Film Application Paper

Throughout our whole lives, we spend the majority of our time communicating in some way or form. Many people in today’s society are uninformed of all the key concepts and importance of communication, such as interpersonal communication. One major concept in the field of communication is Interpersonal Communication. Many concepts of Communication can be demonstrated in everyday life or even in our favorite movies. This analysis is from the movie, “Blind Side”. There are many concepts of Interpersonal Communication included in this film. Self Concept, Self Esteem, Stereotype, Perception, and Stages of Relationship are just a few concepts that are utilized throughout this movie.

Communication is a two-way process that takes practice and time to be fully effective and is very important in every aspect our personal and professional lives. We communicate every day of our lives both verbally or nonverbally. The process of verbal communication is the exchanging information by transmitting an idea, send that idea, receive feedback, understand the idea and the feedback and provide feedback to the person who sent the message. The main components of communication are context, encoder, message, medium, decoder, and feedback. The context could be social, chronological, cultural, or physical. The individual sending the message will

Listening is ‘Not an attempt to understand something that is being said’ but ‘Just an attention to the activity of sounds’

Communication involves more than exchanging words between people. Gestures, postures, facial expressions and even eye contacts are important during communication. Both verbal and nonverbal cues are important during communication and can help a person understand the speaker or listener’s emotions, attitudes or status. Understanding the existence of various cultures is necessary since different cultures have varying ways of communication (Lustig & Koester, 2012). Therefore, a communication style that is perceived as bad by a culture may be good in another culture. Besides, characteristics that may be essential for a particular culture may be quite irrelevant for another. In line with this dissimilarity, individuals need to adapt carefully and understand communication preferences and desires among cultures.

The movie Mean Girls shows examples of many social-psychological principals. Three of the major social-psychological principals depicted in Mean Girls are prejudice, discrimination, and conformity. According to Social Psychology and Human Nature textbook, written by Baumeister and Bushman, prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual bases solely on his or her membership in a particular group. Discrimination is unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong. Lastly, conformity is defined as getting along with the crowd.

Communication is a two-way process that takes practice and time to be fully effective and is very important in every aspect our personal and professional lives. We communicate every day of our lives both verbally or nonverbally. The process of verbal communication is the exchanging information by transmitting an idea, send that idea, receive feedback, understand the idea and the feedback and provide feedback to the person who sent the message. The main components of communication are context, encoder, message, medium, decoder, and feedback. The context could be social, chronological, cultural, or physical. The individual sending the message will

The film ‘Paper Planes’ is a heartwarming Australian film, based on a true story, directed by Robert Connolly, written by Steve Worland and starring Ed Oxenbould and Sam Worthington. The film begins in outback Western Australia where 12-year-old Dylan (Ed Oxenbould) is living with his with his widowed depressed father (Sam Worthington). One day at Dylan’s school a student teacher shows Dylan how to make a perfect paper plane. He discovers he has a passion for making them and decides to enter the world of competitive paper plane making. During the movie Dylan meets memorable characters like Kevin (the main character’s mate), Kimi (a Japanese contestant), Jason (another contestant who bullies the protagonist) and struggles with his relationship with his father after the death of his mother.

I am originally from Puerto Rico, which is a country in which communication is an integral part of society. The cultural norm of the Puerto Rican culture is to speak up when necessary and communicate clearly if we want things to be done. At the same time, I believe that in order to produce results, the manner in which communicating takes place, is an extremely important component. My culture also showed me how the emotions used when communicating, such as the use of the hands and body language, will dictate the tone and flow of the communication. The literature suggests that the majority (as much as 76%) of the message we gibe to another person during conversations is carried by non-verbal or para-verbal communication. Thus, we must be very careful and strategic in our use o non-verbal communication (Van Acker, 1997).

3.1 Explain how people from different backgrounds may use and/or interpret communication methods in different ways

It is quite easy to pass off the study of communications as “no, duh” research, but every aspect of human communication can be further studied and explained in a way that cannot be seen from the surface. There is a name and concept that accounts for virtually all human behaviors and interactions. Careful study and observation of these behaviors can help us better understand the way people function and become more self-aware. There are some main, key concepts that can give a good basis for understanding communication, but it is a field that goes incredibly in depth and detail.

The need to create an identity for oneself is a strong human desire with an intensity that is equaled only by the craving to become part of a community. With such strong yearnings for individuality as well as a sense of attachment within a group, the most familiar consequence is conflicting emotions that are all too easily persuaded. The 2004 film Mean Girls exhibits various examples of identification and social influence as well as the level of persuasion they hold over the decision making process of the main character, Cady. After arriving at a new school, Cady is immediately accepted by two unpopular students, but then attempts to become noticed by the most popular group of girls, The Plastics. Once Cady is accepted by The Plastics, her moral compass, belief systems, and actions change in order to more closely reflect those around her and solidify her status

Communication is an ongoing process in which individuals exchange messages whose meanings are influenced by the history of the relationship and the experiences of the participants. (Adler, p.384) Communication depends on relationships between the people who are communicating, and on common basics between them. Problems in communications between people may arise due to differences in cultures, perceptions, values, and expectations from life.

Communication is one of the most important and valuable skills we have developed as human beings. It is the basis for how we connect with each other globally and shape the people we are today. Without effective communication, we would not be able to build productive relationships, express our cultural values, or most importantly, voice our thoughts. As we grow, we learn and develop our unique form of communication. Whether we are strong public speakers or prefer an interpersonal approach, it is important to find what type of communication is best suited for us, so we can appropriately and effectively use communication to our advantage. There are several different aspects that make us effective communicators, and knowing our strengths and weaknesses in theses categories will give us a comparative advantage on how to properly communicate on an interpersonal level. In this paper, I will discover the type of communicator I am, what I am good at, and what I can work on, to become an excellent interpersonal communicator.

Communication is the process of gathering meaning from the world around us and using verbal and non-verbal messages to share this meaning with others. (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005) More specifically, interpersonal communication can be defined as; “a distinctive, transactual form of human communication involving mutual influence, usually for the purpose of managing relation ships.” (Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond, 2005, p. 6) Interpersonal communication is extremely complex and encompasses many different themes and issues that affect many aspects of our daily lives. These

Throughout the semester, we have studied numerous communication theories. Their purpose is to help understand exactly what happens when we interact with others. We might not necessarily agree with all of the theories, but the idea is to develop tools to evaluate situations we may encounter. Often, when the theories are explained in the readings or lecture, it is beneficial to apply the concepts to a "real life" situation. Using this approach, I will use a situation that many of us have faced, or will face, and analyze it according to a particular communication theory.