mulat-mata (eye-open[er])

Silent episode

For week 2 of the communication and collaboration course, we asked to watch in mute an episode of a TV show that we do not watch.  I chose the TV show House of Lies (episode 2) because aside from having it on file,  I have not watched any episode of this series before and have no background about the plot and the characters.

 It was quite an experience watching a whole episode with the sounds turned off especially since I have no idea what the story is about, the characters of the plot.  Some relationships were easy to identify like being colleagues/ officemates, sexual partners, boss/leader and employees and father and son because of how they interacted and touched each other.  The officemates were easy to spot because they wore business/corporate clothing and were having a meeting inside the office.  The sexual partners likewise were easy to distinguish because of the intimate and sexual nature of the touches showed.  The boss was immediately spotted since he was the one seated while the other 3 stood up behind him in a meeting in front of a 'client'.  The father and son relationship was not apparent during the beginning of the show because they were hardly shown together.  But at the ending, they were together in the home, wearing home clothes and playing a video game together with warm touches.  The other relationships were too abstract for me to distinguish without the sounds on.


Some behavioral/non-verbal cues were also very easy to catch.  Like in the beginning of the show, a Caucasian man was showing uneasiness and nervousness because of twitching, fidgeting of hands, quivering lips and sweaty upper lips. Anger was also easy to spot as they commonly used frowns, wide-open mouths, pointing, and large, determined gestures.  I was also able to see one expression of disgust based on the contextual cues and because of the facial expression and lip formation of "ewww".  Surprise was also an expression I detected based on wide-open eyes and surprised brow based on page 110 of O'Hair & Wiemann (2009).  Sexual attraction was also noticeable based on the lingering looks and type of touches exhibited.  


It was only when the sounds were turned on that I understood the show more.  Abrasiveness were sometimes not seen because they were only heard through the verbal cues. It was only when the sounds were on that I understood what people were talking about.  I usually understood what they were feeling but had no idea what was causing the feelings they were expressing.   I also now understood some of the reactions because the relationships also became clearer.  I thought they could be lawyers but apparently they were PR consultants.  Some of the expressions the other characters showed also became understandable because through the verbal cues I realized that some were just part of bickering among friends/colleagues.  


This exercise, for me, proved that hearing verbal cues, knowing the context, knowing the people and the plot will help me understand things more.   I believe that I could have understood more if I was asked to watch a TV series that I was familiar with.  Being familiar with the personalities and past experiences of particular characters help one 'understand' what the context of a particular situation/interaction was.  For example, if I watched Hawaii Five-O for this exercise, I would have immediately known that though the lead characters  had intense angry looking facial expressions when talking with each other, they were not angry with each other but rather teasing and bickering (Steve and Danny in Hawaii Five O).  Or when their faces change from happy to angry when they see a particular person, I would know why because of past episodes.  But for this show, I had to background to compare my notes with.  


It was truly a unique and fun exercise to do though.  I got to use my imagination and create dialogues and plots in my head...  


         

posted by Elizabeth King Santos @ 8:09 PM