Wall-E is a modern and charming cartoon that harkens back to the original cartoon shows of yore, where all you would hear was music and all you saw was silent animation. Wall-E depends on very little dialogue to make its point, resorting to an abundance of non-verbal communication instead. Through the numerous robots’ change in body language and facial expressions, one is able to ascertain perfectly well the entire plot of the movie. Indeed, this cartoon makes words look redundant.
Its plot is that Wall-E, the main robot character who has lived alone on Earth for 700 years after humans had abandoned it (due to extreme pollution making the Earth unlivable), finally finds company when Eve, another robot sent from a human spacecraft (where the humans have since been living) enters Earth in search of living life. He falls in love with Eve, and chases her across the galaxies to try and have his love reciprocated. Its a simple story, but one that is made genuine and sweet by the sincerity and innocence of Wall-E and Eve’s actions. Watch the following clip to get an idea of the character and emotions portrayed by Wall-E throughout the movie. Wall-E is the brown cube-shaped robot and Eve is the shiny white Ipod-looking robot on the moving platform.
You notice that he squeals plaintively and reaches out to Eve when she is transported away from him, he flails in confusion and apprehension when the robot picks him up and his head position and eyes constantly shift to try and absorb his new surroundings, but he doesn't say anything to directly express how he is feeling. He communicates mostly through his body language, facial expressions, and the tone and pitch of his voice and vocalics. These factors are the most important because it helps form the basis of what he is trying to tell us. The words that he does speak (“Oh, Eve!”), while complementing his actions, is largely insignificant because I bet you’d still be able to understand him perfectly well if he didn’t say any words. This demonstrates that non-verbal communication is more important than verbal communication, provided that the non-verbal communication is obvious. Disney, catering to kids, of course would have made it apparent enough for everyone to understand.
Speaking of which, since interpreting body language is perceptive and subjective, Disney would have again thought of universal actions to signify the emotions that it would have wanted Wall-E to portray. This way everybody would be able to understand perfectly well what was going on without any confusion or differing in the meaning of Wall-E’s actions. To make it even more dumb-proof, Disney hired a great composer to perfectly encapsulate Wall-E’s emotions through music. Music is universally affecting and understandable, helping to set the mood for the different scenes in the movie. From the tune alone you would have already formed an impression of what would happen next.
Wall-E goes to the root of interaction, letting us absorb its message through a simple but effective form of communication, allowing us to form instant reactions to its appealing visual animations and song. It’s a great movie that made me feel like a kid again. And God knows it’s been a long time since I was one. What are your thoughts? Spill it out, people.
20 comments:
it is very true how things can come a full circle.
remember the old black and white movies of the 70s starring Charlie Chaplin? film technology was not so advance back then, and speech was difficult to capture on film. however, the simple speechless black and white films laced with emotion evoking music was the first example of non verbal communication through film.
fast forward to the 21st century, and it seems that we're doing things the old fashioned way (minus black and white). looking at how many of us easily understood the movie with ease, i think i can safely conclude that doing things the old fashioned way is still best. Old is Gold.
While I have not watched the movie,and therefore can't really communicate on the subject in relation to the article,I can certainly understand the impact non-verbal communication can have on its audience.
I think Wall-E might open up more movie directors/script writers to motivate them enough in experimenting with more movies involving non-verbal communication.
My favorite example of non verbal communication?
THE FISH SLAPPING DANCE ! from Monthy Python!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMKCLyhBBwI
Oh man! caught the movie, i would say its thoroughly enjoyable! nevermind the lousy reviews that it garnered. Thoroughly agree about the part of non-verbal communication. In fact, i could really appreciate the fact that the plot centred around the machine perspective, comparable to hardcore actions flicks like terminator eh?
Also, its very impressive how animation and body expressions are able to relate to viewers what actually is being expressed. I mean, they are cuboid or cylindrical tincans mind you, yet body language is still highly applicable to them! I guess the easiest to portray would be that of humour, which was the core appeal of it all! oh, and Wall-e is a Klutz! Overall, great movie,awesome experience. Another great job Pixar!
I haven watched the show yet but wow , u certainly made me want to watch it now !!
I am very curious as to how through non verbal communication is the producers going to convey the messages they wanted to bring across in the movie . Is there gonna be any verbal communications in the movie at all ? just wondering ..
Not to mention that the machines are soooo cute =D
Jasper - Hey, of course there'll be talking throughout the movie. It's just that it's different from other animated cartoons in that there's more of body language gestures rather than overt speech as a communication form. Go watch it man, everyone I know who's watched it has enjoyed it immensely.
I believe the producers have done a lot in order to make the non-verbal cues as discrete as possible. However, this is still a film done by Americans and certain cues are not universal. We are all bounded by our own cultures and experiences. For most countries, such as Singapore where it is very much "Americanized", we are better at interpreting and understanding the cues which are portrayed correctly. On the other hand, people from other countries which are not so "Americanized" might still interpret the cues base on their culture. This is one of the reasons why misinterpretation occurs.
You really have to hand it to Pixar! Since the times of Woody and Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, Pixar has consistently continued churning out characters that are imaginative, interactively real, and attractive.
The stark contrast this movie has with other animated movies is that most another animations are characterized by a kind of hyper-wordplay with the most frenetic comedic actors filling the main roles (think Shrek, Happy Feet, or, most recently, Kung-Fu Panda), while Wall-e explores the beauty of non-verbal communication. This just allows such a wide spectrum of audience to appreciate the film, ranging from adults, to even small kids.
Regards,
Shawn Lee Wei Bin
It sure is evident that how each and every one of us knows the impact non verbal cues can have on our lives. A simple smile, could be perceieved as a friendly gesture by one but might be misinterpreted as an act of flirting by another. Like you mentioned in your article, its perceptive and subjective. Very true. And Walle, while i have not caught this movie i have heard the message of the movie was so strong despite having just sounds and actions. Thats the good thing about Non-verbal communication, it sets no boundaries. Thats when perception can differ, cultural differences, gender and past experiences all playing a vital role.
I would think, that perhaps we are over substantiating Wall-e's quality with that of which we ourselves believe would apply. In an indirect form of buyer's remorse, we justify our watching of the show with the commonly accepted reaction we perceive to be applicable with it. Intentional or not, the fact remains that:
1. Wall-e is a show intended for children
2. The developers capitalized on a current, decaying trend by providing us with something only slightly above "currently accepted" animated movie quality (with co-releases including things like space monkeys) thus falsely creating an illusion of something better than it actually is.
Being a man of matter myself, I tend to believe that all these symbolism derived from these sort of situations (much like idiotic poems) are those forcefully driven out by a person. And harsh though it might be, it isn't hard to see it come through in this post.
I won't deprive you of the praise you deserve though, for taking the time to look at media beyond media. That is much worthy of praise in itself.
Cheers.
It's funny how we can understand so much in the absence of actual words being said. I must admit at first I was rather apprehensive about catching this show as I was sceptical about whether the concept would work, but I must say i'm glad I got the chance to see it in the end.
The show demonstrated the power of non-verbal communication. It illustrated how we have that innate ability to understand others' feelings without having to speak a word. Life would be so boring without non-verbal communication. We would be like robots, which is the comic irony of this awesome movie. Sometimes what verbal communication can do, non-verbal communication can do 10 times better. Sometimes, words do not suffice and the only way to truly express one's feelings is to show it in their being. Like the cliche goes: Actions speak louder than words. And I know how you love cliches.
This movie proves that animated cartoons can provide nob-verbal cues just as well as any other movie with real life actors.
Seeing as there is little speech whatsoever in the movie, there are tons of hidden messages throughout the entire film. This adds to the beauty of the film as it is up to us as the audience to piece together all the clues to form a hidden message that the film is trying to convey.
One example many have pointed out is about the environment and the over-dependence on technology. More abstract ones include losing one's purpose in life. You just need to dig around.
face to face communication, 10% of it would be only verbal and 90% of it would be pretty much non-verbal comprising everything from hand gestures to eye movement to the tone we use. Therefore we take in most of the information from non-verbal cues. Also, I believe that non-verbal communication plays a bigger role then verbal communication when trying to persuade someone, so concentrate more on expressing yourself non-verbally =D
Non-verbal comms for the win!
As everyone said, this movie made good use of nonverbal comms and as an animation, (most prob also for kids), we would and should be able to see things that children can relate to.
I havent watched the movie as well, but watching that clip makes me want to watch it. As in the clip, as wall-E entered the what seems to be some sort of an assembly line, he was wondering what was going on. And when he was picked up by the big robot, u can see that he had his arms swinging like a kid with his legs kicking saying "put me down!" "nooo! what are u trying to do!" But not everyone might interpret it the same way i do. So thus the point that perception and interpretation is based on your own culture, and life experiences, including what u consume from the media.
Umiman, hahahaha. What a thought. The forced derivation of meaning from the overanalysis of subject manner. How then will we ever know when the limit is, right. With that argument we can scoff the all the psuedo-critiquers and high-and-mighty arts appreciators who love to discuss the merits of picasso's work and andy warhol's genius - both of which also receive doubts for their supposed level of artistic brilliance.
As we can see, our perceptual sets and style of thinking differ. I choose not to be so disillusioned or cynical with my view of Pixar's folks and their supposed slyness and deception. The glass is always half full for me, man. I know you think otherwise... In the end, we can only live life according to our perceived reality - the truth remains subjective because we may never know if we're living in a bubble of our own socially constructed world or if we have broken free into the arena of total objectivity.
I totally enjoyed watching this movie :) It's was truly amazing how they were able to use non-verbal cues to allow the audience to get an idea of the chracters emotions. The sounds effects they used really helped to let us 'feel' what was going on.
It's enjoyable to see how wall-e was captivated by eva the moment he saw her. It was funny to see wall-e being shy to meet eva and how he kept on following her from a distance and at the same time trying not to be blow to bits by her.
hey kristy. yes, i agree with you on not allowing cynicism to rule our lives. it's just best to go with the flow and stay positive in all you do. helps you lead a more pleasurable and content life.
anyways, WALL-E! i really do think that the actions portrayed in the movie are universally understandable. if you reach out to someone and squeal, isn't it a sign of plaintiveness and wanting them to be with you? i'd bet every baby would have done it to their mom at some point, no matter what culture. if you flail your arms and legs helplessly, does it not give off the impression that you're lost or floundering? it's like how people throw up their arms when they're frustrated. once again, something very easily understood.
so i think all these doubts about how 'universal' this movie is unwarranted.
Whew, thanks Jake for elaborating on that matter. I also think that no matter what people have said, that the actions were pretty universal to me too.
And Emile, yea you can pretty much dig up a plethora of meaning from this movie. But whether the creators of Wall-E ever intended for this movie to have so many deep meanings, I don't know. It would be an interesting thing to find out. Indeed, was this a project just to gain the commercial money or was it also a pet project that enabled its producers to send out the messages that it wanted to the first world civilisations? Probably both. That's the mark of true efficiency, hitting two birds with one stone. (:
Wall E is a great movie to illuatrate non-verbal cues. And music also helps to set the modd for this show. Without the music, some cues might be misinterpreted due to different cultural views perhaps.
However, as the director uses simple, universal cues, I feel that one will easily catch the cues with or without cultural dfferences.
It is a great animation overall!
WALL-E!
i think wall-e's an excellent movie that rightly portrays non-verbal comm.
the way the director first uses robots, and knowing that robot's do not actually talk, and then their actions and facial expressions are fantastically used to show their feelings.
despite having very little dialogue
between the two robots, we can clearly understand the "conversation" they are having.
and despite it being a movie based on non-verbal comm, it was a brilliant success and why? because we can totally understand the non-verbal comm cues used!
so kudos to non-verbal comm! :D
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