Group Assignment 1

Academic Group 14 – Jasmeet Singh | Manojit Ghatak | Ruchika Sharma | Shreya Jain
| Vamsi Krishna | Viraj Khamkar
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Communication

“Life is in their hands – death is on their minds”

The tagline rightly captures the gist of the movie. When we have 12 men gathered to decide the fate of a
young boy who is charged with murder, the way they communicate with each other becomes as important, if
not more, as the facts of the case itself.

1) What are the different communication aspects that you could see in the movie?

The movie beautifully portrays some of the aspects of communication through the discussion that takes place
between these “12 angry men” on that eventful evening.

The nature of communication involved is a group discussion with twelve members who are strangers to each
other meeting in a jury room. It broadly involves two major aspects of communication – verbal
communication and non verbal cues. Some of the finer aspects of communication that came to light were the
environment, the socio-cultural aspects, attitudes and biases, preconceived notions, assertiveness,
barriers to communication, feedback and group dynamics. We could identify that the characters had
unique roles and characteristic styles of communicating.
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The participants – Senders and receivers

The communication involves 12 unrelated men as the senders and the receivers. They have met each other
recently and do not know each other‟s backgrounds. As such, the communication is expected to be of a formal
nature. However as the movie progresses, the individual traits of the men are revealed and the separation of the
facts from their biases comes out to be the real challenge.

We have members from different age groups and different strata of the society each of whom have different
perspectives of the case. The moods of the members are also a factor.

The message – Prejudices and notions

The matter being discussed is a murder case and some of the members in the group have strong notions and
biases relating to the society and the crime, some of which are so strong that they are closed to any
communication.

The environment – The meeting takes place on a hot and humid afternoon in a dull room with no air
conditioning. This makes the communication even more difficult as people are restless and inattentive. The
members are seated around a table which allows them to interact directly with every other person.

Verbal communication –

The form of communication is a dialogue and verbal communication is of prime importance. Some of the
noteworthy aspects that were observed are as follows –

 Clarity of thought and speech – The protagonist was able to impress the other 11 jurors due to his
clarity of thought and open mindedness to arguments. He was able to adjust and communicate
effectively even when the receiver was unresponsive or inattentive. Also, his arguments were based on
facts and he avoided getting into confrontation or personal ego tussles.
 Assertiveness – The protagonist was assertive yet not aggressive. This gave him the edge over others
and his arguments were received well by the audience. On the opposite end, was one of the jurors,
who was overly aggressive and the group lost confidence in him.
 The protagonist was considerate and framed his words so as to not offend anyone. On the other end,
some of the members got into personal confrontations due to inconsiderate comments
 The tone and pitch of voice was also important as it showed emotions like enthusiasm, interest and
anger
 Listening - We also observed that some members showed good listening skills and were open to ideas
while others were not. Examples of the latter may include, one of the members who was busy drawing
his sketches and another who was preoccupied with thoughts about a ballgame.
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Non verbal cues

 The protagonist used demonstration to put across his point. For example, he produced a knife identical
to the murder weapon and later used demonstration to convince the group that it was improbable that
the old man downstairs could have seen the murderer himself.

 The protagonist‟s kinesics, especially body language and eye contact expressed confidence even when
he was the only one against the eleven. The body language of one of the members showed timidity
while some of them were aggressive. Some of them were even displaying an indifferent body
language.

 Some members were getting excited and leaving their seats showing anxiety and anger

Barriers to communication –

 Internal noise - Preconceived notions, personal biases, distractions etc caused barriers to the
communication. There were distractions like the ball game which also affected some members. One of
the members was interested in showing his sketches to others.
 Conflicts between the members were causing the topic to divert at times and the case was taking a
backseat because of personal issues
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2. Can you give me instances where the 3 Vs i.e Verbal, Vocal & Visual were used effectively? (give at
least 1 example of each)

The movie “12 Angry Men” depicts impressively as to how persuasion is made to convince the group and how
different elements of communication are used to make the point effectively.

Almost all the arguments that are made by jurors had these three elements i.e. Verbal, Vocal and Visual in
different proportions, but there were few instances when they are effectively used and when one of them was
instrumental in convincing the group.

To illustrate the above, let us look at the instances or portions of the movie where one of these 3 V‟s i.e
Verbal, Vocal and Visual elements played a significant factor in making the point.

Verbal

 Juror 8, right from the beginning made his points clearly backing up with sound reasoning. For
example the instance where he put forth the point that the old man couldn‟t have heard the boy
shouting clearly as there was an el passing by his room at that moment and also the way he related the
two events of old man hearing the shout and woman seeing the stabbing through the windows of last
two cars of el. This only re-instates the importance of clarity and good reasoning in verbal
communication.

 Another example is the way the 3rd Jury explains each fact one at a time, to justify his position. Jury 3
narrates each incident numbering one after another and in between also pauses to ask “Am I right so
far?” to get in the consent of others in the room (specifically jury 8 who was against, his view). This is
a perfect example of verbal communication where you narrate things in organized manner and also get
acknowledgement from the people to ensure they are in sync.
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Vocal

 Vocal communication is used along with verbal where one uses voice modulation; giving extra stress
on words to convey exactly what he/she wants to explain. The voice modulation and the tone play a
very important role in conveying the point in effective way. For example there is an instance in the
movie where Jury 8 shouts at Jury 2 and Jury 11 when they play on paper when important discussion
is going on. He raises his voice to showcase his frustration at the behavior of the people, but
immediately calms down and continues the discussion to let people realize that he gives importance to
discussion rather than petty fighting with other people.

 Another instance is where jury 8 provokes jury 2 by calling him a self appointed public avenger and a
sadist which infuriates jury 2 to yell out “I‟ll kill you”. At which jury 8 says “You don‟t really mean
you‟ll kill me? Do you?” to make people in the room realize that people generally say such things
under stress and emotion but do not necessarily mean to do so. This he uses effectively to counter the
popular perception that boy was intentional when he said such words to his father.

Visual

 Visual element plays a significant role as it brings out the credibility in what one is saying. One
instance in the movie where the visual aspect is used effectively to convince the group is where the
Juror 8 places the knife similar to the one in exhibit knife to drive home the point that though the knife
is very unusual and is available in rarity, there is a slight possibility that someone else would have got
a similar knife and killed boy‟s father. By showcasing the knife he convinces the group that the
coincidence is possible.
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 Another instance where the visual element plays an influential role is when most of the jurors walk
away from the round table as a mark of protest against the Jury 10 who goes on talking without stating
a reasonable point but purely based on his biased perceptions about people in slum. Most of the
members walk out from the table without saying a word but expressing it very clearly that none of
them are interested in his talk and give no importance to what he says.

3. Throw some light on how the external environment affected the communication process in the movie.

Communication is more effective in case of conducive and amiable environment. If the environment is not
favourable enough, then the communication may not be an effective one. In this movie, following are some of
the factors, which affected the communication process among the 12 jurors:

From the movie it seems that it was a very hot and a humid day. The jurors were very tired after sitting
through the trial for the entire day. So when the jurors were asked to discuss the case in a closed room and
come with a verdict, the impulsive reaction for most of them was to come with a verdict at the earliest because
of the hot temperature of the room. On top of it, when they found the fans and the air conditioners not in a
working condition, it added more to their irritation and forced many of them to be very desperate to close the
case without discussing and analyzing in detail. So their mood to participate in the discussion was adversely
affected by the negative environmental factors prevalent in the room.

However, the downpour after some time came as a relief for everyone. It not only brought down the outside
temperature but also soothed the internal audience to have a calm and composed discussion. Thus the rain
acted as a positive environmental factor paving way for a positive communication process.

A person may be physically present but mentally he may be somewhere else. These external noises would
disturb in having a fair communication process. For example in the movie, Juror no 7 was an obsessed
baseball fan. The very thought of the discussion not coming to an end increased his frustration even more and
he started disturbing others by throwing paper balls at the fan. He wanted to leave as soon as possible to attend
the evening game. In this way he hampered the communication process.
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The setting of the room also played an important role in influencing the dynamics among the jurors. The
location of the water dispenser and the availability of the windows only on one side of the room caused the
jurors to often walk across the room and hence increased the one-to-one interactions amongst themselves. The
foreman (Juror no. 1) location at the helm of the table helped him control the group at times of chaos.

The setting of the room did not allow for any „cross-ventilation‟ of air and hence made the environment
suffocative and very humid. Almost all jury members loosened their ties and sweat profusely. Such an
environmental condition paved the way for a heated discussion amongst the members.

4. What about the mental blocks, egos & prejudices which some of the characters displayed in the
movie – Comment on at least 3 of them.
.

The premise of „Twelve Angry Men‟ shows how human ego and prejudice hold a wide variance of potential
harm. This film was instrumental in demonstrating how a group of opinionated angry men who refuse to
believe that any other view point other than theirs can be true is damaging to a just outcome. There is a vivid
display of mental blocks, egos and prejudices and their effects in the movie. They are illustrated as under:

PREJUDICE:
1. The first statement made by the juror 3 in the jury room marks the beginning of prejudices
coming into play. He says to juror 2 that it is an open and shut case against the youngster. He
reveals his bias by saying “If you ask me, I‟d slap those tough kids before they start any
trouble.”
2. The next instance of prejudice surfaces when juror 10 makes his statement: “....... Let those
kids run wild up there. Maybe it serves em right.” It is a clear example of prejudice. He
already had made up his mind about the nature and nurture of such kids.
3. Juror 10 is also prejudiced when he says “You are not going to tell me that we are supposed to
believe this kid, knowing what he is.”
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4. During the discussion, juror4, supporting juror 7 says, “He was born in a slum. Slums are
breeding grounds for criminals...Children from slum backgrounds are potential menaces to
society." He is clearly prejudiced against the child because of a study about slum conditions
and their effects.

MENTAL BLOCK:
1. 1. When there is the first vote in the juror‟s room and every juror is asked to justify his
vote, juror 2 meekly says, : "I just think he's guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word
'go.' I mean, nobody proved otherwise." This is the first and the starkest instance of mental
block.
2. A juror, who had to go to watch a match, was least interested in the proceedings. All he
was interested in was, arriving at any decision so that he could go as soon as possible.
3. While in the process of voting, juror 10 gets increasingly hostile and accuses juror 8 of
hanging the jury. His attitude served as a mental block.
EGO:
1. Throughout most part of the movie, the jurors impose their attitudes and opinions on others
with a view to lead the discussion and hold sway over the decision. They paid little or no
attention to what the other person was saying. This individualistic approach kept them from
reaching a just verdict for long.
2. When the vote turned 8 to 4, and juror 3 saw juror 11 change his mind to “not guilty”, he asks
everyone, “What is this? Love your under-privileged brother week or something.” It was a
clear display of ego when he saw his supporters changing sides.
3. In the end, when juror 3 is the lone person voting “guilty”, his ego again surfaces when he
yells, “you are not going to intimidate me. I am entitled to my own opinion.” This defensive
attitude was a manifestation of his ego.

In entirety, this movie has a lot more instances depicting prejudice, mental blocks and ego coming in the way
of effective communication. The above list is just an indicative list and not an exhaustive one. It is a source of
true learning when it comes to “effective communication”.

5. What were the effective communication tools used by the ‘main character,’ that helped him to
change everybody’s decisions?
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The main character named Henry Fonda (An architect by profession), instigates a thoughtful reconsideration
of the case against the accused even though all other 11 jury members considers the accused guilt at the
preliminary vote. He votes 'not guilty' at the start of the deliberations because of his reasonable doubt.
Persistently and persuasively, he forces the other men to slowly reconsider and review the shaky case (and
eyewitness testimony) against the endangered defendant. Heated discussions, the formation of alliances, the
frequent re-evaluation and changing of opinions, votes and certainties, and the revelation of personal
experiences, insults and outbursts fill the jury room. Despite of all that Mr. Henry who is a liberal-minded,
patient truth-and-justice seeker who uses soft-spoken, calm logical reasoning; balanced, decent, courageous
and well-spoken stirs a discussion by his assertiveness on the fact that they should not convict the guilty
without even discussing the witness‟s claims and other facts.

Henry used various communication tools for driving home his point and convincing other jury members. He
instigated open discussions so that everyone can participate and give his points. He was never sure that the boy
was not guilty and was insisting only on that jury members must discuss and give him a chance before
reaching a final consensus. He knew what his objective was and who his audience was. He created a stir in
their mint firstly by backing up his point with a knife he bought along with. His language, tone, pitch etc was
very humble and never persuasive as he just wanted other to let go off their personal bias as it was a question
of life and death. He strokes a chord with some of them initially and garnered their support towards the end.
He knew that everyone else had some internal noise going on that are not letting them to involve completely in
discussion. So he took a conservative approach and made other speak and ponder upon the various facts rather
than he putting thoughts in their minds. He had a calm and composed body language which helped him
befriend most of them and he was able to convey what he had in this mind. Even during the break he didn‟t
seemed too officious and was very professional.
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His way of putting open ended questions cajoled everyone to jump in the discussion and derive concrete
conclusions. Slowly he gathered support most of them towards his side and still he wasn‟t to vain and didn‟t
forced the others who were on the other side and kept on insisting that they should discuss. He never got
subdued on the way and was assertive during the whole discussion. It can be concluded that the main character
despite of being one against eleven, by use of effective communication tools he drove home his point and
made the jury members to think hard on the case and arrive on a unanimous decision which he believed was in
the best interest of the case in hand.