Characters and Empathy
The main rules of empathy within a media narrative are a pivotal part of the success of a film/movie franchise. As Humans we are set aside from our primates due to our incredible ability to empathise with other humans and reasonably humanoid equivalents. This not only effects our relationships with other entities but also our relationships with characters on and off screen. The use of character Tropes to flesh out characters is of colossal importance in the success of a protagonist. "Character Tropes" are the features and characteristics that set aside a standard character from a protagonist.
Features and traits ranging from "Abstract Apotheosis" (the use of a character as a visual manifestation or metaphor of something else e.g Alsan as a metaphor for "god" ) to a simple trait such as adaptational heroism (the transition from a former villainous character to a hero/anti hero). These character tropes help to create a unique identity that the audience can empathise with. This is a vital part of a performance as it can create a form of sentimentality/ loyalty to the character making the audience more likely to root for your franchise.
Not only does character empathy create an attachment to the protagonists but it can greatly affect the over all impact of the story. For example if a villain were to kill a minor plot character or two thousand extra's we wouldn't care as much as we hadn't developed an on screen relationship with the characters. However if the protagonist or a sub-protagonist were to be severely wounded or killed it would greatly effect us because the person we had been backing would have lost. The audience likes to see the protagonist prevail as it gives them as sense of self fulfilment and worth.
Features and traits ranging from "Abstract Apotheosis" (the use of a character as a visual manifestation or metaphor of something else e.g Alsan as a metaphor for "god" ) to a simple trait such as adaptational heroism (the transition from a former villainous character to a hero/anti hero). These character tropes help to create a unique identity that the audience can empathise with. This is a vital part of a performance as it can create a form of sentimentality/ loyalty to the character making the audience more likely to root for your franchise.
Not only does character empathy create an attachment to the protagonists but it can greatly affect the over all impact of the story. For example if a villain were to kill a minor plot character or two thousand extra's we wouldn't care as much as we hadn't developed an on screen relationship with the characters. However if the protagonist or a sub-protagonist were to be severely wounded or killed it would greatly effect us because the person we had been backing would have lost. The audience likes to see the protagonist prevail as it gives them as sense of self fulfilment and worth.
In much the same way the use of empathy can also create unlikely character attachments the characters that we once hated to begin with (with a bit of sympathy backstory) can quickly become our favourites in just one scene. An example of this is character "Daryl Dixon" from popular U.S t.v drama adaptation of "The Walking Dead". The character at first seems selfish and reckless and when we are first introduced to him we want hi to somehow be removed from the series. But with further character development we start to feel sympathy and therefore empathy fro the character, making him the adaptational hero of the series and thus making him one of the most successful characters of the franchise.
In our project we have tried to integrate these rules into the plot so that we could create believable characters and attract our target audience successfully.
In our project we have tried to integrate these rules into the plot so that we could create believable characters and attract our target audience successfully.