the process of orientation starting when the group formed these opinions. After this initial phase, the jury members felt they could be more honest. This was the beginning of the consensual process.
             Consensus, as defined by Fisher & Ellis, is the degree of personal commitment the members feel toward the group's decision after it has been reached. This group process can be explained by using the spiral model.
             The first group vote exemplifies the anchor, or the starting point, of this concept. The initial vote of eleven to one in favor of guilty represents the first level of the spiral. Juror eight, acting as the deviant of the group, builds on the initial level by using his persuasive abilities to influence the other members. After engaging in group discussion against the minority opinion, a secret ballot is conducted. The results of this ballot, tallied at ten to two in favor of guilty, brings us to the next level in the model. Juror number five, who is associated with the knife, changes his vote to arrive at the not guilty decision. This progression towards consensus continues throughout the long, arduous decision-making process representative of the spiral model.
             It is also important to look at the relationship of the communication process to the group process of this film. To better understand this concept we'll describe the communication process defined by Fisher & Ellis. "A communicative relationship evolves during the process of interacting with others. Each communicator soon learns which behaviors are appropriate to the situation and which are inappropriate. The interaction soon stabilizes if the communication continues for a sufficient time. Each person in every communicative situation learns how 'to play the game,' and learns what the rules are that governs the communication. As a result, the individual communicators constrain their behavioral choices until an identifiable p...