Assignment 7: Blog About Nonobvious Observation

   The videos we created involved observing the behavior of normal patrons while going to check out a movie from the 4th floor at Evans. We agreed upon the end objective, but how we got there and the end result was strictly unique to our walkthroughs. I can't speak for my teammates, but I received mixed glances and or questions when I went to go check out the movie. The first thing I noticed (well a non-obvious observation) about the people at the front desk when I walked in, was they all stared directly at my forehead. I figured they were wondering why this strange man walked into the annex wearing this piece of headgear, but none of them asked me about it... or did not get the opportunity too. In addition to facial expression and tone in conversation, there were a few passive non-obvious behaviors I noticed in simply walking by some people.
   Some non-obvious things I can account for to determine more about their expression is their tone of voice. This tone can have a large impact on what we perceive through conversation. For instance, the tone could be that of disinterest where they sound monotonous and uncaring. Another example would be loud, signifying anger perhaps. Along with tone, a little more obvious point would be the facial expression. Accompanying the disinterested tone could be wandering eyes or even a moving head. This can point out that the person is not truly focused on the conversation at hand. Correlating to the other example of anger, the person could have wide eyes with a blaring expression.
   Besides expression and tone, we can look at the non-obvious body language. When I walked past someone with my camera on my head, they would sometimes look down or look straight at me. I would bet there is some fundamental personality trait being displayed in their behavior when they look down or look at me. It could maybe should that they are more or less outgoing. This could either happen when I walk past them or when I am in the elevator and eye contact is met. Along with this behavior, I also noticed headphones and how people sometimes use them as a crutch to shield themselves from the outside world. Usually when we have our headphones in, it is a sign to the general public around us that we do not wish to be bothered. These examples are some addition non-obvious observations that in my experience, a wide array of people display.
   In conclusion, I look forward to incorporating more non-obvious observations in my ethnographic studies. Having blogged about my video experiences combined with non-obvious observations really pinpointed the grey areas that I need to be focusing on. When I highlight these grey areas in my ethnographic studies, I can conclude why people act that certain way or why a vast majority do and this will help in areas other than philosophical study.