Transcript of our conversation
Mark : Ahhh
Alex: You know how awkward it is talking to a camera?
Kamrul: Yeah, coz they don’t talk back, do they?
Alex: Yeah, it’s bare rude of them, innit?
Kamrul: Uuuh yeah.
Mark: Yeah, like it seems so forced. There’s no point in doing it. You don’t get anything realistic out if it. It just seems so pointless.
Alex: I find it funny; I can’t stop laughing!
Mark: Yeah, it’s really like, annoying when your talking to camera and you just can’t stop laughing!
Mark and Kamrul: *laughs*
Alex: Nyyaaaaaaaaaahh!!!
All: ( Laugh)
Mark: Yeah, so Kamrul, How about you? what do you think about talking to cameras?
Kamrul: *gruffly* I don’t like talking to cameras.
Mark: Why not?
Alex: What do you think we should talk about to this camera?
Mark: What camera?
Alex: *points* that one there.
Kamrul: It looks dodgy, that camera looks dodgy.
Alex: Waht should we talk to it about?
Mark: Life.
Alex Liiife!!!
Mark: The meaning of life; 42.
Alex: The answer to life…
Kamrul: (interrupts) 42?
Alex: …the universe and everything.
Mark: You can end it there.
Soren Chung Vines: But why?
October 10, 2012 at 10:14 pm
(Copied from Soren and Mark’s Blogs)
If you wanted to, on another level, you could read this as an existentialist conversation. Regardless, it provides good material for an analysis of the unique linguistic features of spoken language.
While it may seem a little banal to do so, noting that the single word sentence “There!” followed by the pointing gesture, is important because it’s a clear example of how spoken conversations depend on the use of body and voice to carry their full meaning.
To advance your interpretation, have another look at the video and see if you can notice any more nuanced use of paralinguistic features or prosody. If you can see something that is subtly communicated either alongside or even undermining the words in the conversation this will be EXTRA helpful in your final work (don’t worry if there’s nothing there, as you can still discuss these things without their being present in your transcript).
Mr Waugh