emphasise that the way in which people apply the semiotic resources outlined in the
next section is not set in stone: people application of semiotic resources in specific
instances differ in different cultural contexts and people may choose to break social
conventions.
The Semiotic Resources of the Mode of Image
The semiotic resources of visual communication are finely articulated and are
specialised along meta-functional lines in the multimodal environment of the screen
(and elsewhere).
Ideational Meaning
The semiotic resources of image like speech and writing enable people to construct
visual representations of what goes on in the world: realise their experience of the
world (external and internal). Ideational meaning can be realised through visual
(syntactic) patterns in terms of their function of relating visual participants to each
other in meaningful ways. There are two kinds of pattern. Narrative representations
relate participants in terms of doings and happenings, of the unfolding of actions,
events, or processes of change. Conceptual patterns represent participants in terms of
their more generalised, stable or timeless essences. Conceptual representations
represent the elements depicted in an image as being something, belonging to some
category, or having certain characteristics or components. The choice of a narrative or
conceptual form of representation is important, since the decision to represent
something in a narrative or conceptual way provides a key to understanding the
discourses that mediate their representation.
In visual representations, narrative structures are recognised by the presence of a
vector. A vector is a line, usually diagonal, that connects participants. The vector
expresses a dynamic, doing or a happening kind of relation. These processes can be
either agentive (involving an actor) or non-agentive. 'Actors' are the participants from
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