Interpersonal Interactions in Film
Films can hold up a mirror to us about ourselves and our relationships, but they can also demonstrate an exaggerated, stereotypical, simplistic, or dysfunctional view of our interactions. This Assignment provides you with an opportunity to apply what you are learning about interpersonal relationships as portrayed in a movie of your choosing. You will evaluate communication skills as you analyze the movie. Choose a movie that allows you to analyze significant interpersonal relationships.
Consider what the movie is about, who the characters are, and who holds the significant relationships. Analyze the verbal and nonverbal communication present in the major relationships of the movie. Choose a scene in which two characters from different cultural backgrounds (race, age group, nationality, etc.) interact with each other, and analyze the communication that takes place in that scene. Perhaps the two characters are having a deeply emotional conversation (anger, sadness, fear, etc.) that warrants your consideration. Apply lessons learned in this course, and from your own experience, to your analysis of the scene and interactions.
This week, you will start the analysis portion of your film of choice, focusing on the interpersonal interactions it portrays. You will also apply the knowledge you have gained on interpersonal communication to a relationship in the movie you chose.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Choose a film that contains a significant interpersonal relationship and watch it, looking for a scene that has an extensive conversation between two people. This should be one scene, not multiple ones throughout the movie.
Read Chapter 3, Section 3 Functions in Language
https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/3-2-functions-of-language/
Read Chapter 4 Nonverbal Communication in Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/part/chapter-4-nonverbal-communication/
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that includes the following:
A brief paragraph that describes the scene that you have chosen, and the characters involved. This should give an overview of what took place in the scene.
An analysis of the verbal and nonverbal communication that took place between the characters in that scene. You should be looking at the different verbal communication concepts and nonverbal communication types you see taking place in the scene. You will want to write about these, pointing to the specific cues from the scene that are showing the concept or type of communication that you identified.
What was the outcome of the conversation? Was it positive or negative? Could anything have been done to make it better?
Please Note: Be sure to reference at least one scholarly or popular source to support your answer(s).
