ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the intermodality is understood as the ensemble of intermodal relations in a given multimodal text or artefact, including their contributions to the overall meaning, aesthetics, and structure of the text. Intermodal relations contribute to the overall meaning of a multimodal text or artefact. Intermodal relations can also be investigated experimentally. Intermodal unity does not preclude the possibility that the modes provide complementary meanings and therefore "perform their own distinctive kinds of semiotic work", as Burn points out. One mode can contrast with, complement, or emphasize the meaning conveyed in another mode. However, the intermodal contrast between the images and the narrator's speech is only a special case; there are certainly other intermodal relations that are aesthetically relevant. In film studies, it is nothing new to consider images, speech, or music separately; intermodality may therefore be the real "added value" of multimodality. The opening sequence of the film shows us how the PreCrime system works.
