Language In Project Nim
He sees them coming and backs away until the cold metal bars scrap against his back. He begins to scream. He notices his mother’s grip begin to weaken. He is grabbed and carried away. He is Nim, a chimpanzee who has been just been taken from his mother, Carolyn. Nim was the seventh child Carolyn has had. He was removed from her for a research project led by Professor Herbe Terrace. This project featured a radical experiment aimed to teach a chimpanzee sign language. Although, the documentary Project Nim directed by James Marsh has an objective to present the progress and results of this experiment, it also carries a purpose to inform the viewer on a message regarding the components of and differences between communication and language. This paper will determine who the intended audience is, examine the strategies Marsh uses to incorporates ethos, pathos and logos to convey intended message and his effectiveness at reaching said audience. The decision made by BBC Films to produce Project Nim with two purposes, allows Marsh
…show more content…
to target two different audiences. The first audience group consists of members that are interested in purpose that relates to the presentation of the project as it shows the development language and communication in a chimpanzee. This group includes, but is not limited to, students studying a major taught by a liberal arts college, people working in the career field related to communication and people involved with language or social interaction research. Marsh appeals to this audience by including scenes that feature detailed information on the progress and results of the project. At 39:20 into the movie, Herbe introduces a part of the project where Nim was placed into a classroom for controlled learning. Specifically, the scene features an illustration of Nim using sign language to communicate and interact with others. This illustration does not only create interest to the audience as it pertains to their field study or work but, it also helps support the message of the film. Furthermore, Marsh reveals Nim’s ability to adapt to trends and use it to his advantage in this scene. This revealment plays a major role in the development of the message. Not to mention, the scene discussed above also appeals to the second group of the audience. The second group consists of people who are associated with the animal studies as well as behavioral psychologists. Furthermore, the second group are interested in the scene above as it gives insight on Nim’s behavior, specifically his mental ability to comprehend as well as react to the information and trends that are presented to him. In addition, Marsh includes several other scenes that target this second audience group. These scenes consist of the depiction of Nim’s growing aggression and sexual behavior throughout the project. An example of this occurs at 42:45 when Nim bites one of his instructors. Marsh decision to include a horrific scene does not only evoke emotion, but it also strikes curiosity in the viewer. This curiosity is an aspect that keeps in the viewer intrigued in the documentary. Marsh demonstrates a strong use of ethos, pathos and logos throughout the entire documentary. He is able to use different film techniques to illustrate and highlight certain aspects for the viewer to take note of as the aspects, themselves, have a strong influence on the depiction of the message. At 43:20 into the film, viewer is presented a scene consisting of several short clips that portray an incident where Nim bite on his instructors. In this scene, Marsh implements two separate interviews of Renee Flatz and Bill Tynan, who were both instructors for Nim. Along with the interviews, he directs reenactments of the attack itself. Marsh decision to include this horrifying scene is reasoned the development of the documentary’s message. Furthermore, Marsh demonstrates his use of ethos as he chooses to use interview specific people, Flatz and Tyynan, who had experienced the incident. He uses these interviews to describe the events that occurred leading up to, during and after the attack to not only expose the behavior of Nim, but also build the movie’s credibility by using firsthand accounts. This credibility gives the viewer trust in believing the accuracy of this film’s message. Additionally, the incident itself contains a large amount of drama and stress that evokes emotion.
Still focusing on the same scene, which takes place at 43:20, Marsh uses several visual strategies to implement pathos from the incident into the viewer. One of these strategies includes the use of fast and choppy transitions. Specifically, Marsh L and J cuts as transitions between clips of the reenactment and interviews. He maintains the audio of the interviews throughout the entire scene therefore, the viewer either continues to hear audio of the interview even though the visual as transitioned to a clip of the reenactment, which is considered the L cut or vises versa. These transitions help to intensify scene that results in the viewer being more engaged which allows for their emotions to be provoked. Another visual strategy Marsh used are the different camera shots he captures the interviews and reenactments in. For example, the interviews of Flatz consist of close-up shots. Marsh reasons the decision to use this type of shot as it to focuses the viewers on attention only on her and more importantly, the zoom of the camera emphasizes her facial expressions. This emphasis allows the viewer to see and take note of her deep feelings on the incident. Likewise, Marsh allows uses a zoomed in shot for the reenactments. However, this shot is an extreme close-up rather than regular close-up. Not to mention, the camera is typically titled downwards and away from the wound of the attack. This is significant to the viewer as it indicates the trauma caused from the attack is too severe to show in a documentary. Both of these camera alterations made by Marsh, focuses the viewers’ attention on certain aspects that are prone to evoke emotions. Along with the camera shots, Marsh uses a three-part lighting system to his advantage. He dims both the key and background lights in order to create a poor lit scene which reflects an overall gloomy tone. This pertains to the viewer’s emotions as it indicates the scene is dark and emotional. Lastly, the final notable film technique Marsh uses in this scene regards his decision to emphasize certain sounds within the interview. Disregarding the fact that there is nondiegetic music playing throughout the scene, Marsh amplifies the sound in Flatz’s interview at the moment she attempts to recreate the sounds Nim was making after the attack. These sounds consisted of Nim pounding on his chest to say sorry and whimpering at the same time. A significant factor of the diegetic sounds that Flatz was that she was attempting to recreate the ambient sounds made by Nim. Furthermore, the recreation of the ambient sounds demonstrates the fact that Nim was attempting to pound his chest and whimper more loudly than he typically does as he was seeking to receive a sign of forgiveness from Flatz. Nim’s attempt to receive forgiveness by amplifying the signals he uses present notable insight to the development of the message, which will be discussed shortly. Not to forget, the recreation of the ambient sound also helps place the viewer in the scene which, results in more emotions being provoked. In regards to all the film techniques described above, Marsh has a purpose to either highlight or intensify a certain aspect of the attack made by Nim in this scene. In addition, these intensifications and highlights increase the pathos in the documentary.
As stated above, Nim’s amplification of sounds he made after the attack relate to the message of the film. Correspondingly, this message is portrayed more thoroughly by the use of logos found in the scene which takes place at 43:20. Specifically, Marsh provides information on the fact that Nim only knows a sign and its corresponding outcome. This is portrayed to the viewer through Nim amplifying of the sounds he makes as well as him repeating of the sorry sign. As a matter of fact, Marsh implies that Nim does not know language because Nim does not elaborate on his meaning to be sorry. Not to mention, during a following scene which began at 44:40, Marsh directs a long pause before another interview with Flatz takes place. In this interview, Marsh allows Flatz to indirectly discuss that fact that Nim is unconscious to the meaning of sorry as she states that Nim reaches towards the location of the wound when he sees her again. The development of message through logos only continues to increase as the documentary moves along.
At 46:40, Marsh implements a scene in the movie that consists of an animated infographic. This infographic displays the words of the signs Nim has learned as well as the combinations he has used the signs in. Marsh’s decision to include this infographic is a powerful move in terms of logos as it limits the viewer’s attention to only the words displayed on the screen. Correspondingly, if this part of the documentary was portrayed in a scene that featured footage where Nim is making signs in a combination, the viewer’s attention would not be focused on the combinations, themselves, but rather on Nim or his instructors’ actions. Not to mention, there is also narration which acts as nondiegetic sound play in the background of this scene. During the frame of the infographic that displays the combination of words, the viewer is exposed to the fact that Nim is inconsistent in his combinations. In return, this emphasize that he doesn’t have structure to his communication. Marsh demonstrates his uses of logos in this scene as it provides an indirect revealment of the conclusion of this experiment. Furthermore, the viewer is able to conclude that language consistent of more than words with meanings. In detail, the viewer is able to determine that Marsh is implying the fact that language features an important aspect known as a structure.
The relationship between language and communication is developed and exposed in the documentary.
As discussed above, Marsh informs the viewer that language requires consistent structure that can be manipulated however, communication does not. This message that Marsh conveys can be compared to the message of the book Babel 17 by Samuel Delany. Similar to this documentary, Babel-17 explores the differences between language and communication. In this book, Delany uses a variety of writing techniques to expose the difference between a code and language. The difference between language and code as described in this book is that code has one format to communicate an outcome while, language follows a structure with multiple pathways to communicate an idea or message. It is notable that both Marsh and Delany use ethos, pathos and logos in similar ways and equally value each aspect to their respected text in order to disclose this message to the
reader.
to target two different audiences. The first audience group consists of members that are interested in purpose that relates to the presentation of the project as it shows the development language and communication in a chimpanzee. This group includes, but is not limited to, students studying a major taught by a liberal arts college, people working in the career field related to communication and people involved with language or social interaction research. Marsh appeals to this audience by including scenes that feature detailed information on the progress and results of the project. At 39:20 into the movie, Herbe introduces a part of the project where Nim was placed into a classroom for controlled learning. Specifically, the scene features an illustration of Nim using sign language to communicate and interact with others. This illustration does not only create interest to the audience as it pertains to their field study or work but, it also helps support the message of the film. Furthermore, Marsh reveals Nim’s ability to adapt to trends and use it to his advantage in this scene. This revealment plays a major role in the development of the message. Not to mention, the scene discussed above also appeals to the second group of the audience. The second group consists of people who are associated with the animal studies as well as behavioral psychologists. Furthermore, the second group are interested in the scene above as it gives insight on Nim’s behavior, specifically his mental ability to comprehend as well as react to the information and trends that are presented to him. In addition, Marsh includes several other scenes that target this second audience group. These scenes consist of the depiction of Nim’s growing aggression and sexual behavior throughout the project. An example of this occurs at 42:45 when Nim bites one of his instructors. Marsh decision to include a horrific scene does not only evoke emotion, but it also strikes curiosity in the viewer. This curiosity is an aspect that keeps in the viewer intrigued in the documentary. Marsh demonstrates a strong use of ethos, pathos and logos throughout the entire documentary. He is able to use different film techniques to illustrate and highlight certain aspects for the viewer to take note of as the aspects, themselves, have a strong influence on the depiction of the message. At 43:20 into the film, viewer is presented a scene consisting of several short clips that portray an incident where Nim bite on his instructors. In this scene, Marsh implements two separate interviews of Renee Flatz and Bill Tynan, who were both instructors for Nim. Along with the interviews, he directs reenactments of the attack itself. Marsh decision to include this horrifying scene is reasoned the development of the documentary’s message. Furthermore, Marsh demonstrates his use of ethos as he chooses to use interview specific people, Flatz and Tyynan, who had experienced the incident. He uses these interviews to describe the events that occurred leading up to, during and after the attack to not only expose the behavior of Nim, but also build the movie’s credibility by using firsthand accounts. This credibility gives the viewer trust in believing the accuracy of this film’s message. Additionally, the incident itself contains a large amount of drama and stress that evokes emotion.
Still focusing on the same scene, which takes place at 43:20, Marsh uses several visual strategies to implement pathos from the incident into the viewer. One of these strategies includes the use of fast and choppy transitions. Specifically, Marsh L and J cuts as transitions between clips of the reenactment and interviews. He maintains the audio of the interviews throughout the entire scene therefore, the viewer either continues to hear audio of the interview even though the visual as transitioned to a clip of the reenactment, which is considered the L cut or vises versa. These transitions help to intensify scene that results in the viewer being more engaged which allows for their emotions to be provoked. Another visual strategy Marsh used are the different camera shots he captures the interviews and reenactments in. For example, the interviews of Flatz consist of close-up shots. Marsh reasons the decision to use this type of shot as it to focuses the viewers on attention only on her and more importantly, the zoom of the camera emphasizes her facial expressions. This emphasis allows the viewer to see and take note of her deep feelings on the incident. Likewise, Marsh allows uses a zoomed in shot for the reenactments. However, this shot is an extreme close-up rather than regular close-up. Not to mention, the camera is typically titled downwards and away from the wound of the attack. This is significant to the viewer as it indicates the trauma caused from the attack is too severe to show in a documentary. Both of these camera alterations made by Marsh, focuses the viewers’ attention on certain aspects that are prone to evoke emotions. Along with the camera shots, Marsh uses a three-part lighting system to his advantage. He dims both the key and background lights in order to create a poor lit scene which reflects an overall gloomy tone. This pertains to the viewer’s emotions as it indicates the scene is dark and emotional. Lastly, the final notable film technique Marsh uses in this scene regards his decision to emphasize certain sounds within the interview. Disregarding the fact that there is nondiegetic music playing throughout the scene, Marsh amplifies the sound in Flatz’s interview at the moment she attempts to recreate the sounds Nim was making after the attack. These sounds consisted of Nim pounding on his chest to say sorry and whimpering at the same time. A significant factor of the diegetic sounds that Flatz was that she was attempting to recreate the ambient sounds made by Nim. Furthermore, the recreation of the ambient sounds demonstrates the fact that Nim was attempting to pound his chest and whimper more loudly than he typically does as he was seeking to receive a sign of forgiveness from Flatz. Nim’s attempt to receive forgiveness by amplifying the signals he uses present notable insight to the development of the message, which will be discussed shortly. Not to forget, the recreation of the ambient sound also helps place the viewer in the scene which, results in more emotions being provoked. In regards to all the film techniques described above, Marsh has a purpose to either highlight or intensify a certain aspect of the attack made by Nim in this scene. In addition, these intensifications and highlights increase the pathos in the documentary.
As stated above, Nim’s amplification of sounds he made after the attack relate to the message of the film. Correspondingly, this message is portrayed more thoroughly by the use of logos found in the scene which takes place at 43:20. Specifically, Marsh provides information on the fact that Nim only knows a sign and its corresponding outcome. This is portrayed to the viewer through Nim amplifying of the sounds he makes as well as him repeating of the sorry sign. As a matter of fact, Marsh implies that Nim does not know language because Nim does not elaborate on his meaning to be sorry. Not to mention, during a following scene which began at 44:40, Marsh directs a long pause before another interview with Flatz takes place. In this interview, Marsh allows Flatz to indirectly discuss that fact that Nim is unconscious to the meaning of sorry as she states that Nim reaches towards the location of the wound when he sees her again. The development of message through logos only continues to increase as the documentary moves along.
At 46:40, Marsh implements a scene in the movie that consists of an animated infographic. This infographic displays the words of the signs Nim has learned as well as the combinations he has used the signs in. Marsh’s decision to include this infographic is a powerful move in terms of logos as it limits the viewer’s attention to only the words displayed on the screen. Correspondingly, if this part of the documentary was portrayed in a scene that featured footage where Nim is making signs in a combination, the viewer’s attention would not be focused on the combinations, themselves, but rather on Nim or his instructors’ actions. Not to mention, there is also narration which acts as nondiegetic sound play in the background of this scene. During the frame of the infographic that displays the combination of words, the viewer is exposed to the fact that Nim is inconsistent in his combinations. In return, this emphasize that he doesn’t have structure to his communication. Marsh demonstrates his uses of logos in this scene as it provides an indirect revealment of the conclusion of this experiment. Furthermore, the viewer is able to conclude that language consistent of more than words with meanings. In detail, the viewer is able to determine that Marsh is implying the fact that language features an important aspect known as a structure.
The relationship between language and communication is developed and exposed in the documentary.
As discussed above, Marsh informs the viewer that language requires consistent structure that can be manipulated however, communication does not. This message that Marsh conveys can be compared to the message of the book Babel 17 by Samuel Delany. Similar to this documentary, Babel-17 explores the differences between language and communication. In this book, Delany uses a variety of writing techniques to expose the difference between a code and language. The difference between language and code as described in this book is that code has one format to communicate an outcome while, language follows a structure with multiple pathways to communicate an idea or message. It is notable that both Marsh and Delany use ethos, pathos and logos in similar ways and equally value each aspect to their respected text in order to disclose this message to the
reader.