Saturday, November 12, 2011

communication

The office:

This is a show that I have only seen previews for and not sure what plot it is actually based on. 

No audio:

In the episode there is a man who seems to be the leader and perhaps the boss.  Another man who is overweight seems to be portrayed as lazy because of his size and lack of attention in the meeting.   The “boss” who is leading the meeting uses cues such as nonverbal gestures i.e. pointing, and large hand movements.  He appears to demand control and dislike challenges. 

(This is an advertising company.  The meeting is about directions to the office garden party.  The boss is instructing his employees on eating and proper etiquette for the party.  Even though the overweight man is does not appear to be paying attention, he asked a question that pertains to the party. )

No audio:

In the lunch room there are two ladies.  One is pregnant.  They are having a conversation.  One of them looks surprised as if she is discovering new information.  I would assume from this scene that the ladies are gossiping about someone in the office.

(Both of the ladies are pregnant and discussing pregnancy topics.  One of them becomes surprised when the other reveals the name of the baby which turns out to be the same for both.)

No audio:

There is a party held outside of work.  The office workers attend the party with spouses.  They appear to be making attempts to impress someone who may be a large business investor or maybe the person who the party is in honor of.  The boss of the office is very disappointed in what transpired at the party, though several comedic unprofessional events. 

(They party is in attempt to impress the CEO and ultimately the boss’s parents. The boss’s official title is regional manager and he is seeking the same acceptance as his brother receives from their parents.  The man whom he seems to be seeking the most attention from is his dad.  Without Audio I thought the man was his Boss.)   

No audio:

Also there seems to be a competitive nature between the women in the earlier scene in the lunch room.  I would assume they are competing for credit.  Following this others in the room begin competing for attention while making speeches.  The tone of the room appears that the behavior has become embarrassing; however, everyone begins to join in and smile.  This indicates that they are enjoying the moments.   

(The ladies continue to compete over the name of their child.  The CEO gives a speech that discredits the boss and himself and uplifts the employees followed by the dad’s duet with the son.  This allows the son to feel the acceptance he’s been looking for until the other brother joins their dad in song.  The facial expression of the boss (son) is disappointed and he runs off.  Without audio I assumed he was upset about the antics of the employees at the office while everyone els appeared happy.)

It was very different watching with audio.  I was able to put together the verbal and nonverbal cues to understand the interactions with the characters.  Without audio I had to use assumptions based on non verbal cues only which made my assumptions only partly accurate.  I believe that I would have been more accurate in my assumptions if this were a show that I had known well.  This is because I would know who the characters are and their personalities.   Although, I do not believe that I could be completely accurate without the verbal cues and context of communication.


2 comments:

  1. Leon'e,
    Wow! you picked a show with many charactors. I think it must be harder when there are more charactors. Isn't it amazing how we try to make assumtions to figure out what is happening on the show while there was no audio on. I believe this is a good lesson for us to understand how unintentionally or intentionally our brains try to figure things out.
    Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have never seen this show either but you definitely gave a very detailed explanation of your observations. Do you think this is a show you will watch again?

    ReplyDelete