Thoughts on Non-verbal Communication

Communication is arguably the most required skill when inter-relating. However, effective communication only occurs when the meaning of a message is received as the sender intended to be. Therefore, non-verbal communication or body language is a vital form of communication as it is a natural, unconscious language, which expresses people’s true and deep feelings or intentions at a certain moment. It further clues people to the feelings or intentions of those around.

The gestures people make, the way people sit, how fast or how loud people talk, how close they stand, how much eye contact they make, send really strong messages about emotions and inner self.

Non-verbal communication really matters as when non-verbal signals match up with the words said, increases trust, clarity and rapport. Non-verbal communication cues can play five roles, namely, repetition, contradiction, substitution, complementing and accenting.

In terms of animation, non-verbal communication plays a vital role as the first animations did not contain any verbal articulation. For instance, during the “Silent Era” the first animations, such as, “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914) represents the early example of a character development in drawn animation who would respond with a series of gestures:

Gertie appears naïve, trying to discover the world she lives in.