Using of Models of Communication in Documentary - Report Example

Models of Communication

This is a documentary that talks about how weapons get into Mexico, and how they are used to kill innocent people by both the police and organized criminals. The documentary argues against the sale of those weapons to Mexico, and this is because they are not effective in fighting crime, but increases the number of people who die at the hands of police and organized criminals. While arguing against the sale of arms to Mexico, the documentary uses a combination of ethos, logos and pathos. Through a combination of these principles of persuasion, the documentary efficiently portrays arm sales to Mexico as a major cause of insecurity and violence in the country.

There are a number of ways language has been used to advocate against the sale of arms in Mexico. For instance, the choice of words that have been used, are able to create an emotional appeal (pathos). A good example is the testimony provided by Leonara Ochoa Segura. She was giving a testimony where she lost her family members, which includes her brothers and aunt. While delivering the text, Leonara Segura is tearful and speaks slowly while breaking. Moreover, she holds her chin, and this is an indication of sadness. Through this strategy, Segura manages to use pathos, to appeal against the sale of guns in Mexico. The use of logos is depicted in the use of numbers to denote the effects of gun violence in Mexico. For instance, in the documentary, we are able to see that about 110,000 gun homicides have occurred since 2001.

This is a large number of violence that has been made possible through the use of a gun, and it creates an image on our mind, that guns have led to insecurity in Mexico. This is because it is the weapon used to carry out the homicide. Moreover, when appealing against the sale guns to Mexico through the use of ethos, there are a number of phrases that have been used in speeches that depicts the unethical conduct of the Mexican army in using the guns under their possession. A good example is the speech by Anabel Hernandez. She uses phrases such as, “few safeguards, assault rifles, no control, etc.” Hernandez uses these phrases to depict the unethical nature and activities of Mexican army to distribute deadly weapons to local and state police officers who are not trained on how to use them, and are corrupt.

In as much as the documentary uses different approaches to appeal, language has been effectively used to portray the sale of guns to Mexico as unethical and unwarranted.

The documentary is full of visual elements, that helps to portray and create emotions, or the element of pathos. For instance, when the documentary begins, a black color is used. The intention is to appeal to the emotions of viewers, and the message that the use of this color sends to the audience is that whatever they want to see or hear from the documentary, is bad news. Note that, the dark color is used when using words that depict unfortunate events that have been happening in Mexico, because of the large number of guns present. Another important visual image used in the photo is the map of Mexico.

This image is used to appeal against the sale of guns in Mexico through the use of logos. For instance, the map manages to depict the regions that are worst hit by gun violence in Mexico and the disappearances emanating from this violence. From this map, about 27,586 people have disappeared due to gun violence. Therefore, the producers of the documentary are appealing through reason, by denoting that through accessibility to guns; the society is less safe. While using ethos to appeal against the presence of guns in Mexico, the producers of the documentary have used nature. Javier Sicilia is sited outside, and on the background there are trees and grass. Sicilia is talking about the role of the American government in the violence that is being witnessed in Mexico. Javier believes that it is the Merida plan that is responsible for the presence of unregulated guns in Mexico. This raises ethical issues that cannot be ignored.

The use of nature is also depicted in the speech by Laura Carlsen, who raises ethical concerns about the American government policies in Mexico, regarding the fight against organized crime. She is seen delivering her speech at an environment that is windy. Note that, by using of nature to appeal to ethics, the producers of the documentary wanted to depict is as a form of natural justice.

Despite the different visual methods used to create ethos, pathos and logos, the visual images and elements used in the documentary are clearly discernable, and a viewer is able to connect with them. This helps to reinforce the message that is being communicated through the visual images.

The use of sound is very extensive in this documentary. In the beginning of the documentary, the producers have used the tweets and whistle of the birds are heard from the background. This is used together with a black color to appeal to the emotions of the viewers. Moreover, are also heard during the presentation of Leonara Segura, who lost the members of his family due to gun related violence. On this basis, the tweets and singing of birds are used to appeal to the emotions of viewers, and they are very effective in appealing to the emotion of viewers. However, in the testimony of Araceli Rodriguez, there is a presence of silence. Araceli was using an emotional appeal, while advocating for the reduction of arms in Mexico. The use of silence in this scene does not effectively create pathos.

However, the use of silence with a combination of the visual image of the Mexican map is very efficient in creating the logos appeal. Moreover, the narrator uses a serious and formal tone when explaining the numbers found in the map. The formal and serious tonal voice reinforces the logos appeal, making it stronger. Moreover, while creating ethos, there is a combination of the use of songs and chants, before a speaker speaks. This is evidence before the speech of Javier Sicilia, who was appealing to ethical considerations, while depicting the impact of increased arm sales to Mexico. The effects of these chants and songs is that it creates the attention of the person watching the documentary, and silence manages to create suspense, and draws the interest of the person watching the documentary to what Sicilia is saying. Therefore, the combinations of these elements have achieved success in appealing to the ethos of the audience.

Moreover, in terms of layout, logos appeal has been effectively portrayed. The first instance is during the speech of Olga Vergara. She is sited in a room, surrounded by professionally looking people. The image that this layout brings is that the information that Olga wants to give is serious in nature and can be trusted. However, when it comes to pathos, the documentary depicts only one person who is speaking. A good example is one of Juan Carlos Trujillo, who was speaking about the disappearance of his family members due to gun related violence. The emotional appeal in this scene is not very effective. The reasons are because the audience does not get interested on what Trujillo is saying. In fact, there is a combination of silence in this scene, and it is one of the factors that make it to be less interesting.

Moreover, gestures have been used extensively in this documentary to promote, ethos, pathos and logos. The first instances of gestures is seen during the testimony of Leonora Segura, she holds her chin, cries, wipes her eyes, etc. The use of this technique is efficient in creating a pathos appeal, since the audience is emotionally moved, when it hears her story. Moreover, this element of gestural is perfectly combined with spatial element, where people are in close proximity with one another. Another perfect example where gestural element is widely used, but it is using ethos to appeal to the audience is the scene that depicts the testimony of Anabel Hernandez.

She is seen making weird facial expressions, and throwing her hands up and down, and this has an effect of emphasizing the message that she is trying to tell the audience. Moreover, this is reinforced by the use of green and orange colors in the background to great a visual image that is eye catching. Therefore, the combination of visual (color) and gestural elements in this scene manages to create a strong ethos appeal to the audience. Moreover, in the scene of Hilda Vergas, the producers of the documentary have not efficiently used gestural elements to create a rational (logos) appeal. Vergas maintains little body movement, and her eyes focus on the camera, and this does not create any interest towards what she is saying. This is despite the heavy presence of visual elements in the background, such as the map of Mexico.

Finally, this documentary has used the five modes of communication to create a rational, ethical and emotional appeal to its viewers. In as much as some scenes are very effective in communicating to the viewers through the use of its mode of appeal, some are not. This is because of the poor combination of the models of communication in those scenes.