Arianna Maiorani

The Matrix Phenomenon: a Linguistic and Multimodal Analysis Arianna Maiorani

In 1999, just at the turn of the third millenium, the first episode of The Matrix movie trilogy was released, marking the beginning of a new trend in science fiction movies and also in the perception of motion pictures as interactive social and commercial events. What made the Matrix movie trilogy a cutting edge phenomenon was not only the use of incredibly innovative special effects and shooting techniques but also, and maybe primarily, the fact that the whole plot is based on the idea that an Internet connection gives access not to a virtual world but to a virtual reality which is believed to be real. The Matrix promotional campaign developed over the years according to the audience¿s response to each movie and the various products put on the market. This book analyses the communicative aspects of this multi-media phenomenon through a multimodal discourse analysis, in order to understand how the Matrix market was advertised and managed to be still thriving by relying on different aspects of the Matrix social and cultural impact.