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.

Character Arc - inFamous

Cole McGrath is the protagonist of inFamous, pictured left. I've only just played through the game; courtesy of my roommate lending me his PS3 and game. During my play through I found that Cole goes through one of the most interesting character arcs I've seen in a video game.

Cole's character is pretty straightforward. The everyman with a great event thrown in his lap that pushes him into the extraordinary. Basic comic book structure, which isn't to say it's bad but standard for this kind of thing. What was interesting to me was that in the early game Cole is very vulnerable. For a guy who can shoot lightning he can't take much punishment.

After a few hours though I started acquiring new powers and increased my health. This led to Cole being somewhat more versatile but I still relied heavily on the cover based shooting system. It isn't until much later in the game that Cole gets his defensive powers. What struck me as interesting is that the more creative powers appearing later in the game characterized Cole.

This isn't unusual in video games. The more fun and effective powers being held off till later makes for a better difficulty curve. There's just something about the way the upgrades were implemented in conjunction with Cole's low starting health.

Low health at the beginning meant that enemy attacks were always something to be feared. The player has to be careful with their fledgling hero. This seemed to reinforce the fact that Cole was inexperienced and that his powers were maturing. As the game progresses Cole gains more power and learns new abilities. Eventually I ended up playing how I originally envisioned: running around heedless of bullets and attacking at will.

The progression was more engaging than my usual game experience because of this. The gameplay corresponded with what was happening in the game world. With this addition to inFamous' already immersive game I could really lose myself to the game for hours at a time. If any of my readers are on the fence about giving one of last year's top games a shot; do it.

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

Character - Movie Characters and Interactive Theory

Carl Fredrickson (Left) is the protagonist of the critically and commercially praised film UP! from Pixar. He's a grouchy old man not wanting to be bothered by the changing world around him.

[2] Calling back to Smith's Structure of Sympathy; we can look into why we come to care about a crotchety old man. The elements to examine were Recognition, Alignment  and Allegiance.

Recognition
UP! provides us with a great opportunity to examine character recognition. In the early film we see Carl as a young child but we are not told that it is our protagonist. We connect the dots through character cues.
 Below is young Carl. We associate his glasses as part of his character as well as his proportions. The short arms and stout build also help us connect the character as he grows up. We see Carl go from a small child to an old widower in a short montage sequence. Recognition is being able to tell which character is which on screen.

Alignment
This element asks how often are we with the character throughout the screen duration (time from opening credits to ending credits). In UP! we are with Carl for almost the entire movie. We're given a few short scenes away from him to follow Russell (the short Asian Explorer Scout) but not much else.

Allegiance
Do we value what Carl values? I'd say so. After watching the intro montage about Carl's life: growing up, getting married, working hard, dreaming of children, suffering hardships and coming to dream again. We learn what he wanted and still wants from life. Carl values the lost love of his wife Ellie and the dreams they shared. These are concepts most of us can understand.

These elements come together to get the audience to sympathize with the character Carl. The Structure of Sympathy works well to define why we care about characters in film. However, I believe that it falls short in interactive mediums. While I was writing last weeks article I was thinking about how Agro was not only a character but a partner in game. Dwelling on this I came up with a new element to grade video game characters by: Utility.

The main difference between video games and movies is interactivity. Agro has another opportunity to endear himself to the players by being useful. Agro saved me on many occasions and there are certain Colossi I would have been unable to best without his help. Utility would be defined by whether or not a character contributes to game play and how efficient the character fulfills that intended role.

Something I'm going to ask of you my audience: Examine a favorite game or two of yours using the Structure of Sympathy. Give it a quick thought. How do the characters you like the most fare under these criteria? Remember the elements are Recognition, Allegiance, Alignment and my new element Utility. Post your thoughts in the comments below!

I included this picture cause Kevin was my favorite character. She was just plain funny!

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