EDUC 6165 week 2

The interpretation of the first fifteen minutes of House of Cards, season 1, episode 10, with and without sound are quite different.

With the sound off I saw serious looks on all three characters of the first scene. All were in suites and the two men were in ties. I assumed it was about politics. The lady left the room seemingly upset. Next scene we see that it is in the white house. Serious faces and the main character, Kevin Spacey seems to have authority. Scene with reporters tells us there is serious news to announce. Short scene with a young lady and Kevin Spacey seems intense, maybe it is about the news.

Next scene is with a lady behind her desk who seems to be yelled at by Kevin Spacey. It is a confrontation but she seems to be of authority and he is challenging her decisions. They stand up and argue, just when it seems to be resolving because they both sit down, she gestures for him to leave her office.

The facial expressions and feel of the show is tense and serious. Kevin spacey gets a call in the car which looks serious. He seems to be defying the lady in previous scene.

Next scene seems like a mother daughter scene. Mother seems to be searching or inspecting her daughter's room, disapproval is obvious, condescending body language. It is evening, maybe after work. The same young lady is in the next scene with Kevin Spacey, she seems unhappy still. I cannot tell if he is a friend, family, or boyfriend.

With the sound on, I find out that yes it is political and it is set in the White house. Kevin Spacey who seemed to upset the lady in the first scene was actually defending her. I did not realize that Kevin Spacey spoke to the audience/us. The conversation between the young lady and Kevin Spacey was personal in nature, where as I had thought it was related to politics. She threatens him. The scenes are intense, as I saw without the sound.

Kevin spacey and 'Claire' do have an argument in her office; he confronts her with an issue which is personal. He turns out to be her husband and it is revealed that he had an affair with the younger lady. She does ask him to leave, which was obvious by her body language without volume.

The phone call is intense with threats go back and forth. It was not a mother daughter scene, but the wife and lover of Kevin Spacey, with intimidation and an intense mood. The scene with the young lady and Kevin spacey is lovers and the last scene I saw was him speaking to us, and not thinking to himself.

Although I recognized the White House setting and the intensity of the scenes, I had interpreted the relationships wrongly. I could see that there were confrontations but I did not realize they were personal in nature and that the characters were husband and wife, or man and lover.

Had I known the show and the relationships, I would have definitely interpreted the scenes differently.

I found this assignment very interesting, and such an example of how easily we can misinterpret communications. When we are observing mannerisms, it is easy to make assumptions about people; and similarly, our mannerisms can communicate a lot to others.