Assignment One

What is communication?

Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender.

Human spoken and picture languages can be described as a system of symbols and the grammars (rules) by which the symbols are manipulated. The word "language" also refers to common properties of languages. Language learning normally occurs most intensively during human childhood. Most of the thousands of human languages use patterns of sound or gesture for symbols which enable communication with others around them. Languages seem to share certain properties, although many of these include exceptions. There is no defined line between a language and a dialect. Constructed language such as Esperanto, programming language, and various mathematical formalisms are not necessarily restricted to the properties shared by human languages.

A variety of verbal and non-verbal means of communication exists such as body language, eye contact, sign language, para language, haptic communication, and media such as pictures, graphics, sound and writing.



What is Intercultural Communication?

Intercultural communication is a form of global communication. It is used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Intercultural is sometimes used synonymously with cross-cultural communication. In this sense is seeks to understand how people from different country and cultures act, communicate and perceive the world around them. As a separate notion, it studies situation where people from different cultural background interact. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, language and customs of people from other countries. Intercultural plays a role in anthropology, cultural studies, and linguistics, psychology, and communication studies. Intercultural communication is also referred to as the base for international businesses. There are several cross cultural service providers around who can assist with the development of intercultural communication skills. Research is a major part of the development of intercultural communication skills.

There are many researchers and academics of note within the intercultural field, which naturally all have different definitions of 'intercultural communication'. For example Karlfried Knapp defines it as "'Intercultural communication,' can...be defined as the interpersonal interaction between members of different groups, which differ from each other in respect of the knowledge shared by their members and in respect of their linguistic forms of symbolic behaviour." For those wanting to dig a bit deeper it may be a good idea to look into the works of Edward T. Hall, Geert Hofstede, Harry C. Triandis, Fons Trompenaars, Clifford Geertz and Shalom Schwartz.

The theories developed by the researchers and academics can and have been applied to many fields such as business, management, marketing, advertising and website design. As business becomes more and more international, many companies need to know how best to structure their companies manage staff and communicate with customers. Intercultural communication gives them an insight into the areas they need to address or understand. Intercultural communication theories are now also used within the education, health care and other public services due to growing multicultural populations.

Pirates of the Caribbean


Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall, written by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Brukheimer. All four films are based on the Walt Disney theme park ride of the same name, and follow the adventure of Captain Jack Sparrow, and many other characters including Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan, Captain Hactor Barbossa, Davy Jone, Angelica, Blackbeard, Philip Swift and the mermaid Syrena.

In above pictures is one of the films in the series of Pirates of Caribbean. This film is known as “The Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”. This film is about Captain Jack Sparrow is on a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with a former lover, Angelica. She forces Jack aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, a ship captained by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, Angelica's father. Both are also in search for the Fountain; Angelica to save her father's soul, the Spanish to destroy the fountain believing that the powers are an abomination against God, and Blackbeard to escape a prophecy of his fatal demise by a one legged man. Former pirate captain Barbossa, now a privateer in King George II Navy, is in search of the fountain with Britian, and to exact revenge against Blackbeard for having sunk the Black Pearl and losing his right leg.

This film employed 1,112 shots of computer generated imagery, which were done by ten visual effects company. The lead companies, with over 300 effects each, were Industrial Lights & Magic – responsible for, among others, the mermaid and most water effect, and Moving Picture Company, who created digital ships and environment extension, such as changing weather and designing cliffs and waterfalls. Filming the mermaids involved eight model-actresses, who portrayed them outside the water, as well as synchronized swimming athletes and stuntmen who wore motion capture suits and were later replaced by digital mermaids.

The film's score was written by Hans Zimmer, who had worked in all previous movies; he was the main composer for the second and third instalments. Zimmer said that he tried to incorporate a rock n' roll sound, as he felt "pirates were the rock 'n' rollers of many, many years ago”, and Spanish elements, which led to collaboration with Mexican guitarists Rodgio Y Gabriela and a tango song written by Penélope Cruz's brother Eduardo. American composer Eric Whitacre helped with choir-based songs, and Geoff Zanelli worked on many songs.

Some movie review in this film state that On Stranger Tides, to give the film its specific title, is really quite long at just over two and a quarter hours, and some fans might feel that they are getting an awful lot of a good thing. But director Rob Marshall keeps the hellzapoppin' atmosphere bubbling and gives you plenty of cannon-bang and cutlass-slash for your buck. There is less of a showcase for young, pretty people in this movie – the Orlando Bloom/Keira Knightley contingent – though there is a fetching young padre on board ship, who has a tendresse for a lovely mermaid, whose hair curls over her nipples in the traditional way. The emphasis here is on age and weatherbeaten experience. Of course, it is difficult to discern this or anything else clearly, given that the plot itself is so chaotic. There is sometimes a sense that what you are watching is a kaleidoscopic, two-hour-plus trailer. In the midst of the sensory assault, the shipborne battles and jungle-strife, kept expecting the action to be interrupted with the booming gravelly voice "This summer …"
Some might find their enthusiasm for the Pirates films sinking. Johnny Depp's Sparrow is a genuinely funny character and Johnny Depp still puts the ho-ho into yo-ho-ho.

Cultures of the movie

In this movie I have found some cultural. For example, in their dressing and make up, I found that have their own culture. Jack Sparrow’s dreadlocks, an aesthetic influenced rock and rolls approach to pirates. In addition to a red bandanna Sparrow wears numerous objects in his hair, influenced to a habit of collecting souvenir from his travel. Jack Sparrow also has a signature leather hat. In the series, the other character could not wear leather hat to make Sparrow’s unique. Sparrow's weapons are genuine 18th century pieces: his sword dates to the 1740s, while his pistol is from the 1760s. Both were made in London. Angelica's pirate costume is sexy because it allows women to show a bit of shoulder and cleavage (if desired) and empowering because the costume includes swords and wearing jackets, vest and pants. Moreover, soldier in this movie also have their own dressing. Costume in this movie is fancy and pirates style. Due to the movie’s place setting is at London, England; hence, their costume’s concept will be in English colonial period dressing style.

In addition, the culture is about their language. In the whole movie, all the character is using the British slang to communicate due to this story is set in the English Colonial Period, which could be anywhere from late 1600s to mid 1700s. British slang is English language slang used in Great Britain. Slang is informal language sometimes peculiar to a particular social class or group and its use in Britain dates back to before the 16th century. The language of slang, in common with the English language, is changing all the time; new words and phrases are being added and some are used so frequently by so many, they almost become mainstream. While American slang is slang words that used in America. British slang is different to American slang. For example, in American slang use the word “angry” while in British slang use the words “pissed off”. In addition, character Captain Jack Sparrow always using a word “savy”. This word is in early 60th century Spanish language which means understand.

Furthermore, there is some culture that I had found in the Pirate’s ship. From physical, pirate ship in this movie made from wood because of the lack of technology in the English colonial period. The picture above is one of the ship that shown in the movie. This ship name is Black Pearl. It owned by Captain Jack Sparrow. There are some lifestyles in the ship that scene in the movie. For example, when the weather was nice there wasn't a lot to do. The pirates usually took the time to fix damaged ropes and sails. In bad weather or when they were in pursuit of a potential target, they were very busy. The pirates would have to climb the rigging to change the sails, prepare the cannon, and keep a lookout on the main mast.

In addition, cleaning a ship was very important. A dirty hull would slow the pirates down when they were in pursuit of a target. To clean a ship, they would drag the vessel onto a beach and scrape the hull. They would scrape off barnacles, weeds, and other items that might be attached. In the movie, Captain Jack Sparrow always led his crew members in cleaning the ship. While they cleaning he ship, they also will sang songs to show their team spirit. In the movie, I discovered that their food was awful and the cook was usually a pirate who lost his arm and couldn't do anything else on the ship. The menu aboard the pirate ship usually consisted of pickled meat and dry biscuits. When they landed on an island they hunted for new game and looked for fresh water.

In conclusion, by watching this movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, I have known a lot of cultures about the pirates and English Colonial Period; such as their language, dressing and lifestyle.

Assignment I ( Movie Review - HOP 2011)

What is communication?

Communication is the sharing of ideas and information. While many people think of communication primarily in oral or written form, communication is much more. A knowing look or a gentle touch can also communicate a message loud and clear, as can a hard push or an angry slap. Communication is defined as the act of transmitting, a giving or exchanging of information, signals, or messages as by talk, gestures, or writing, the information, signals, or message and close, sympathetic relationship. Beside that, communication also a means of communicating, example a system for sending and receiving messages, as by telephone, telegraph, radio, etc. Other than that, a system as of routes for moving troops and material, a passage or way for getting from one place to another, the art of expressing ideas, example in speech and writing, the science of transmitting information, example in symbols. Those definition suggests that there can be several different types of communication, falling into the categories of non-verbal or verbal.

What is intercultural communication?

Intercultural communication in its most basic form refers to an academic field of study and research. Its seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. The findings of such academic research are then applied to 'real life' situations such as how to create cultural synergy between people from different cultures within a business or how psychologists understand their patients. The definition of intercultural communication must also include strands of the field that contribute to it such as anthropology, cultural studies, psychology and communication. Beside that, intercultural communication principles also guide the process of exchanging meaningful and unambiguous information across cultural boundaries, in a way that preserves mutual respect and minimize antagonism. For these purposes, culture is a shared system of symbols, beliefs, attitudes, values, expectations, and norms of behaviour. It refers to coherent groups of people whether resident wholly or partly within state territories, or existing without residence in any particular territory.

Movie Review : HOP 2011

Hop is a 2011 Easter-themed part live-action-part animated comedy film from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, directed by Tim Hill and produced by Chris Meledandri. The film was released on April 1, 2011 in the United States and the United Kingdom. It stars James Marsden, Kaley Cuoco,Tiffany Espensen, Chelsea Handler, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, David Hasselhoff, Elizabeth Howard, Coleton Ray and the voices of Russell Brand, Hugh Hefner, Hugh Laurie, John Cohen, Janet Healy, Hank Azaria, and Django Marsh.

Plot

On Easter Island, a young rabbit named E.B. (Russell Brand) is intended to succeed his father Mr Bunny (Hugh Laurie) as the Easter Bunny. Intimidated by the calling's demands, E.B. runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a drummer. Mr Bunny sends his three ninja royal guards, the Pink Berets (Janet Healy), to find his son. Meanwhile, Easter Chicks Carlos and Phil (both played by Hank Azaria), plot a coup d'état against Mr Bunny to take over the Easter organization. Wandering through Los Angeles, E.B. is hit by Fred O'Hare (James Marsden), an out of work slacker who was driving to his sister Sam's (Kaley Cuoco) boss's house he's housesitting . Feigning injury, E.B. persuades Fred to take him in as he recovers, but when E.B. causes trouble Fred attempts to abandon him in the wilderness. E.B. persuades the human to help him by claiming to be the Easter Bunny, whom Fred saw in operation in his youth. The rabbit sees the Berets closing in on him and hides inside a business where Fred is having job interview. E.B. enjoys a successful recording session with the Blind Boys of Alabama as their substitute drummer, but ruins Fred's job interview. In the process, E.B. gets a tip about a possible audition for David Hasselhoff, who invites him to perform on his show. Afterward, Fred attends his adopted younger sister Alex's (Tiffany Espensen) Easter school pageant with E.B. hiding in a satchel. E.B., alarmed that the Pink Berets have apparently found him and disgusted by Alex's awful rendition of Here Comes Peter Cottontail, dashes out and disrupts the show. Fred feigns a ventriloquist's act with the bunny's cooperation as his dummy and they lead the show in singing, "I Want Candy". Both his father, Henry (Gary Cole) and Alex, are angry about the upstaging, but Fred is inspired to be the Easter Bunny himself. E.B. is skeptical, but he agrees to train the human and finds that Fred has some genuine talent for it. As the Pink Berets close in on him, E.B. prepares a decoy to fake his death and leaves for Hasselhoff's show. The Berets see the decoy and, horrified that the human has apparently killed E.B., capture Fred and take him to Easter Island. Fred is held captive and confronted by Mr Bunny and Carlos about killing E.B. Carlos pretends to be upset about E.B.'s death, ignores Fred's protests about the truth of the decoy and seizes control of the Easter factory. Meanwhile, at the Hoff Knows Talent live show E.B. is in his dressing room preparing for his performance but his reflection begins to berate him for leaving Fred. Just then a production assistant (also Russell Brand) arrives to tell him that he is next to perform. E.B. leaves his dressing room and begins to feel guilty about leaving Fred so he discusses the situation with Hasselhoff, who advises him to go back and help his friend. E.B. finds evidence of Fred's capture and races back to the factory. He confronts Carlos, but is immobilized in gummi candy and tossed into the chocolate bunny carving line. Fred and Mr Bunny are tied up with black licorice and are to be boiled alive. Fred manages to free himself and Mr Bunny by eating away the licorice and E.B. survives by dodging the blades. Carlos, now a chick-bunny combination due to Easter magic engages battle with E.B. and defeats him easily due to his size and then tries to lead the Easter Egg sleigh out with Phil directing via lighted wands. To stop the launch, E.B. improvises a drum session. Uncontrollably driven to dance to the beat, Phil provides the wrong signals, causing a crash and Carlos is subdued. After being defeated, Carlos is made to pull the Easter Egg sleigh and Phil is made the new head of the Easter Chicks. E.B. and Fred are made co-Easter bunnies and take over the job. Fred's family is now proud that he has a job and responsibilities. In an after-credits scene, Fred & EB are in China delivering an Easter basket to the same woman who had previously attacked Mr Bunny earlier in the film.

Cast

Live action actors

• James Marsden as Fred O'Hare - The deuteragonist. A human who takes in E.B. to recover after he accidentally hits him with his car. When he was younger Fred saw E.B.'s Dad at work very early one Easter morning and ever since, he has had a secret dream of doing the job himself.
• Coleton Ray as Young Fred.
• Kaley Cuoco as Samantha "Sam" O'Hare - Fred's younger sister.
• Tiffany Espensen as Alex O'Hare - Fred and Sam's adopted younger sister.
• Gary Cole as Henry O'Hare - Bonnie's husband and Fred, Sam, and Alex's father.
• Elizabeth Perkins as Bonnie O'Hare - Henry's wife and Fred, Sam and Alex's mother.
• Chelsea Handler as Mrs. Beck - the lady who interviews Fred in his job interview.
• David Hasselhoff as Himself - The host of "Hoff Knows Talent".
• Russell Brand as a "Hoff Knows Talent" production assistant who pronounces E.B.'s name wrong.
• Christian Long as a "Hoff Knows Talent" production assistant.
• Hugh Hefner as Himself.
• Dustin Ybarra as Cody - an office worker who has a brief encounter with Fred during his job interview.

Voices

• Russell Brand as E.B. - The main protagonist. A 19 year old rabbit who would rather be a drummer than be the next Easter Bunny. Brand also makes a short cameo appearance as a production assistant.
• Django Marsh as Young E.B.
• Hugh Laurie as Mr Bunny (E.B.'s Dad) - The current Easter Bunny who wants E.B. to take over the family business instead of becoming a drummer.
• Hank Azaria as Carlos and Phil: § Carlos: The main antagonist and the leader of the Easter Chicks who has grown tired of always being Mr Bunny's number two (or lieutenant) and decides to lead a coup d'état.
• Phil: Carlos' fun loving sidekick who enjoys music more than working.
• John Cohen as the other Easter Chicks and the other Easter Bunnies.
• Janet Healy as The Pink Berets (Fluffy, Patch, and Bit) - A trio of royal guard rabbit ninjas sent out by Mr Bunny to find E.B.

The Traditional of Eastern

Easter, while the most important event in the Christian year - because belief in the resurrectionof Jesus and the salvation brought by it is the essential element of the religion - is at the same time characterised by elements of the celebration that are pagan in origin. There are a variety of traditions in the religious calendar year that link holidays with food and abstention from it. Many Christians practise fasting (postene) or abstention from some types of food at certain times of the year. Fasting is an ancient practice, which some believe has its origins in people wanting to cleanse their bodies and souls after the indulgences of the harvest or after a long winter.In Bulgaria some of the figures and shapes dyed on eggs represent the steps that Jesus undertook. Eggs are always dyed on the Good Thursday. They are all dyed using the most widely used technique with a pen, outlining the contours of mostly solar symbols with wax. Rosetta, flowers or swastika are also drawn on the eggs, a practice derived from Indo-European symbols of the sun.

Movie Review: Outsourced

What is Communication?

                       Communication refers to a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange information and ideas but also create and share meaning. It is where sending, giving or exchanging information takes place between individuals through verbal or nonverbal means like speech, writing, signs or behavior. As the old saying goes, communication is key, which clearly shows that communication is very important. Through communication, we get to know the information we are looking for and if we do not understand, we can ask questions and explanations will be given in return. Our verbal ability also enables us to learn from the past and to benefit from the experience of others.

                                               

                       Communication is divided into non-verbal communication and verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is the act of speaking without using words. For instance, facial gestures (smiling, frowning), body language (arms crossed, legs shaking resembling nervousness), eye contact and the impression you give to others with your appearance (dressing, body image). Body language is considered equally as important as the language of words. It can often provide more information than verbal comments. Posture, facial expressions, hand gestures, and body position all communicate and deliver messages in powerful ways.

                       On the other hand, verbal communication is the act of speaking by using words. The examples of this include in different forms of language such as written, voice and sign language. Information written in words can be published, copied and translated into different languages to allow distribution to all places around the world. Vocal information can be recorded and done the same way. As more communication channels open up and more words are written, the interaction between countries is also greatly increased. Both non-verbal and verbal communication is used on a daily basis. 

What is Intercultural Communication?

                       Intercultural communication is defined as the communication among people from different cultural backgrounds. It is a form of global communication. It involves a wide range of communication among people around the world. Intercultural communication would happen because the ever growing of the world’s population increases the contacts within the areas of business, education, mass media, entertainment, tourism and immigration among countries. It seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. It focuses on languages, social attributes, thought patterns and the different cultures. It helps contribute to some fields of study like anthropology, communication, cultural studies and psychology.

                       Other than that, intercultural communication is referred to as the base for international business. Some executives that are working on the international stage will take intercultural training to ease the communication with people from other parts of the world and increase the productivity and efficiency. Intercultural communication principles help to guide the process of exchanging information and ideas across cultural boundaries with the hope to preserve mutual respect and minimize confusion, antagonism and misunderstandings. If you do not clearly understand one’s culture, you may behave in a way that that particular culture views as offensive, causing misunderstandings between cultures.

Movie review : Outsourced

                       The movie that I am doing a review on is Outsourced. It is directed by John Jeffcoat and released on 12 September 2006. It is a modern day comedy of cross-cultural conflict and romance. The movie Outsourced, winner of an Audience Award at Cinequest Film Festival 2007, tells of a novelty product company who relocates their call center department from Seattle, Washington to India. It is filmed partly in Seattle, but mostly in India. It evolves around American and Indian culture.

                       In the movie, you can see the characters dealing with the issue of outsourcing through the exploration of the differences between American and Indian culture. In tackling the current trend of outsourcing, Outsourced not only captures the spirits of a new India, but also of a newly globalized world and of the importance of cross-cultural understanding. It also does a wonderful job of presenting the beauty of India and the cultural faux pas of many Americans traveling to such different and exotic cultures and experiencing culture shocks.

                       During a Q&A session with the director, writers and actors of the movie, John Jeffcoat, being the director and co-writer stated that he had spent quite some time in Nepal and India during his student years. Therefore, here goes a little inspiration of the movie. The cultural shocks and experiences the main character goes through in the movie were largely based on John’s own experiences during his time abroad.

                       The movie is praised of being affectionate and accurate in presenting the Indian characters and offering a few insights into Indian culture. It also handles the outsourcing issue well. Other than that, it would have been very easy for the filmmakers to fall back into stereotypes while penning and shooting this movie. Instead, they did a very impressive job of capturing a good and realistic snapshot of what India like without trying to cause any misunderstandings. However, some audiences think it is making fun of both American and Indian cultures and showing disrespect towards the Indians.

                      All people have varied culture. Each culture gives them an identity, which makes them unique and different from people of other cultures. We need to learn to understand and respect our own culture, as well as cultures from all parts of the world. In Outsourced, you will see people growing respect towards one culture to another and learning to adapt in a new culture. After watching this movie, I have more appreciation on my own culture and other cultures.

Plot of the Movie

                  Todd Anderson (Played by Josh Hamilton)    

Todd, working as a Seattle-based customer service manager for Western Novelties that sells American-themed products like patriotic gewgaws and novelties finds out that his entire department has been outsourced to India. He is then sent by his boss, David to go to Gharapuri, India to train his replacement, Puro. He has no choice but to travel to India reluctantly as if he quits, he will lose his stock options that he has been asking for months. He only hopes to whip the Indian customer-service center into shape and then returns back as fast as possible.        

   

               Taxi driver misspelling his name as “Mr. Toad”

Upon arriving, he fails to spot the driver sent to welcome him because the taxi driver misspells his name as “Mr. Toad” instead of “Mr. Todd”. As with no basic knowledge of the language or the culture of India, Todd experiences culture shock. He is confused from catching a train to hiring a taxi. He wildly over tips a beggar woman at the airport. He finds himself riding in one of those three-wheeled open-air taxis. He makes the mistake of eating street food. He encounters new definitions of the acceptable (on a crowded bus, a young boy politely stands up to offer Todd his seat, then sits back down on his lap).
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Jess-Assignment 1

Communication

Communication is a process involves transmission of information between living organism by symbols, actions, speech or signs. Communication is also considered as completed once the receiver could understand the sender. A communication is construe as good if it involves ‘two way traffic’ between two parties, meaning a discussion has occurred. A discussion that allowed the receiver to ask questions and receive answer from the sender will help in better understanding each other. Besides that, in order to reduce the misunderstanding and make the communication more success, sender and receive should have the same or common signs, words and signals. Therefore, they could easily understand each other.

In earlier time, people communicated through sign or symbols, performing drama and poetry. People used different rhythms to represented different events. The headman of the village mostly become sender meanwhile the people of village plays the role of the receiver. For example the headman of village will use the rhythm of ‘Rentak Alu-alu’ to announce death while during the Friday prayer, the ‘tidung melompat’ rhythm was used. However, with the advancement of technology in 21st century, communication can now utilize latest technology to ‘send out’ or disseminate information to a wider audience. Regardless of what kind of communication, a message will be needed to be transferred from sender to receiver in every instance of a communication.

Communication can be differentiated into two parts, which are verbal communication and non verbal communication. Verbal communication allows people to communicate face-to-face. Sound, words, speaking and language are the key components of verbal communication. Therefore, it also included oral and written communication. Although words alone have no meaning, human put meaning into words. Lexemes can be defined as human spoken languages whereas grammars are the rules of the symbols that are manipulated. As human progress, the development of spoken language has advanced as meaning is assigned to words. Since at a very tender age, we already start learning language in order to communicate. Today, there are approximately 3000-6000 languages that are being spoken by people all over the world. Languages are the manner of expression for any living organism to interact with each other. Every language has it own rules and signals, such as tones, gestures or written symbols.

Nonverbal communication defined as a process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. (Segal.J., 2010) Nonverbal communication includes the facial expressions, eye contact, body language and tone of voice. Usually people used nonverbal communication for repetition, contradiction, substitution, complementing and accenting. The most studied forms of nonverbal communication are body language, which usually constitute more than 50% in our communication.   For example when you are feeling disgusting or fear from something or someone, you will position yourself far away from it. Your behavior will show the cue of how you feel.

           

Intercultural Communication

            Intercultural communication considers as a form of global communication which importance in examines how people interact with each other from different culture, religious, beliefs, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

 In the study of intercultural communication, people seek for the understanding of how different countries, background and cultures people interact. Intercultural communication is also known as cross-cultural communication.

Usually, intercultural communication will focuses on language that people use to interact. Besides that, it also focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. Intercultural communication take place in many studies such as anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, psychology and communication studies. Basically, intercultural communication is also required in international businesses as the base of study.

In intercultural field, there are many research that having different definitions of ‘intercultural communication’. For example from the view of Karlfried Knapp, intercultural communication is the interpersonal interaction between members of different groups, which differ from each other in respect of the knowledge shard by their members and in respect of their linguistic forms of behavior.

In the history of cross-cultural communication, the research of Edward T. Hall was most famous because it have a deeper meaning of intercultural communication. Moreover, the works of Geert Hofstede, Harry C. Triandis, Fons Trompenaars, Clifford Geertz and Shalom Schwartz were also giving good idea of intercultural communication in next generation’s future studies.  

Those researchers had developed many theories for applying to many fields such as business, management, marketing, advertising and website design. As international business becomes more important, many companies get to understand that the important of intercultural communication could help to manage the structure of their companies, their staff and communicate with customers. Due to growing multicultural populations, intercultural communication theories are also used within education, health care and other public services.

There are several theories can be distinguished in different strands such as focus on effective outcomes, on accommodation or adaption, on identity negotiation and management, on communication networks, on acculturation and adjustment and other theories. There are three components such as knowledge (information that could help effective interaction), motivation (positive affect toward the other culture) and skills (behavior and act that effect the interaction appropriately) combined as intercultural communicative competence.  

Although intercultural communication is important, it also will go wrong causing misunderstanding. That is because people from different culture will decode message differently. Factors such as rights, needs, values, assumptions and the situation will increased the chance of misunderstanding.

 The assumption of our own culture might not apply in another culture. For example in Thai culture, un-married women and men can’t hold each other’s hands. Meanwhile, in European culture men and women were allowed. Shaking hands while meeting each other was represented polite behavior. There are five ways to minimize the risk of misunderstood and improve communication. Thus, everyone could understand the nature and purpose of the interaction.

 First, we should avoid using slang and idioms because that might bring different meaning in the thoughts of different people. Therefore, choosing the correct words that could convey only the most specific denotative meaning would avoid misunderstanding. Besides that, listen carefully is one of the factors. For example people from different countries will have different their local accents and pronunciation. That is also a problem in communication so we should ask for confirmation of understanding if in doubt.

Moreover, we also should able to recognize the accenting and intonation and respect other culture. When the language is unequal, body language will take role in communication. Thus, watching any changes in body language will improve communication. Finally, we should investigate other culture’s perception of our culture by reading literature. This will help us more understanding the other culture and bearing as a visitor in their culture. 

In conclusion, intercultural communication plays the important role in many fields. Intercultural communication might cause misunderstanding. However, we willing to prepare ourselves in studying other culture then we could improve our communication.

History of Movie

Movie	Jab we met
Directed by	Imtiaz Ali
Produced by	Dhillin Mehta
Screenplay by	Imtiaz Ali
Story by	Imtiaz Ali
Stariring	Shahid Kapoor…Aditya Kashyap
	Kareena Kapoor…Geet Dhillon
	Tarun Arora…Anshuman
	Dara Singh…Dadaji
	Pavan Malhotra…Geet’s Chacha
	Kiran Juneja… Mrs. Dhilon
	Saumya Tandon…Roop Dhilon
	Nihar Thakkar… Raghav
	Manushka Khisty… Meher
	F.J. Jussawala… Mother’s lawyer
	Vishal Sharma… Aditya’s lawyer
	Rohini Sahni… Bride
	Deepak Sharma… Groom
Genre	Comedy/ Romantic
Runtime	143 Mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi
	Punjabi
	English
Subtitles	English
Music by	Songs:
	Pritam Chakraborty
	Sandesh Shandilya
	Background Score:
	Sanjoy Chowdhury
Cinematography	Natarajan Subramaniam
Editing by	Aarti Bajaj
Distributed by	Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd
Release date	October 26, 2007

Movie Review

In this assignment, I chose the Hindi movie that named Jab we met as my topic. First of all, I would like to mention a little bit about the synopsis of this movie.

 Jab we met translated in English is when we met, which also bring out the meaning of this films that a couple met together and fall in love. Aditya Kashyap (Shahid Kapoor) was depressed after the passing of his father, Dharamraj, who is a recently deceased famous industrialist.

Due to Aditya’s girlfriend ditching him, Aditya become more depressed. Therefore, after attending her girlfriend’s marriage, he boards a train in the night and appears on the verge of committing suicide. In Chatrapati Shivaji Train Terminus, Aditya meets Geet Kaur Dhillon,a beautiful, lively and talkative young woman who is leaving Mumbai and back to her hometown, Bathinda in Punjab.

At the beginning, Aditya found that Geet is very annoying and irritating, so he decided to leave. However, Geet follows him and so she missed her train. This also caused that Geet confronts Aditya have to responsible for getting her safely return to her house. In the journey to Bathinda, Aditya begin to feel good about life as spending so much time with Geet.

 When they arrived, Geet’s family misunderstand that both of them were lover. Aditya also hide his real identity and tells her family he is a musician. Due to Geet’s family want Geet to marry Manjeet, an old childhood friend of Geet, she runs away from her home with Aditya. Actually Geet’s true love is Anshuman in Manali, she decided to find and marry him.

After Aditya returned to Mumbai, he guides his company to extreme success with positive outlook on life. Due to the influence of Geet, Aditya also launched a new calling card named ‘Geet’. At this moment, Aditya noticed from Geet’s family that Geet has not returned home. Thus, he went to find her and promise will return her to her family.

 In Manali, Aditya find out Anshuman refuse to marry Geet and left her out to the streets. However, luckily he finally tracks her down in Shimla. After the convincing, Geet back to her hometown and get back her normal life. Within the moment, Geet and Aditya realized that they love each other. In the end, they get married and having two daughters. 

            In this movie, it has shown two different cultures which are Punjabi and Hindu. Aditya is a Hindu guy who from big city, Mumbai. Therefore, when he arrive Geet’s house, who is a Punjabi, he could not fully understand the language, their practice and behavior. However, Aditya only could understand their communication by body language. That is why it also caused misunderstood sometime while Aditya communicate with Geet’s family.

            As we all know Bollywood movie mostly having dance and singing and in this movie is the same. In those singing and dancing scene, we could see that they are wearing Punjabi suit. Besides Punjabi suit, Punjabi men also need to wear head cover which named Patka or Distaar. For Punjabi girl, they were wearing Salwar Kameez which is a traditional wear.  Different cultures also have their own music instrumental. In this movie, we also can find the famous music instrumental that always been used among Punjabi, Nagada.

            In conclusion, we could find many culture of Punjabi in this movie. Furthermore, Jab we met is also a nice movie which suit for couple and family to watch. It shown many values such as family love, forgiveness, positive thinking about life and importance of friendship.

My Assignment 1

Introduction

Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. It is a two-way activity between two or more people. So, we can say it is a giving or exchanging of information, signals, or messages as by talk, gestures, or writing. When this results to have an understanding to both of them, therefore there is already a communication. In other words, when a person is talking, the other person should listen so that he will understand to what the other person is talking about. This process requires skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal, including processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. We can use those processes in our daily lives, such as in home, school, work, and other places. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.

Intercultural communication often used to refer to the wide range of communication issues that inevitably arise within an organization composed of individuals from a variety of religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. It must also include strands of the field that contribute to it such as anthropology, cultural studies, psychology and communication. It helps us to understand how people from different countries and cultures behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. Each of these individuals brings a unique set of experiences and values to the workplace, many of which can be traced to the culture in which they grew up and now operate. The findings of such academic research are then applied to real life situations such as how to create cultural synergy between people from different cultures within a business or how psychologists understand their patients.

Development and Production of the Movie

The Smurfs was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, and Sofía Vergara. It is a 2011 American 3D family film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Peyo and the 1980s animated TV series. It is the first CGI/live-action hybrid film to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation and in The Smurfs trilogy. The film was known as The Smurfs Movie during early production.

In 1997, Jordan Kerner, producer of them sent the first letter to The Smurfs' licensing agent Lafig Belgium for expressing his interest in making a feature film. It was not until 2002 after a draft of Kerner's film adaptation of Charlotte's Web was read by Peyo's heirs, that they accepted Kerner's offer. Peyo's daughter, Véronique Culliford and family had wanted to make a Smurfs film for years and said that Kerner was the first person to pitch a film that shared their "vision and enthusiasm". Kerner soon began developing the 3D CGI feature film with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. In 2006, Kerner said the film was planned to be a trilogy and would explain more of Gargamel's back-story. Early animation footage was leaked on the internet in early 2008.

In June 2008, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation obtained the film rights from Lafig Belgium. Kerner said the current project started with Sony during a conversation with the chairman, who grew up watching The Smurfs in the Netherlands. Kerner explained, "He relished them as I do and suggested that it should be a live-action. Amy Pascal felt equally that there was potentially a series of films in the making”. On a budget of $110 million, principal photography began in New York City on March 26, 2010. In May, scenes were filmed in the Soho of Manhattan. That month, scenes were shot all night for five nights in a row at F.A.O. Schwartz toy store. Production was temporarily halted after a worker fell 30 feet from a set at the toy store on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. Other locations used for filming were Belvedere Castle, the Russian Tea Room, Rockefeller Center, and Brooklyn's Prospect Park. A Belvedere Castle set was built as an exact replica of the real castle. However, it is two-thirds the actual size and has wooden grates as floors to create additional contrast. Production eventually found the rare parts at garage sales, flea markets, on eBay and Craigslist.

 In order to help the Smurfs' animators during post-production, cinematographer Phil Meheux and his team would light up a scene where the Smurfs would be digitally added using 7 and one half-inch tall models to stand in during set-up and rehearsals. The actors know where the Smurf will be when it is animated later, so their eyelines will match. Besides, during the process the Imageworks visual effects team used a new camera system to precisely record the on-set lighting. So, it could be applied later in the computer. When time came to film a scene that would include actors and Smurfs, each Smurf was represented by a different colored dot and the actors had to remember which dot was which Smurf. The Smurf characters were created during post-production by 268 Sony Pictures Imageworks employees who spent around 358,000 hours animating. Character designer Allen Battino, a long time Kerner collaborator, was brought in to redesign the characters for CGI. The release date of The Smurfs is on July 29, 2011.

Movie Review

All the Smurfs get ready for the Blue Moon Festival. Papa Smurf sees a vision of the Smurfs in cages, Clumsy Smurf holding a dragon wand, and Gargamel being powerful. So, he decides to suspend Clumsy from picking Smurf Roots but Clumsy secretly does so anyway. However, Gargamel sees him and follows him into the village. He goes into the smurfs village and try to catch them for smurfs essences. He almost destroys the whole village by smacking his net to catch them. The Smurfs all flee, and Clumsy runs into a forbidden cave. Papa, Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy and Gutsy notice this. Then, they follow him and find him at the edge of a cliff and all of them are trying to help him up. After that, they are sucked into a gigantic vortex, leading to New York Central Park. They meet Patrick and Grace, a married couple. They befriend with them and allow them to stay in their apartment. However, the evil magician, naming Gargamel and his cat, Azreal follow them to New York. Gargamel want to catch them for their Smurfs Essence.

Papa learns that he will be able to get them all home in a couple nights. But first, he must figure out the spell to do so. Patrick tells them that there is an old book store in the city, and they head there to get a spell book. After lots of searching, they find one of their own comic books, containing the spell.  Gargamel hears where they are, so he sneaks into the book store and finds a dragon wand, which he then steals. He uses the dragon wand to abduct Papa. The Smurfs promise Papa that they won't try to save him. However, Clumsy stayed behind, so he plans a rescue, along with Patrick. The other Smurfs agree to help. Meanwhile, Gargamel is going to take the Smurf essence from Papa and charge it into the dragon wand, which would make him more powerful than anything else in the world.

Patrick and the Smurfs battle Gargamel while Smurfette saves Papa. Besides, Brainy reads the spell and opens up the portal that allows him to go home and round up his friends. All smurfs gathers and try to attack Gargamel. Then, Gargamel captures Papa again and throws him into the air, but Patrick catches him. Right before Gargamel can destroy them both, Gutsy knocks the dragon wand out of his hand. Clumsy tries to catch it and Papa believes that he will fail. However, he manages to catch it. Without his dragon wand, Gargamel is powerless, and Papa destroys the wand once and for all and the Smurfs return home. Patrick and Grace have a baby boy, whom they name Blue, and the Smurfs rebuild their houses to look like what humans have.

Cultures in the Movie

 The Smurfs are mostly male and very short, about 3 medieval apples’ height/ They are blue skin, white trousers with a hole for their short tails, white hat in the style of a Phrygian cap. Sometimes, some additional accessories identify personalities of Smurfs. For example, Handy Smurf wears overalls instead of the standard trousers, a brimmed hat and a pencil above his ear. Besides, the leader of the village, Papa Smurf, can be identifiable by his red clothes and white beard. He is also the only Smurf to wear a red hat. Next, they love to eat sarsaparillam, which is a species of Smilax leaves and they eat berries too. Those berries in the Smurfs Village are naturally call "smurfberries".

In the Smurfs movie, the Smurf village is made up of mushroom-like houses of different shapes and sizes in a desolate and rocky land. Papa Smurf is the leader of the community. Other Smurfs are generally named after their personality disposition. For example, Brainy, Greedy, Vanity, Lazy, Clumsy and Grouchy. Another way to name them is according their profession. For example, Poet, Actor, Handy, Harmony, Farmer, Clockwork, Painter, Tailor, Miner, Architect, Reporter, Timber, Barber and Doctor Smurf. Other Smurf character includes  Smurfette. Smurfette was created by Gargamel to lure the other Smurfs. Papa Smurf then changed her into what a female Smurf. The Smurfs' community generally takes the form of a cooperative, sharing, and kind environment based on the principle that each Smurf has something he is good at and thus contributes it to Smurf society as he can. In return, each Smurf appears to be given their necessities of life, from housing and clothes to food without using any money in exchange. Besides, they like to sing their song when doing things. For example, they sing “Lalalalalala…Sing a happy song.. Lalalalalala.. Smurfs the all day long..” when they are working and they believes that sing when working will help them to make to job better and more efficient. Humans such as Gargamel are shown to live nearby, though it is almost impossible for an outsider to find the Smurf village except when led by a Smurf.

The Smurfs speak a very strange language. Some words are replaced by “Smurf”, as well as some of the verbs. A characteristic of the Smurf language is the frequent use of the word "Smurf" and its derivatives in a variety of meanings. The Smurfs replace enough nouns and verbs in everyday speech with "Smurf" as to make their conversations barely understandable. For example, "We're going smurfing on the River Smurf today." When used as a verb, the word "Smurf" typically means "to make," "to be," or "to do." Humans have found that replacing ordinary words with the term "Smurf" at random is not enough. Context offers a reliable understanding of this speech pattern, but common vocabulary includes remarking that something is "just smurfy" or "smurftastic". For instance, some Smurfs called a certain object a "bottle smurfer” while another Smurfs called it a "smurf opener". This story is considered a parody on the still ongoing language war.

We can see culture of magic too. Both Smurfs and Gargamel believe in spells and magic. When Papa Smurf is not being a leader, he loves to indulge in magical chemistry, alchemy and other field of knowledge too. Besides, Papa Smurf makes life-prolonging potions to save other smurfs who get themselves into trouble. Other than that, he also can view some visions in his room in order to predict what are going to happen and what should he do to avoid this. When those Smurfs are staying in New York City, they hope to go back their village and Papa say they need to use spells to make the blue moons rises and this will lead them to go back Smurfs Village. So, they need to find the Great Book of Spell in the bookstore. The Great Book of Spells can only be activated on the night of a full moon and from that point on will remain active for until the sun goes down the next day. On the other hand, Gargamel uses magic to create machine, get Smurfs Essences and do other things. The Smurfs Essences which in blue colour can help him to get what he want and become the most powerful magician in the world. 

On the other hand, when Smurfs go to New York City from their Smurfs Village, they find out another culture which is different from theirs. In New York City, people are busy with their work. For example, Patrick has enthusiasm towards his job and tries very hard to figure out new marketing strategy and poster for Anjelou, the cosmetics company he work to. He needs to sketch and design the poster himself. In Smurfs Village, they do things together and they are so corporative.  For example, they prepare for Blue Moon Festival together. Besides, the people in New York City do not believe in magic. People living in there believe in science and facts. They do not same with those Smurfs, believing in spells and magic. For example, they read spells and make the “tunnel” in order to go back to their village. Then, New York people wear formal when working and change different clothes after that. They do not same with Smurfs who wear the same thing every day. This is also a difference between both human and Smurfs. In the movie, when Smurfette knows that Grace has different dresses, she feels incredible and hope herself can have varies types of clothes too. Furthermore, they stay in their houses such as villa and apartments whereas Smurfs stay in their mushrooms. In language, New York people speak English without the usage of “Smurf” word. They will express their feeling by using the proper English and this will not confuse their listener and avoid misunderstanding.