes what his father intends for him to do in order to gain greater
power. The message that Sesshomaru’s father intends for him is to protect those whom he
cares deeply about.

Figure 19. Sesshomaru protects Inuyasha from Sounga. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi /
Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage
Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.
144 W. Toh

Figure 20. Sesshomaru engages Sounga to allow Inuyasha to rescue Kagome. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

In the following shots (Figure 24), we are shown Sesshomaru’s thoughts, in which he
repeatedly thinks about the people that he cares deeply about – Rin and Jaken, his
demonic minions. These visual shots are important because they provide visual evidence
for the analysis of Sesshomaru’s visual gesture toward Inuyasha in Figure 25,
[+receptivity], [+relation], [+inclination], and heteroglossic: expand – entertain, as valid.

Figure 21. Kagome’s predicament. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·-

ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX
PTE LTD.
 Social Semiotics 145

Figure 22. Inuyasha’s [+reaction − attention] toward Kagome. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi /
Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage
Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

4. The proposed IMM

The key strength of the proposed IMM is its ability to integrate the multiple interpretations
or conflicting meanings created by the various verbal and visual analysis frameworks, in
order to come up with a holistic understanding of an interaction. For example, while the
verbal analysis using Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory shows that Sesshomaru’s
utterance is antagonistic toward Inuyasha in scene 2, the visual analysis actually shows
that Sesshomaru’s gestures are inclined toward Inuyasha by helping him to defeat Sounga
through their combined efforts. By analyzing the intersemiotic meaning potential of the
scene, the analyst can highlight the overall meaning of a scene which conveys
Sesshomaru’s hidden compassion toward Inuyasha in scene 2, which is different from
the meaning represented by a single type of semiotic resource.
Furthermore, the changes in the intersemiotic meaning potential in the scenes
analyzed could be used to track character development. For instance, the intersemiotic
meaning potential analyzed in scene 1 is mostly unchanging. There are few shifts in the

Figure 23. Sesshomaru’s flashback of his father and epiphany. © 2003 Rumiko Takahashi /
Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Usage
Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.
146 W. Toh

Figure 24. Sesshomaru’s deep thoughts about the people he cares about. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

intersemiotic meaning potential which serve as a starting point for tracking character
development. However, when analyzing scene 2, an analyst would note that there is a
shift from intersemiotic synonymy to intersemiotic antonymy and also a shift from
attitudinal congruence to attitudinal dissonance. These shifts in the intersemiotic meaning
potential enable the analyst to track the character development through the changes in the
relationship between the verbal and visual semiotic resources.
The dynamic structure of the IMM (Lim 2004) also enables the analyst to introduce
other related frameworks/concepts to build on its key strength when analyzing the anime
or other texts. For instance, the analyst may choose to use other verbal and/or visual
frameworks for the analysis in place of Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory and
Lim’s (2011) gesture framework. The different perspectives enabled by the use of
different frameworks allow the analyst to glean new insights from the text which would
further enrich the analyst’s experience in appreciating the anime or other literary texts.
For example, while the appraisal analysis of the utterance provides the analyst with the
general overview of a character’s inclination toward another character, the gesture
analysis provides a deeper analysis. The gesture analysis highlights the hidden
characteristics of a major character due to character development. Finally, I have also
 Social Semiotics 147

Figure 25. Sesshomaru’s compassion culminates in his unity with Inuyasha. © 2003 Rumiko
Takahashi / Shogakukan·YTV·Sunrise·ShoPro·NTV·Toho·Yomiuri-TV Enterprise. All Rights
Reserved. Usage Permission by: ODEX PTE LTD.

shown how analyzing the changes of the intersemiotic meaning potential can track the
character development in the different scenes of the anime.
The IMM is divided into two planes. The content plane consists of verbal and visual
semiotic resources used in the anime to stage the scene. The content plane also includes
the intersemiotic meaning potential which relates the two semiotic resources. The context
plane anchors the scene in terms of the characters’ relationships/development, characters’
archetypal role/class, and sociocultural ideology. These two planes are described in
Sections 4.1 and 4.2.

4.1. The content plane

Verbal signs are realized in the utterances of the anime characters. The linguistic
framework of Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal theory indicates to the analyst aspects
of the linguistic behavior of the interlocutors. The visual semiotic resources realized in
the anime through the type of character’s gestures performed at a specific moment in the
anime. Intersemiosis can occur between verbal and visual semiotic resources. It allows
the analyst to demonstrate how the two semiotic resources can be integrated through the
process of intersemiosis. The bidirectional arrow in Figure 10 indicates that intersemiosis
can occur in both directions.
For example, the visual semiotic resources can be used to (re)contextualize the
linguistic semiotic resources, which create a multiplicative meaning in the text. This is
seen in the analysis of the second scene where Sesshomaru’s utterance is antagonistic
toward Inuyasha. However, Sesshomaru’s visual gestures, are inclined toward Inuyasha.
The intersemiotic meaning potential between the verbal and the visual gestures is thus
intersemiotic antonymy. Sesshomaru’s visual gesture resemiotizes his verbal utterance to
148 W. Toh

Figure 26. The changing relationship between the linguistic and visual semiotic resources in
scenes 1 and 2.

create the overall meaning that he possesses hidden compassion toward Inuyasha as a
result of character development.
Similarly, the verbal semiotic resources can also be used to resemiotize the visual
semiotic resources. For example, in scene 2, Miroku’s utterance, “It seemed to me that
Sesshomaru also protected Inuyasha”, serves an important (re)contextualizing function.
The positive polarity of the verb “protect” recontextualizes Sesshomaru’s visual gestures
from [−satisfaction] and [heteroglossic: contract – disclaim (deny)] toward Inuyasha to
become [insecurity – concerned], [+inclination], and [heteroglossic: expand – entertain]
toward Inuyasha.

4.2. The context plane

The context plane anchors the content plane. It provides the context for the analysis of the
scenes by providing the analyst with the types of character relationships and character
development in the different scenes. The types of character relationships and character
development are in turn related to a character’s archetypal role/class in the anime. For
instance, the archetypal role of Sesshomaru as an anti-hero and his high social class as the
“ruler of the western lands” in the Inuyasha anime is a very important factor influencing
the representation of Sesshomaru’s verbal and visual semiotic resources in the anime.
Finally, the sociocultural ideology of the society in which the anime was made provides a
theoretical basis for interpreting a character’s use of the verbal and visual semiotic
resources in the anime.

5. Discussion, implications, and limitations of analysis

5.1. Character development
With the changing relationship between the modalities, I attempt to provide a correlation
between the changes of the intersemiotic meaning potential with Sesshomaru’s character
development as the narrative progresses. The important trends are summarized in
Figure 26.
In scene 1, Sesshomaru’s antagonism toward Inuyasha is deep. The model proposed
shows that there is a convergence of meaning between Sesshomaru’s linguistic and visual
semiotic resources. This is seen in the intersemiotic meaning potential which indicates
intersemiotic synonymy and attitudinal congruence. In scene 2, Sesshomaru’s relationship
with Inuyasha is closer. Miroku’s utterance, “It seemed that Sesshomaru also protected
Inuyasha”, provides evidence of his growing compassion toward his half-brother.
In comparison, the model shows that there is divergence in the meanings of
Sesshomaru’s linguistic and visual semiotic resources in scene 2. The intersemiotic
 Social Semiotics 149

meaning potential indicates a shift from intersemiotic synonymy to intersemiotic

antonymy and attitudinal congruence to attitudinal dissonance. Compared with other
models which track character development monomodally, an IMM offers a more precise
method for tracking character development as it takes into account the multimodal
semiotic resources of a text. The model proposed is also more appropriate for the analysis
of character development in multimodal texts.

5.2. Character’s archetypal role

Multimodal analysis is able to show how the internal workings of the anime function in
terms of the changing relationship between the verbal and visual semiotic resources to
indicate character development. However, in order to understand why Sesshomaru’s
character shifts from one with a convergent relationship between the linguistic and visual
semiotic resources in scene 1 to another with a divergent relationship between the
linguistic and visual semiotic resources in scene 2, we might turn to the notion of
yakuwarigo or “role language” by Satoshi Kinsui (2003, 2007) to explain the shift.
Role language is defined as “stereotypical language patterns associated with certain
character types, and appear mainly in the realms of fiction” (Fredrik 2010). Kinsui argues
that role language styles in Japanese are connected to the character archetypes described
by Vogler (2007), and proceeds to connect three language styles to archetypes (Fredrik
2010). In Inuyasha: Swords of an Honourable Ruler, Sesshomaru can be argued to
possess some attributes of an anti-hero archetypal character. An anti-hero is a protagonist
who has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero.
Some attributes of Sesshomaru which are also common attributes of an anti-hero
archetype are: rarely speaking, being a loner, and not hesitating to kill anyone who
threatens him. Other anti-hero attributes which Sesshomaru possesses that are specific to
the Inuyasha anime are as follows. First, he went through a period of attempting to kill
Inuyasha, who has obtained the heirloom sword, Tetsusaiga, which he had been after for
years. Second, in the final battle against Naraku, the series’ main antagonist, he uses the
anti-hero’s signature move on the weakening body of Naraku despite the danger of it
falling onto Kaede’s village.
Sesshomaru’s language style approximates that of an archetypal anti-hero in the
Inuyasha anime. As highlighted in the appraisal analysis, Sesshomaru’s language style for
the most part displays intense negative emotions toward Inuyasha and is also negatively
inclined toward Inuyasha, especially in scene one before his character development. Due
to the representation of Sesshomaru as an anti-hero archetypal character, the anime
creators emphasize Sesshomaru’s negative emotions in his utterances but portray his
visual gestures as compassionate toward others in scene 2.
Even so, Sesshomaru’s visual gestures, seen on their own, still possess ambiguous
meanings to mitigate the representation of his character as heroic. His gestures require
Miroku’s utterance in scene 2 to disambiguate their meaning by providing contextualizing
cues. The intention of the anime creators to maintain an archetypal anti-hero representa-
tion of Sesshomaru is the primary reason for the disjunction between Sesshomaru’s
utterances and his gestures in scene 2. In the context plane of the IMM, the analyst is able
to explain that Sesshomaru’s multimodal representation (and his character development)
in the anime is restricted by the character’s archetypal role.
150 W. Toh

6. Conclusion
In this study, I have developed an integrated framework for tracking character
development in a narrative. This integrated framework combines Martin and White’s
(2005) appraisal system for linguistic analysis and Lim’s (2011) system of gesture for
visual analysis. I have applied the framework to analyze the anime movie Inuyasha:
Swords of an Honourable Ruler to show how the integrated framework can be used for
the analysis of texts. Through systematic analysis, I have shown how the proposed model
is able to highlight the changes in the intersemiotic meaning potential or changes in the
relationship between the linguistic and visual semiotic resources to be used as an
indicator of the character development of a major character, Sesshomaru. Additionally, I
have used the context plane of the model to explain that the reason for the eventual
divergence in meaning between the linguistic and visual semiotic resources in the
character development of Sesshomaru is that the representation by the anime creators of
Sesshomaru as an anti-hero archetypal character restricted the type of language that
Sesshomaru could use.

Notes on contributor
Weimin Toh holds an MA and a BA (Hons) in English Language. He is currently a Ph.D.
candidate and research scholar in the Department of English Language at the National
University of Singapore. His research interests include social semiotics, multimodality,
and the study of new technologies like online gaming worlds.

Acknowledgements
The idea of yakuwarigo ‘role language’ by Satoshi Kinsui was suggested by Dr Mie Hiramoto and
the author would like to thank her for the suggestion. The author would also like to thank the
participants at the 2012 English Language and Literature Graduate Student Conference held in the
National University of Singapore from September 27–28 2012, for providing suggestions to
improve the paper. These suggestions include the idea of distinguishing prominent gestures in the
shot versus peripheral gestures by Dr Joseph Park, the discussion of masculinity by Dr Chng, and
the discussion of the practical applicability of the proposed framework in a real life context by
Brian Tan. Finally, the author would also like to thank his supervisor, A/P Ismail Talib for making
comments to improve an early draft of the paper.

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