What a Game Indeed!

Geri's game is a joint production of John Lasseter and Pixar Film. It is about an elderly man, Geri, who plays chess with himself in a national park during the Autumn season. Although he seems to be lonely, he is actually playing the game with his alter ego, Black Geri.

This short film expresses certain types of non-verbal communication, mainly, kinetics, paralinguistics, oculesics and physical appearance.

In the game, Geri, who was using the white chess pieces, appeared to be losing to his alter ego (black), because he had made a number of careless mistakes; he found it hard trying to savage the situation. This is the part where kinesics, the study of body movement, comes in. Geri used emblems during the times when he had such difficulties. For instance, he scratched his head and stroked his chin when he was deciding on his next move.

In addition, paralinguisticswas also involved during the chess match. Through the use of vocalics, we were able to know which player (Geri/Black Geri) had the upper hand in the game. From the beginning to the middle of the game, Black Geri was winning. He made loud sounds like "Hah!" and "Hmm!", which showed that he knew that the move he made was right and also showed that he wanted to demoralize Geri. However, at the and of the match, it was Geri who said "HaHaHa!", which showed that he was the victor.

To add on, oculesics, the study of nonverbal meaning with the eyes, was also portrayed in this clip. Black Geri was constantly giving Geri the challenging stare whereas Geri gave the look of panic.


Finally, physical appearance allowed us to differentiate between the real Geri and his alter ego. Black Geri was the one who did not wear spectacles (and had the dentures with him). On the other hand, Geri wore circular-shaped spectacles.



This short film is excellent. A big WELL DONE to pixar as well as John Lesseter who chose such a fine script. Here is the video of Geri's Game, please enjoy...

McSelect...Yummy!

We select what we want to consume on a daily basis. For instance, when selecting what sort of fastfood we want to eat, our choices are influenced by our social network, individual cahracteristics, the mass media and our environment.

Firstly, my social network, which is made up of my family and friends, are Macdonalds fanatics. They love to eat burgers such as McSpicy as well as the Fillet O' Fish burger. Therefore, you can imagine what it was like when the double fillet promotion came about; my friends would drag me to Mcdonalds and persuade me to eat with them (which I did) because they were my friends.


Secondly, during the double filet promotion, I was made to choose between buying a single or double filet meal; I preferred to eat something more filling because I knew (knowledge) that the single meal would not be able to fill even a quarter of my stomach, therefore, I chose to get the double Filet O' Fish meal instead. This selection (choice) of my was due to individual characteristics.

Thirdly, mass media played a part in influencing my choice. The media had been constantly promoting Mcdonalds' new products and promotions. For instance, the commercial that Mcdonalds would have a lunch value from 12 noon to 3pm, was constantly aired on television as well as the radio. Therefore, if I wanted to save a buck or two, I would choose to get my fastfood lunch then.

However, we should always be cautious about the media, because it could persuade us to get something that we do not really need. For example, the media announced that Mcdonalds would be giving out free glasses for every meal purchased to encourage consumers to buy the meals; many would fall prey to this.



Finally, our environment plays an important part in influencing our selection (choices); the American society lives and breathes Mcdonalds.



Whatever the case, I still think that if you enjoy your food, it does not matter what influenced you to choose it in the first place.

"More Violence"...Is that what we are after?

Eden Lake is released in Singapore in 2009. A couple (Steve and Jennifer) goes camping; unaware that their fates will soon be in the hands of a gang of cruel youths-of-today. The title suits this movie because "eden", gives the impression of a peaceful environment, but will eventually turn into a chaotic scenerio.

This movie portrays a communication process through the use of the Transactional Model .



Firstly, communicators of this model are the director (encoder) and the audience (decoders). James Watkin's (director) message to the audience was in the form of 2 questions. "How would normal people react towards violence inorder to survive?" and "How to control troubled youths of today?" Viewers had responded that those ill-bred teens (in the movie) should be killed, therefore, proving that communication is in play. Here is an example of a viewer's response.



Secondly, Watkin created a dark and sinister environment in his movie to further put his message through to his audience. He made the eerie deserted woods his main setting, added excellent sound effects when someone was tortured, showed the audience how despicable the teenagers were (through their actions), etc. Therefore, putting the viewers in the shoes of both the killers and/or victims--literally see what they see and feel what they feel. The scene below is the perfect example of the environment portrayed to the viewers by Watkin.



However, it is a real pity that this film never had a 3D version (unlike the brainless final destination 4 which had) because I am sure that it would have heightened the entire movie experience to another level.



Finally, this environment does exert both negative and positive influences on the audience. Positive influences: Some of the audiences, especially parents, will make sure that their children are well-disciplined and also ensure that they do not become abusive parents that the youngsters might model after.

Negative influences: Although, this movie is rated M-18, it might send out wrong messages to the teenagers who are applicable to watch this--That Murder Can Be Committed for One's Own Pleasure. Therefore, there is the possibility that potential killer(s) might be groomed in the process, hence, bringing the horrors from screen to life.

Likewise, this is Watkin's first production as a director, therefore, the audiences' critics will positively influence him to work harder in the areas that he is lacking in.



This movie, with all its twists and turns, will keep you at the edge of your seat , and I do highly recommend movie-goers to watch it. It is unlike the "you've seen one, you've seen them all" sort of gore movie because it mirrors reality. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

I rate it 3/5.