A Study on Homage of Iconicity in Films as Multimodal Texts: Focusing on the Use of Angles in The Housemaid and Parasite

The aim of this study is to examine the homage patterns between films in terms of iconicity as multimodal texts. After justifying the selection of Kim Ki-young's The Housemaid (1960) and Bong Joon-ho's Parasite (2019) as the analyzed works, the study discusses the need for its unique approach compared to previous analyses of these films. The investigation delves into the characteristics of a film as a multimodal text, exploring how messages conveyed are encoded and decoded in 'showing' through iconicity and camera angles. The study analyzes these elements as a form of homage to iconicity between the two films. The analysis reveals that The Housemaid effectively utilized low angles and high angles in various 'death' scenes around the 'stairs', enhancing the visualization of dramatic conflicts and desires between characters and establishing iconicity. Moreover, it is revealed that the iconicity observed in The Housemaid is consciously applied and paid homage to in an expanded form in Parasite.