6165 Communication and Collaboration, Week 2

For this assignment, again consider what you have been learning about communication skills and styles. Then record an episode of a television show you do not normally watch. Watch the show with the sound turned off.

The show that I recorded and watched with the volume off was called House. 

• What do you think the characters' relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating?

From what I can tell it seems like there is a main male doctor who is consulted and a main male doctor in the operating room.  Many other doctors, nurses and newscasters are questioning the two doctors for information about a particular patient.  The main focus seems to be on a teenager who has a large growth on his face.

• What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?  What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed?

There is a lot of nonverbal behavior happening within the episode.  The main character is being followed by news media and looks very annoyed by it, not making eye contact with them, rolling his eyes and making uncomfortable facial expressions.  He also seems to be yelling at some of the other characters in a few different situations.  The teenage patient in the episode seems upset and embarrassed because people keep looking at and pointing at the growth on his head.  The main doctor seems to be confused in one of the scenes because he is holding up x-rays and seemingly keeps repeating the same question to other staff based on his repetitive nonverbal behaviors.  Most of the doctors look as if they are trying to console the patient, they often get the media away from his room, draw the blinds and when they are talking to him they stop and smile. 

• Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well?

I think my assumptions would have been much better if I knew the show.  The more you know of someone or a particular situation I think the better you get at reading their body language and understanding their personalities/relationships. 

• Write about your experience in your blog, including what you learned about communication from this experience and insights or "aha" moments you believe would be helpful to your colleagues.

I realized that the episode was going from black and white to in color and I could not figure out why until I watched it with the volume on.  The news filming crew was following the patient around as part of a documentary and when you saw it through the lens of the documentary it was in black and white.  I also found it interesting that for a moment during watching the episode muted, I did not know if it was a commercial or the actual show.  I did not have that problem at all when the volume was on.  Not being able to hear what the characters were saying and not hearing the sound effects with music took most of the drama out of it for me.  Although it was interesting to watch how much you are able to predict from someone's body language.