Description

Peter Collett is one of the best scientists that have studied body languageThis is a Chanel 4 documentary that he has produced.It has many interesting insights to dating.From the official description:Quote: Body Talk, a television series based on The Book of Tells, is scheduled for transmission on Channel 4 starting on Monday, May 17th, 2004 as 8.00pm.  It consists of two one-hour programmes – one on “Power”, the other on “Sex”. The series was in production from August 2003 to February 2004 at ITN Factual. It was written and presented by Peter Collett, produced and directed by Mike Smith and Mike Christie of Carbon Media Limited. Location filming took place at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, Microsoft, HMS Gloucester off the coast of Cornwall, Somerset House in London, The Drum at Channel 4’s London HQ, a speed dating night in Battersea, and the BAFTA film awards in London’s Leicester Square. The studio filming took place at Millennium Studios, Elstree and Three Mills Studios, London. The poker scene was filmed in Rouge, Charing Cross Road, London, and the tango scene was shot at the 291 Gallery, Hackney Road, London.POWERPeople who hold positions of power are rather like poker players – they’re engaged in a subtle game of bluff, trying to persuade everyone that they have the necessary qualities to lead, and doing everything they can to ensure that their intentions remain hidden. This programme examines powerful people by looking at their “tells” – those unintentional signs that give them away and reveal their true feelings..   Some tells are unconscious, others are deliberate. For example, George Bush makes a point of using the “powerwalk” when he wants to appear tough – he does this by swinging his arms up and across his body, so that he looks more like a bodybuilder. But when Bush is feeling anxious he produces an unconscious tell – he surreptitiously bites the inside of his mouth; it’s his way of bringing his anxiety under control. Other politicians have their own trademark tells. Bill Clinton, for example, narrows his eyes when he’s trying to appear sincere and he bites his lower lip when he wants people to think he’s trying to control his emotions.   The programme looks at how political leaders try to upstage each other when they meet and how they attempt to gain a psychological advantage over each other. You can see this in the way they shake hands, try to guide each other through the door, and use touch as a status reminder. We attend the Annual Labour Party conference and analyse the tells of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also pay a visit to a Royal Navy Destroyer, HMS Gloucester, and an international meeting of managers at Microsoft, to see how power is expressed in other organisations.   Power tells, we discover, are everywhere. Some politicians know how to project the right kind of image; but when it comes to the language of tells others are virtually illiterate. By its very nature political power is transitory and therefore very different from the symbolic, almost magical power exercised by the monarchy. This essential difference is often evident in the tiny tells of anxiety that politicians display when they come face to face with members of the royal family.SEXTells are the essential building blocks of courtship, love and sex. From the very first moment that potential lovers meet, they’re looking for signs of sexual attraction and using tells to signal their interest in each other. For a loving relationship to work, two people need to be in harmony. It’s like a dance – if they don’t move together, physically and emotionally, things aren’t going to work out.   The programme begins with the simple act of kissing, showing how it’s critical for the participants to synchronise their actions. For couples who are genuinely in love synchrony comes naturally; but when people aren’t in tune with each other it’s much more difficult for them to coordinate their actions. You can also see this in the way couples walk together, hold hands, remain physically close, and are sensitive to each other’s needs and desires.   By analysing celebrity couples like Kate Winslett and Sam Mendes, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, we can see who’s in control, what’s happening in their relationship and where it’s heading. The tells that were in evidence when Prince Charles and Diana announced their engagement are compared with those on display when Prince Edward and Sophie announced theirs. We also compare the unconscious, giveaway signals produced during their weddings and discover that while Edward and Sophie showed all the signs of being deeply in love, Charles and Diana’s marriage was in trouble from the very start.   The programme explores the development of relationships by observing a Speedating evening and by watching what happens at a party where everybody’s a stranger. We analyse the role played by smiling, laughter and facial expressions during the speedating encounters and find that that the different flirting styles of men and women reflect the divergent evolutionary pressures on the sexes. The party provides an opportunity to observe the tells of courtship at close quarters, and to explore a wide range of tells, including the hair-flick, the eye-pop and the release pat. We discover that in a courtship dance it’s usually the woman who leads, and that women are quite happy to flirt with men even when they have no desire to take things further.   We conclude by looking at established couples and the tells they use to show everyone that they’re together. Focussing on Charles and Diana as an example, we see how the history of a couple’s relationship is written in their tells. Taking Bill Clinton as an example, we look at what the tells reveal when someone has been unfaithful to their partner. The programme shows that once you can understand the language of tells other people’s relationships become an open book. The language of tells also enables us to read our own partner, and to discover what we really feel about them.