FEEL The Lack of Inspiration

Hello fellow Comms people! Deepest apologies for the lack of creativity/novelty/inspiration. I know how everyone uses Youtubes videos ALLLL the time and expects you to waste 3 - 6 minutes watching it before commenting :/ Forgive me but I'm afraid you're going to have to do the same here - my brain juices are almost depleted, if that even makes sense.

In this post I shall attempt to make full use of Marie Digby's music video, "Feel", which is one of my personal favorites as it conveys alot of emotion. Basically Marie is singing about a person who is devoid and stripped of feelings, and wondering if there is still any trace of empathy left. On the academic side, there are some forms of non-verbal communication that are evident here, and I will point these out below.

The first thing you will probably notice as you start the video is that Marie seems to be in a crowded place (allow me to enlighten you, this was shot in Japan :) and what's more, most of the time she was just simply walking or standing still. Although she is not communicating directly with the crowd, the lyrics of the song implies that she is looking for a way to feel if human emotions in people are still intact. This thus identifies the idea of proxemics, which is the study of space and distance. By blending into the crowd and letting the people around her enter her personal space, this allows her to find, or feel, the moods of those within her reach. 

As the song progresses, paralinguistics come into play as Marie continually accentuates her point especially in the chorus. One may find that the pitch, volume and tone of her voice changes; it becomes slightly angered, forceful and even pleading. Since paralinguistics is the study of non-verbal cues, communication through a song such as this can actually convey more meaning and helps drive the point home more effectively. Here in the chorus, Marie is repeatedly questioning her listeners if they are still human and able to feel. Although all this comes in the form of a song, the quality of her voice will still sound the same if the words are spoken without a tune, especially in an argument or a harsh manner.

Lastly, I would like to combine the use of kinesics - which is the study of body language as well as oculesics - which is the study of non-verbal meaning associated with the eyes as a whole, for I feel that these two go very well hand-in-hand. Through the video, you might find that Marie is sometimes standing in the middle of the crowd, arms akimbo with a thoughtful look in her eyes. This display of body language could mean that the issue of the lack of human empathy might have been bothering her so that is why perhaps her arms are folded, she wants to feel guarded against all these people who she thinks are almost devoid beings. In addition, her eyes are able to convey meaning as well; for especially during the chorus, though she seems angered and pleading, her eyes show that she is slightly lost and afraid of the situation that is going on around her. Both oculesics and kinesics here have thus been put together to bring across to viewers a stronger meaning and message.

Hokay that's all I have for you! I don't know if all that even made sense :/ If you have any other non-verbal communication concepts you would like to add on, please feel free to flood my comments' page! Have a great weekend :D

Torn

On the surface, while this video might seem to be able to brighten up anyone's bad day (including mine :), there are certain communication concepts which can be applied here as well, namely perception and interpretation.

A quick synposis - this video showcases the performer Johann Lippowitz (real name David Armand) miming to popstar Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn". While most mimers we know do not really come up with actions in accordance to songs, Lippowitz here seems to have done it, and personally this four-minute video is genius.

Perception only covers a small part of this short video. As stated, "Perception is the process by which we make sense of the world around us." In other words, perception is looking at things and/or issues, finding a logical explaination, then moving on with life. If our explaination is logical and reasonable, we usually would not revise the issue again. As such, if we only use perception in the process of viewing this, then we will find that the only source of entertainment which can be derived from this are Lippowitz funny actions and facial expressions. To further explain, this means that we are taking all of this only at face value.

However, we all know that there (or usually) is a deeper analysis to everything, even for a video such as this. After all, looking at things just on the surface is not going to make us productive human beings. Hence we interpret, and interpretation refers to how we attach meaning to what we select and organize. This is the more important concept as compared to perception as the former will require us to look at verbal (singer Natalia Imbruglia) and non-verbal (Lippowitz's mime) communication to understand and enjoy the entertainment value brought to us in thie video.

Since we have to rely on verbal and non-verbal communication to completely understand and appreciate Lippowitz's performance, interpretation is thus very crucial. If we do not pay attention to either one of these, distortions and misunderstandings can occur. The following examples and explainations in relation to the video will further accentuate my point.

1. There is a line in the first verse that goes, "... what your heart is for". Here, Lippowitz carries out a series of actions - a shrug, points to the audience and then to his heart, then shows the number "four" with his fingers. He has replaced the word "for" with "four".

2. In the chorus, "... into something real". In this case, he seems to have caught a fish, and is reeling it in."Real" is pronounced almost the same way as "reel".

3. Second verse, "I don't miss it all that much". The mimer does a bow-and-arrow at the word "miss", when it actually means the singer does not really care about losing out on something.

So as you can see, sometimes what Natalie sings (lyrics) does not match Lippowitz's actions, or even takes on an entirely different meaning. This goes to show that if one wishes to interpret accurately while interacting or communicating with another party, verbal and non-verbal cues are vital to look out for. We must always keep in mind that at times, people can say one thing and mean another. Hence, to ease the process of communication and avoid miscalculation, interpretation must be grasped in the most effective way possible.

PS: A huge thank-you to all who have commented so far! So do you think that perception or interpretation plays a more dominant role here? Looking forward to all your responses! :D

Moment of Truth

A fairly controversial American gameshow that has already aired for three seasons and counting, "the Moment of Truth" does reflect some concepts of Communications learnt over the past two weeks.

/ What happens is that before the show, the contestants are asked over fifty questions about their personal lives while being hooked up to a lie detector. On the actual day, contestants are to answer each answer truthfully, in front of a large audience as well as some of their family members and friends. Each honest answer brings them closer to the cash prizes. If their response is a lie, they will be at risk of losing their money. It might sound easy, but as the stakes are upped, each question becomes increasingly personal and this might affect the contestants' relationships in their social circles.

 

/ So what recent concepts of Communications have we learnt that can be seen in this gameshow? One of Bacon's Four Idols can actually be applied here - and that is the Idol of the Tribe, which talks about our fallacies in thinking due to human nature. As human beings, we must have, at some point or another, thought about the "should-have-been" or "could-have-been"s. That shows our tendency for wishful thinking.

/ For example, a 27-year-old lady on the gameshow was asked this question, "Do you think you would have been better off marrying your ex-boyfriend XXX rather than your current husband YYY?" At this point, the lady pauses to think about her answer, to which she finally answers, "Yes, I do." Clearly this shows that she has definitely thought of leading a better life with her ex-boyfriend even after starting a new relationship and getting married. Though our tendency for wishful thinking can be difficult to avoid, we must also keep in mind that these designs do sometimes end up hurting the people around us. Hence as much as possible, we must keep away from the Idol of the Tribe to prevent sources of misunderstanding, or as in this case, the disintegration of social relationships. Oh, and her answer of "Yes" to the proposed question was true, by the way.

/ Now keep those comments coming! Feel free to agree or disagree from your point of view :)

/ P.S: "the Moment of Truth" airs here every Wednesday night, Channel 5 at 11.30 PM. The next episode is shown 23 Sept, so stay tuned if this post has caught your interest ;)