Issues in Empathy: Recognition

Recognition is the element being examined this week. Usually this isn't an issue in movies but it does warrant examination. Recall that Recognition's definition is the ability of the audience to see that a character is the same person from one scene to the next.

Recognition is important for the audience's understanding of the film's story and plot. We need to know who the story is following. To state the importance of recognition quickly becomes redundant. Without knowing who the people are on screen we won't be able to get why it matters. If the audience is confused for too long then they might just turn the film off.


As for "Back To The Future," due to the time travel in the film recognition takes on an even bigger role. The audience needs to recognize the younger versions of important characters. Just because he's a fun example we'll focus on Biff.

Biff, pictured right, is one of the film's main antagonists. He comes back to this role, in varying degrees, in almost every one of the series. To keep our focus we'll limit ourselves to the first film.

In the original movie Biff is George McFly's work associate and long time bully. We learn this quickly through his manners and interactions with George. Some time after Marty McFly travels back to the 50's we see a younger version of Biff.

We're allowed to recognize Biff through those same manners and actions which defined him earlier. By watching his interactions with other characters we recognize who he is. 

I love that clip. I'm Mad and this is what I've gotten into today.

Issues in Empathy - Alignment

In an effort to find more examples for a website I'm working on I'll be writing about movies for a few weeks. Everything I'm writing will be about Murray Smith's Structure of Sympathy. My next few entries might become repetitive. I've only three elements to work with after all. Once I have that site up and running I'll post a link.

What's interesting about the movie "Conversations With Other Women" this week is how it plays with the element of Alignment. The screen is split in two for most of the film. Either half is focused on of the protagonists at all times.

The story of the movie is that two former lovers meet at a wedding by chance and slowly recognize one another. There's a great deal more in the film so I encourage my readers to give it a look. I'm keeping the synopsis brief so we can move on.

Recall the definition of the Structure's Alignment: How often a character is seen on camera. A film is a journey. The more time we spend with a character the more likely it is we, the audience, will come to like that character.

This film uses strong Alignment to keep the audience in tune with both of its protagonists. We're given glimpses into memories of one character on their screen while watching the reaction of another on the opposing screen. We really get the whole story because of the split screen. Sometimes this makes following the action difficult but this experience has yet to be matched for me.

The picture above is a great example of what I just explained. The picture is of the two characters in the present (left half) and the past (right). On the left we see Aaron Eckhart's expression and how this re-union is making affecting him. The right screen shows how the two of them were as young lovers. This shot is both interesting and confusing. The audience isn't told whether it's Eckhart or Elena Bonham Carter who's looking back on this. Is it Eckhart recalling fond feelings as he debates whether to surrender to them? Or is it Carter enjoying the memory as we see the conflict on Eckhart's expression? We're left to decipher it on our own.

This film gives an interesting take on how to present characters and story. Smith's Alignment is here proven as the definitive method through which we follow characters in film. Having the screen split in two was interesting but overwhelming or confusing at points. I'd like to see what other filmmakers do with this concept down the road.

I'm Mad and this is what I've gotten into today.