Summary

Animators are observers, their look on objects, animals and humans are different from regular people. It's their job to investigate 'how' things are moving, 'why' things are moving, they go into the finest details, and with this knowledge they can make the impossible possible. There are a lot of essays to be found about emotions and similar aspects, but there is not much about the emotions in film. This supportive narrative is all about sad emotions. This will support me by creating my graduation film called 'Little Freak' which is all about sad performances. The title of this essay, called 'How to move to move us' is quite telling the two parts of my research. I look at the character, how it's moving when doing a sad performance. Not only how it's moving, but also why it is moving, using the knowledge of theorists and psychologists. I will also research about the audience, think of Identification, empathy, sympathy and so on. My main question that drives my supportive narrative is 'How does an emotional character move and how does it affect the audience?' In order to find out more about this I first introduce sentimentalism. To show some examples I will look at different animation styles that can be used when animating a sad scene. I tell the difference between cartoon style versus realistic. It's interesting how the audience thinks about it, and how the character is moving the audience. In the last approach I do case studies on twelve completely different scenes that got my attention while watching movies. At last I have examined my graduation project with the information and I am able to sum up all the important keys for a believable emotional performance. The outcome of this supportive narrative is not something you can 'just use' when animating a sad scene. There is not just one answer to the main question, it will be a set of features that you have to think about when you start animating a sad scene. Every scene is different so on every scene you have to think about the context, the kind of character, etc. This essay is not necessarily only for animators, there are lots of theories and fun facts for all those interested in psychology or movies. I use a lot of references and pictures of movies to explain the points I want to make clear. This supportive narrative has been an eye opener for me for the lots of possibilities to approach an emotional performance and it will definitely help me with my future work.

I love movies that make me cry, Because they're tapping into a real emotion in me, And I always think afterwards 'how did they do that' John Lasseter1

1 John Lasseter is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Preface
As long as I can remember I have been interested in movies. When I was a kid I always wanted to become an actor. From the age of twelve I started to explore 3D software and later on I got interested in acting through the computer, called CG Animation. During the past few years I learned a lot more about character animation thanks to the education and opportunities I could take because HKU would let me, which I'm very thankful for. I want to thank Egbert de Ruiter for supporting me with my choices and with his great help during the years and especially my graduation project. Special thanks to Martin Lacet for his time, help, enthusiasm and the way he kept me motivated. Thanks to Tashina van Zwam who has been a great help and support during this year. I also want to thank Yvonne van Ulden, Nick Groeneveld, Jan-Jaap Schraverus, Simone Jager and Victor Navone for pushing me into the right direction. Not to forget my parents and family for their love and great support, especially in this not always easy year. Last but not least I want to thank Merel van den Broek who has been a great support and always pushed my barriers to achieve better results that I would have done without her. Not to forget her patience with my busy life. This paper is not only written to get a more detailed look on sentimental performances, it's also written to get new insights and to push myself to think deeper before starting an animation. To notice the little details that can make a big difference, which not only goes for this subject but for any of them. I really hope that anyone going through my paper will get new insights or get inspired as much as I got when writing this supportive narrative.

Introduction
There we were sitting, on the couch with a bowl of crisps. For me it was my first time to see Billy Elliot. A quite light-minded movie about a boy who wants to do ballet instead of boxing. We laugh a lot and sometimes we try to imitate the English accent. But than there is that scene, were Billy's father finally changes his mind and sees Billy's talent. He than decides to stop striking and goes back into the ground, as he is a miner. A big crowd of strikers are shouting and throwing eggs to the bus he's sitting in. I feel pity for the man, but I'm alright. But than dramatic music sets in. His oldest son, who's also a striker, notices that his father started work again. He runs into him and asks what the hell he's doing. They are screaming at each other and his fathers screams what a genius Billy could be, he falls in the arms of his son and cries. And there am I, sitting, feeling I could shed a tear if I really want, but want to stay strong. I want to swallow, but don't want to let my girlfriend hear that I'm emotional, so I hope the scene will end and the music will get louder. No, another quiet scene... I look in my bowl, no crisps left to cover the swallow. I change my position on the couch and make a quick swallow... Phew, I survived.

Figure 1. Billy and his father. Billy Elliot (2000)

I feel I can identify with the film, not because I would like to try ballet. I grew up in a great family and we weren't as poor as Billy and his family, but I recognize something in his father, that I do in mine. It's probably because he has not an office job, but is a silent hard worker who doesn't mind to get his hands dirty. You would never expect him to cry. The whole film Billy's father is against the ballet wishes of Billy, as he thinks it is stupid and will never bring him anywhere. But than, there is that moment his father realizes Billy has talent. That shift, that moment he starts to believe in Billy and gets rid of his pride. It gives me goosebumps every time I think about it. I watched the movie several times and the father's emotional scenes stay strong. From this moment I started to get really interested in scenes people get emotional and films get sentimental. When I was young I always avoided those films as I thought I only enjoyed a movie when I could laugh with it.

But the best stories have their sentimental scenes which make them so good. I started to look more specific into the scenes and there started to pop up questions in my mind. As an animator I'm interested in the way a character acts. Not only how it moves, but also how it thinks as this is also visible on the outside. I became very interested in scenes where characters get emotional. Especially the moment he or she tries to stay strong but eventually breaks. It catches my attention as this is the moment I feel I get moved too. But what is it that makes me or the audience move? What does a character has to do, to move us. Are there specific things in the face that gets me emotional? Is it the context? The voice or the music? Because the most important thing with animation is to 'move' is my main question: 'How does an emotional character move and how does it affect the audience?' I aim on the two meanings of the word move. Move as in being moved, and the actual movement of the body and expressions etc. I got so enthusiastic about this subject that I decided to write this supportive narrative so I could find my answers to the key of a successful emotional scene. I will also use this information for my graduation project which will be a 3D animation performance of a little deformed boy who talks about his feelings. My research method consists of a few approaches: First I will introduce you to sentimentalism and after that we start with a theoretical approach where I will mainly concentrate on theories and reality. As an animator I can't resist to show some examples of the opportunities of animated performances. But because I will focus more on reality I will spend not much too much time on that. When I know more about the theories behind the motion, another approach is to investigate what the audience thinks about it, and how the character is moving the audience. In the last approach I do case studies on twelve completely different scenes that got my attention while watching movies. In the end I will test my graduation project with the information and I will be able to sum up all the important keys for a believable emotional performance. My hypothesis is that a character first starts pouting, his voice changes, his brows will frown and than starts shedding tears, and I think the audience will get sentimental when they see him or her crying. But this is so little information that I'm sure that there's much more about the subject than only this. Lets find out!

1 Emotions, an introduction
1.1 A short history of sentimentalism Sentimental emotion has not always been regarded as cheap affect, and in some cultures sentimentality or its equivalents have been or are much less taboo than today in our culture. In India, for instance, a blossoming industry has produced sentimental movies for a home mass audience, as we know. (cf. Frijda,1999, p. 49). Sentiment is more around us than we think. Think about the popularity of soap television series among all categories of viewers. From our dutch GTST to 'The bold and the beautiful' to Game of Thrones. And it's not very long ago that sentiment was considered a sophisticated feeling in this culture. The term sentiment in a sense neighboring to its present use seems to date back only to the end of the eighteenth century, when the word first stood for sincere opinion and later acquired the sense of pure and delicate feeling, as in Lawrence Sternes A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Before film, sentimentality could be found in novels, stories and of course religious stories. Think about the bible, it still gets people sentimental. Not only in stories, but also in paintings. As the crucify of Jesus or the last supper (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

The sentimental novel does not excel in originality. It draws on a collection of conventional situations and stock characters. Tan says that although the description of sentimentalism refers to eighteenth-century literature, it is not hard to see striking parallels with a large body of contemporary popular film, and especially with Hollywood melodrama from the 1910s to the 1960s. (cf. Tan, 1999, p.50)This type of of melodrama is set in the domestic environment of marriage and the family. The leading characters were women. Some arbitrary examples are D.W. Griffith's Way Down East (1920), Frank Borzage's Man's Castle (1933) and David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945) 3

1.2 Why are we so fond of sentimentality? It's a kind of sensation seeking, looking for experiences. But it is something different than curiosity. The Motivation was studied by Zuckerman (1980). These Interests must be distinguished because the mechanisms are different: Although in both there is exploration activity going on, the individual differences in seeking sensation and cognitive curiosity do not correlate. Seeking sensation concerns the motivation to undertake activities which entail risks such as dangerous sports or gambling, and the strive for strong sensory or sensual experiences. People are looking for risky activities, probably because of the strong sensations they provide1. ( Frijda, 2008, p363) This is especially examined on the basis of individual differences in the responses of the sensation seeking questionnaire. Analysis of these differences gives four distinct patterns, which tend to come together2, and forms together the 'sensation seeking': 1: 'Craving for excitement and adventure' (Love for mountaineering, surfing, etc.) 2: 'Exploring new experiences' (Love for natural body odors, unknown dishes, drugs, etc) 3: 'Dis inhibition' (love for wild partying, drinks, sexual arousal) 4: susceptibility to boredom' (aversion predictable or boring situations) There may be occur, as with curiosity, many different emotions. For me personally, as a film lover, it's that I love to get away from my own life and completely get 'sucked up' by the movie. I love it when an emotional scene let me forget my environment and that I feel I'm standing there on the set. As a character animator I think it's very interesting how something fictional can make me sentimental. How are they doing that? Before we find out I will explain shortly about sentimentalism and emotions, so we know what the difference is, as we often say I get emotional! but we actually mean that we get sentimental.

1 (dutch) Men zoekt riskante activiteiten waarschijnlijk om de sterke gewaarwordingen die zij verschaffen. 2 Albeit that the correlation is rather weak.

1.3 A quick explanation about Emotions and Sentimentality Both in common speech and in psychological research, sentimental emotion is associated with an inclination for crying. It is this inclination that in this culture lends sentimentality its embarrassing qualities, especially for men. Like the example I gave in the introduction, me trying to shed no tears, while my girlfriend has less problems.

Figure 3. A not common situation (Picture from www.lipstiq.com)

The philosopher Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) labeled crying a "capitulation response". Tears of joy and tears of grief have in common that they occur in situations that are experienced as overwhelming, as situations that one feels unable to control, to deal with, or retain one's distance from. Sorrow that makes one cry concerns a loss one feels is irremediable; joy that makes one cry concerns a gain one feels unable to handle or over which one fails to be the master. Crying is a sign that one yields to the helplessness with regard to the emotional situation at hand, either because one is unable to do something about that situation, or because one gives in to one's felt inability, and perhaps willingly abandons to one's lack of power.(cf. Tan, 1999, p.53) In agreement with this interpretation, it has been observed that episodes in which the subject has been struggling with some difficulty end crying when he or she gives in, or when resistance is not necessary any more. J.S. Efran and T.J. Spangler argue that the audience of the miracle worker (1962) cries exactly at these points where the narration lifts a barrier to the protagonist's well-being that it had previously created. Their explanation is that this lifting of the barrier results in some relief or discharge of tension. However, another, more cognitive explanation seems more appropriate, because it does not use a hydraulic metaphor. Resistance of the subjects ends because some resolution has been met with. That implies that viewers can allow themselves to accept the situation as the fulfillment of an important goal, or have to accept it because it cannot be changed by the protagonist. In response to this cognitive change the subjects may let go and accept their helplessness in the given situation or over the episode.

2. Theories about sad emotions

Figure 4. Bailee Madison is getting emotional in Brothers (2009)

2.0 Research method Emotions are quite complicated and we can think about it in many perspectives. There are a lot of emotions and all of them have a reason to be there. Because I'm interested in the sad part of the emotions I will not look too much at all the different emotions. But there are some things that all emotions have in common and theories we have to know about before we can understand sadness. So I have set up my supportive narrative in a way that you will understand the theory behind it, and after that we will take a look at the films. And eventually we know how to move, to move us! So first we start with theories from different point of views, to give us a better look of why we act this or that way during sadness. This will hopefully give us better detailed information about the way the body moves. To make it all more understandable and more interesting I will give examples of movies and personal experience. After we have seen theories it's time to see it from another point of view; my point of view: Animation. More about that In the next chapter!

2.1 Emotions As I said in previous paragraph, for every emotion there are many books that can be filled, so I will only use the most important information about general emotions and the sad ones. I want to discuss theories in this chapter. Nico Frijda uses three guiding principles in his book. (cf. Frijda, 2008, pp 15-16). Those guiding principles emerge not entirely empirical, those are partly due to be considered as generalizations of the discussed data and interpretations, but they also serve as guideline for classification and interpretation. First I will explain those three principles.

Figure 5. This (computer generated) tiger uses his emotions to survive. Life of pi (2012)

As I said there are a lot of perspectives to approach this subject, if we take a look at the functional principle of emotions and assume that they are partly or completely biological events, than emotions have something to do with survival. A theorist on emotion and evolution, Antonio Damasio says 'The lower levels in the neural edifice of reason are the same ones that regulate the processing of emotions and feelings, along with the body functions necessary for an organism's survival.'(cf. Williams, 2012, p32) If we take a look at nature we see animals use their emotions for survival as well (Fig. 5). But that's not the only reason it's partly biological. Emotions arise (or may arise) from the body: From the heart, the stomach, the guts, from physical activity and impulses. They are, one might say, carnal matters, but also matters of brains and blood vessels. Emotions in humans are human phenomena, that is to say, it is to expect that human emotions are showing typical human aspects. And those are related to standards and values, to human interaction patterns, and the cognitive capabilities of humans, especially the reflexive consciousness and intentional activity. The last principle to be considered is that people and animals are not only subject to emotional impulses, they try also to respond appropriately. Control and inhibition are even in animals, and people do attempt to handle the emotional experience. This reaction pattern, Frijda calls it a regulation, is a fundamental part of the emotion.

2.2 Generating emotions Emotions are generated by relevant events. We are talking about a relevant event when one or more of those interest the subject. This suggests that emotions are the result of the interaction between the actual or anticipated consequences of an event and the interests of the subject. Emotion is thus dependent on events of interest for which these events are relevant, and cognitive processes by which any consequences of these events may or may not be recognized. The emotions are further modulated by regulatory processes which are generated by the properties of the event and the attitude of the subject. We humans even exaggerate the emotions, some people are using it to get what they want but some people are not aware of it. This exaggeration is called 'emotion amplification': The benefits of reinforcing positive emotions such as pleasure and enjoyment are clear. But in some cases, strengthening of the discomfort and the disruptive effects of emotion can also bring advantages: Inconvenience and disruption may serve as an excuse. They may be come in handy at moral blackmail: Who would you want to suffer? They save you for accusation, because you feel already bad enough. They satisfy your self-pity. These are everyday phenomena: there is more sorrow, one feels more hurt, ashamed or alone, than it would be strictly necessary, given the circumstances. (cf. Frijda, 2008, p429). We can also exaggerate anger, to get what we want. Making a scary face like animals or even humans can get us what we want. Swapping between being kind and begin angry creates a confusing, interesting or even a scary scene. Like the Joker does in The Dark Knight (2008). While making such weird changes, with a not easy readable face, makes him so much more mad, and the audience know, it's not smart to mess with this guy.

Figure 6. Joker changes his attitude from being kind to angry etc. The Dark Knight (2008)

2.3 Feelings Feelings and emotions are two different things. You can see feelings as pleasure or displeasure, attractiveness or repellency, as happiness and sadness. Feelings of pleasure and displeasure are more or less isolated experiences; the others are embedded in a connection with actual or potential acts and get no separate existence as 'experiences'.

Figure 7. Quasimodo talks about his feelings in The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1939)

According to this description feelings are in this sense and emotions different types of experience. There is stand-alone experience with an evaluative character and there is experience evaluation manifest in the call for action or the instigation of an action tendency, the first kind of experience is called 'feeling', the second emotion. (cf. Frijda, 2008, p258). So what he says, is that everything we 'feel', is a feeling, but when the feeling makes us want to feel something to warn us or to move us, it is an emotion. A certain tone is unpleasant, a certain person flatters the eye, or the mind. Emotion implies that an interest is touched and that an action or a change of activation is desirable. This distinction can be considered as a matter of definition. But one kind of perception, emotion, also corresponds with outwardly visible emotional behavior, while that is not the case with 'feeling', only maybe the preferred behavior. This distinction between feeling and emotion is powerful argued by psychologist Magda B. Arnold (1970). In her opinion the distinction has no difference in intensity but in quality. Feeling is the realization of reinforced or impeded functioning; (felt) emotion is felt action tendency. This distinction is important because it clears up a number of misunderstandings and relationships . Certain objects or situations lure feelings; emotions be provoked by the options and the risks of obtaining or avoid those objects or situations. The different meanings of feeling appear in sentences like I feel angry, I feel insecure, or I feel Lonely. In the first sentence the feeling relates to an emotion but the other two are not. Loneliness and insecurity are states on a more or less objective way and are felt also when somebody is alone, and there are

no risks to be taken. I am angry and I feel angry put emphasis on different things. An anger feeling has the same structure as the emotion of anger or rage, except for that the action tendency not really insist on action. So emotion is awareness that a situation is relevant, urgent and meaningful regarding ways to deal with it. Emotion is awareness of action readiness. One can say that emotions and feelings form an importance-gratification-system of the organism. They serve to protect, to monitor and to satisfy the needs of the individual, and must ensure that the handling gets back on the right track to become satisfied when disruptions have occurred. (cf. Frijda, 2008, p387)

Figure 8. Charles Darwin

2.4 Darwin Charles Darwin was an English autodidact in the field of natural history, biology and geology. However his knowledge and results are outdated, Darwin explained the expression on the basis of three principles that still influences the development of theory in this area. In particular the first principle: The principle of serviceable associated Habits: Certain complex actions are of direct or indirect service under certain states of the mind, in order to relieve or gratify certain sensations, desires, and whenever the same state of mind is induced, however feebly, there is a tendency through the force of habit and association for the same movements to be performed, though they may not then be of the least use. (cf. Darwin, 1872, p28) This principle is often used to show that Darwin regarded expressions as nothing more than hereditary relics. We should, however, make some comments about this. First of all, in this principle expressions are actions that at least are of use under certain conditions. Secondly their presence in circumstances where they are not useful are attributed to habit and association, which then would have become hereditary.

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From the moment threat to a helpless baby accept for anxiety also gives a helpful reaction, namely crying, fear will under all circumstances accompanied by crying, and this connection is captured in evolution. Interesting in this respect is that Darwin especially appealed to this development principles to explain reflex, involuntary behavior that he assumed that is originated in random behavior in babies. He only considered a few as derived from phylogenetic ancestors, such as pouting or the exposure of teeth as an expression of anger. Frijda thinks this is an unnecessary side to the certificate and that it does not seem to matter. What matters, is that it is important how a lot of expressions have a functional meaning, even according to Darwin, if only in certain circumstances or only with babies. Even Darwin didn't think it was 'just remnants of communicative acts'. 2.5 Expressions as behavior It's hard to see the difference between really inherited responses and actions somebody does because he's aware of doing it. Here are a few examples to see what I mean. If you take a look at the startle pattern, the reflex response you have on a sudden intense stimuli like a pistol shot. The eyes get tightly pinched, your eyebrows drawn together into a frown and your lips are getting squeezed. Your head bends forward and shoulders and knees raise. (Landis & Hunt 1939). Something similar occurs with other expressions. A tense, angry facial expression is usually accompanied by general tension in the body, an unwavering stance and clenched fists, all signs of preparation for violent activity. A fearful facial expression is often accompanied with hunched shoulders and a hunched posture of the whole body, components of an overall protection response. Laughing and crying are also generalized reaction patterns: somebody who cries or laughs does something, albeit involuntarily, and often quits other activities. There is only a thin line between expression and largely innate really emotional acts, such as flee, freezing or attacking, cuddling and hugging. The meaning of crying is to interrupt the connection with the environment and to surrender to the grief. These descriptions of the meaning of expressive behavior can hardly be construed as interpretations of such behavior. These are descriptions of the actual state of affairs and when we have those facts, we can also be aware of it.

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2.6 Different Aspects during emotions 2.6.1 Grief There are many forms of grief, just as there are many forms of anger. Let's focus on the quiet, passive grief. The external characteristics, such as for example, the sunken mouth, are not caused by active muscle contraction but by reduced muscle tension. I think that's an interesting difference between other emotions where muscles have tension. George Dumas has a series of photos of patients with half paralyzed faces presented where the cripple face shows a passive-grief. The expression and posture, the passivity, the down eyes etc. are the result of lack of activity and, more in particular, lack of interest. The response is obviously sensible, given the circumstances that may cause it, for example, the loss of objects of interest. It is not a functional response. Yet this is not inconsistent with the hypothesis that expressions should be functional responses: Passive grief is no response, it is the absence of behavior, non-behavior. The expression represents a relational zero state. (cf. Frijda, 2008, p33) In other forms of grief the zero state will change in retreat, or from non-behavior to behavior. Retreat means that someone shuts himself of from stimuli that makes him think of the subject that he wants to forget. The expression with lowered brows is a part of getting introverted and shutting of from the environment. It's similar to the behavior of having deep trouble: To bed, curtains shut, covered in blankets. Expressions of grief often show frowning and raised eyebrows at the same time. Darwin explains this as a tendency for the eyes being squeezed and at the same time tries to keep open to see what happens in the environment. In passive grief it's rather the lowering of eyebrows and head to maintain at least some degree of vigilance. Other features of grief are expressions of pain. Painful facial expressions are explained in two ways: firstly, as a result of generalized muscle activation, the other as a manifestation of futile attempts to escape inescapable stimulation. John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist found that sadness and depression are often characterized by restless instead of apathetic behavior. (cf Frijda, 2008, p33) Given that grief and sadness usually are a reaction on loss, this restlessness be interpreted as a search for the lost object or as a form of protest, resistance, escape or confrontation.

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2.6.2 Crying Crying is considered as the expression of grief, just as laughter is considered as an expression of pleasure. (Frijda, 2008, p64) But Frijda tells laughing isn't just for pleasure nor that crying comes only with grief. Crying and laughing have a lot in common. The facial expressions resemble each other. They are both forms of complete behavior, in the sense that the entire body is involved and other behavior gets interrupted. The vocal pattern, however, is different, as the fact that, in laughing the extensor muscles and in crying the cry flexors are active. This difference corresponds to the difference in the meaning of these two expressions: crying is a sign of helplessness, a sign that someone gave up his trying to improve the situation. Crying means surrender in spite of a continuing reason for activation: Continued threats, deprivation, or frustration.

Figure 9. Jim Carrey in is helpless in I love you Phillip Morris(2009)

Crying as helplessness response seems a useful interpretation when one looks at the events and circumstances that made some one cry. Sadness gives rise to cry, but not always. One cries when a loss is recognized as final and definitely. Perhaps that is why we feel relieved after crying because of pent grief: Hope, resistance, or attempts to adequate response to the situation are given up and the irrevocability of the loss is not only accepted intellectually, but also in terms of action tendency. Crying is the physical recognition of helplessness. One cries of helpless rage or impotent frustration. When children cry, the helplessness is evident. However, a distinction must be made between crying and weeping. Crying, the human form of the cry, an effective action in situations of helplessness. It is active sound production, clearly different from the involuntary vocalizations with weeping. Weeping of joy is usually seen as a response resulting from previous stress or helplessness. Someone cries of joy when he can afford the awareness of the distress. (Frijda, 2008, p64) Its like cry of sadness as a form of giving up resistance. Crying of joy can also be seen as a manifestation of powerlessness in relation to the new, overwhelming situation: its all too much to be able to handle. In this sense it does not

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differs from crying because of sorrow. In both cases there is inability to adequately respond to the situation, and crying is a sign of surrender to such inability. It will be clear that in some cases the thought that crying is an 'expression of joy' would be simply incorrect. It is, to be precise, not an expression of joy or sorrow, but a sign of surrender to helplessness. As in laughing crying can be understood as a kind of mechanism or stress discharge. Crying is always preceded by increased activation, or least emotional turmoil, and usually ends in a state of peace and relaxation. Crying may as well laugh, be seen as a 'distancing response', a way to get rid of active emotional involvement. Also the social aspect of crying is similar to that of laughter: People can cry together. There is a strong consoling effect of crying together. The interactive effect of crying comprises more. Crying is contagious, as laughter. Crying arouses sympathy and pity, or irritation due to the implicit pressure exerted by it. All this seems to indicate that crying has a fundamental social function: to cry would be a form of bonding reinforcing behavior, emergency this time. But why crying, why sobbing and shedding tears? There is no useful hypothesis. Crying is usually explained in terms of a supposed connection with calling and uttering emergency cries, it is not possible to relate this with the two primary characteristics, regards sobbing and tears. 2.6.3 Tears Sobbing and laughter seem to be related to each other; the sound of these two expressions are often being mixed up. Georges Dumas, a French doctor and psychologist writes them to one mechanism: Thalamus convulsions that serve to discharge certain stimulus conditions. According to Dumas compulsive laughter and crying take place in neurological patients, and are the expressions that often overlap. Klaus Poeck, a German neurologist does not confirm that. The function of tears are still a mystery. According to Darwin (1872) tears are the result of strongly squeezing the eyes during screaming. This is not a convincing explanation, and Darwin himself seemed not quite convinced. When watching television we know, or even from my own experience I know that you can also shed tears by just holding your eyes open. Elaine Morgan had an amusing theory: tears are there to clean the eyes in emergency situations. They perform this function not only in aquatic animals such as crocodiles and whales, but also in according to Morgan's 'sea monkey's descended from humans. More recent theories suggest that tears may have a beneficial metabolic effect.

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Overall the origin and function of crying is not really clarified. But whether they are interpreted as mechanisms for stress discharge and distancing, as bond reinforcing, or social signals, crying is meaningful, and not just a strange movement. Considered as activation form they have a clear meaning: They are states of readiness for action and, again, not just movements. Under all interpretations it means that it is behavior that interrupts other behavior. (cf Frijda, 2008, p65)

Figure 10. Natalie Portman sheds tears of joy in Black Swan (2010)

2.6.4 Breathing The frequency of breathing and heart rate are to some extent interdependent, since the muscle activity with powerful breathing leads to heart rate acceleration. Physical exertion produces generally faster and deeper breathing, the same counts for both pleasant and unpleasant emotional arousal. Faster breathing is detected in fear, anxious anticipation, acute fear, depression and surprise. It's like you are starting your engine to run away. Emotional experiences can also slow and shallow breathing; however, Increase in rate and depth are more common than decrease (Woodworth 1938)

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Figure 11. Denzel Washington in Flight (2012)

2.6.5 Sweat Sweat has a connection with emotions too. Mainly the sweat appears on our hands and feet. The skin becomes more flexible and more resistant to abrasion; sweating creates a better grip on the bottom and on objects, and possible increases the sensitivity of the tactile sense. (Edelberg 1972). Maybe sweat is a function as part of a defense or protection mechanism. Further, the distinct smell of sweat can serve as a communicative smell signal. Transpiration could be contribute to getting noticed by fellow species or others. Sweat of the soles of the feet leave noticeable traces behind. (Edelberg 1972). 2.6.6 Pupils Eye pupils respond not only to changes in light but also on motivational or attention variables. They dilate when new or interesting stimuli occurs (Sokolov 1963), or when a person focuses his attention on something, concentrates or other mental effort. The degree of dilation corresponds to the degree of interest. Eckhard Hess, a psychologist found that female pupils enlarge by seeing a picture of a baby; That did not happen to men, but they did get larger pupils at the sight of a nude female, in women this was hardly the case. In the same test they noticed that pupil reduction occurs as a result of unpleasant stimuli. Hess(1972) assumed and found that pupils shrink at the sight of unpleasant stimuli like pictures of skin diseases. Pupil size would therefore be a measure of emotional attitude, either a propensity to accept or reject a stimuli. Such differences in pupillary response to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli, with a few exceptions are not found by other researches. Where they are found, can be declared on the basis of differences in base level (Janisse 1977). It seems that the pupil under all attention-seeking or challenging conditions, pleasant or not, pupils are enlarging.

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The relationship between mental effort and pupil size can be very strong. In a survey of Kahneman and Beatty (1966), the subjects were instructed to remember a series of numbers. The pupil size appeared to be increasing every time the instructors added a number. Eye pupils also appear to widen with pain, fear, and defensive rage (Cannon 1929) Evil cats have large pupils, as well as cats that exhibit unrestrained anger attacks as a result of brain surgery (Bard 1928). Dilation reactions are probably best considered as responses to general attention-seeking stimuli. (Janisse 1977). While attention-seeking causes pupil magnification, drowsiness leads to constricted pupils. Because I got interested about these theories I decided to do an experiment myself. I've filmed my eyes and tried to think about nothing. I was just relaxing, daydreaming. In Figure 12A you see my relaxed pupil. Than, I was thinking of all the stuff I head to do for school, personal problems, etc. You can see my pupil got smaller! I think Figure 9C is even more interesting, I was trying to feel even worse and tried to cry. While trying I lowered my brows, so there should be less light in my pupils, so naturaly you would expect them to grow, but thinking about those theories and watching at my own pupil: My pupil was getting smaller instead of bigger! So, it could be that my body didn't want me to get any stimuli from the outside world and so it got smaller.

Figure 12. My eyes during relaxation, worrying and an attempt to crying.

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2.6.7 Shivering When shivering, your limbs and other body parts spontaneously start to vibrate; this manifests itself in quivering teeth, knees, shivering back and strong disturbance of the movement coordination. The vibration occurs after major physical exertion of force, and with manifest excitement, but also in the states in which the tendency to restless behavior is less clear. For example with depression, grief, passive fear (ie, fear not characterized by escape tendencies) and waiting tensioned (Luria 1932). It occurs in angry, anxious and pleasant arousal. Darwin describes how he saw the hands of a boy, who had just shot his first pheasant violently shook. Trembling is also a common after-effect of excitement when the anger, fright or fear disappeared, the vibration persist, even to the extent that the person must sit down. Why shivering occurs under such different emotional conditions can not be explained; likely there are multiple causes. It is possible that in some cases, like when it is cold, it is caused by an extreme constriction of the peripheral blood vessels. It is assumed that this serves to hold heat. It is also possible that the vibration is the result of disruption of the movement control by the central nervous system, such as with neurological disorders as the Parkinson disease (Dumas 1933). Arnold suggests that it could be a side effect of increased adrenaline secretion, and shaking is indeed an effect after injections of adrenaline.

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2.8 Assessment on the research question How to move to move us? Is my question already answered? I think a little. There are some interesting things that I have learned during this first chapter but we are not there yet. I now know, that there is so much more about emotions. That you are not a hundred percent busy with what you want, but that the emotions are guiding you so you can fulfill your needs and that it's a way of survival. The emotions that we get are the first push, but because we're human and we are getting aware of it, we can push it further to get pity or to scare people etc. This is only with human, and because we are aware of the different emotions, we can act it, and make those beautiful movies! While writing this chapter I've tried things on my own, like the pupils, but I also tried to imitate the feeling of crying, and I succeeded to shed tears. Before starting this research I thought feelings and emotions were the same thing but the difference is very clear now: Feelings are just feelings without any actions, and emotions is a 'feeling' that immediately is trying to fulfill the needs of the person. There are two kinds of grief, quiet passive-grief and grief that asks for help. Tears have nothing to do with crying or laughing, they only appear when there is a stress discharge, that is why you can also cry of joy after being in so much stress. There were some things that didn't sound new to me, like breathing that becomes different, but those little details like the pupils were very interesting. It sounds not necessary but if, for example, I'm animating an extreme close up, it's very useful information! There are a lot of theorists, psychologists and writers that have their opinions and theories, some could even be outdated, but in the end, for me, is that I have a new point of view of animating a character. Aspects like sweating is interesting, but I couldn't find all information about everything, I still have some questions. Like, in my experience, when crying, I also get a running nose. Why or when does that starts? Another important visual thing is the pouting and shaking of the chin when someone starts to cry. Lets find that out in the next chapters!

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3 Different approaches in animation

If we look at the subject from an animators perspective, there are a lot of different ways to approach an emotional performance in an animated film. There are some advantages of an animated scene, compared to a live action scene. First of all we can do anything with the characters that we want, we decide how and on what timing he or she does the movement. But not only the movements, we can also create a new world, unusual circumstances, talking animals or even fantasy characters. American actor and acting teacher Sanford Meisner says: Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. (White, 2007 p. 118) which is a beautiful quote. There are so many styles and in the following paragraphs I will go through some of them. There are studios that go wild with exaggerated cartoon style characters and some make realistic animation, sometimes with complicated techniques as Motion Capture which I will explain in the next paragraphs. At every technique you need to know the base of animation, also known as the twelve principles. You need to know these rules, before you can change and play with them. So even the most exaggerated animation must be done by someone who knows about the principles of animation. If you dont know how it moves in real life, how would you ever know how to exaggerate that. For example Picasso, he started with realistic art pieces as 'Nude study of Jose Romain' (1895) before making his cubist work. Without first learning the basics his cubist work would have been impossible without a firm foundation in realism (cf. Hooks, 2003, p1). Another thing that goes for every style, is that nothing moves without a reason. Thats what Pixar animator Victor Navone told me, when I told him about this supportive narrative. So even when I have a conclusion in the end of this essay, we will always have to think why something is moving and it's never the same because every character is different. As a matter of fact, every character should be different. Brad Bird, director of Iron Giant (1999) and The Incredibles (2004) says the following: As with any art, the vast majority of animation is garbage. It overflows with "Characters" Human and not, male, female, fat, thin, tall, short, young, old, and in between; characters who possess different voices, different clothes, head shapes, skin color, hair color, characters that have in fact only one thing in common- they all move exactly alike. (Bird, 2003, p7).

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3.1 Cartoon If we think of Cartoon style animation we quickly think about the Tex Avery films (Fig.13A ) which contains a lot of exaggerated movements, but there are a lot more cartoon style films like Looney Tunes and today they still make crazy cartoons like for example tv series Spongebob Squarepants (Fig.**) and Ren and Stimpy.

Figure 13. Left: Tex Avery's Droopy. Right: Spongebob Squarepants.

you can hold a mirror up to everything in nature, in which case you have a photograph. Or you can hold a mirror up only to quirks, in which case you have caricature. Caricature, in a way, holds an imperfect mirror up to nature, emphasizing those aspects of reality that you, the artist, consider most important. (Hooks, 2003, p101). So for sadness that would be a lot of tears (Fig. 13) wide open mouths, and a lot of times characters have a very clear sad pose, like droopy in Figure 13. If we go a little less exaggerated we find Disney Feature Animation. There are so many sad scenes in Disney movies. As I said, everything is possible, so it's not only human based but we can be empathetic to aliens, monsters, monkeys and lions like in The Lion King (1994). When Simba looses his father a lot of people are getting sentimental. (Fig. 14) Same goes for Bambi (1942) This kind of animation is less 'funny' than the exaggerated Tex Avery ones. Because the audience need to take it serious enough to emphasize. Of course there are always some sidekicks in the movies to keep it a little more fun for the children.

Figure 14. Simba looses his father and Bambi looses his mother.

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3.2 Semi Realistic Semi realistic is a style that is close to realistic but still stylized. In my opinion 3D animated films are often semi realistic. For example Wall-E (2008) is a very realistic rendered film. At some points it's almost realistic, but the humans are more clearly 3D. Another realistic animated and rendered film is Brave (2012), of course it's just a little bit exaggerated here and there and the looks are stylized, but the characters are never moving in such ways that it would be unbelievable or considered very cartoony. (Fig. 15)

Figure 15. Merida gets sad when her beloved bow gets thrown into the fire by her mother. Brave (2012)

3.3 Realistic There are not much 100% realistic animated movies. Also, opinions on this are different. You may say Avatar (2009) is quite realistic, and made as 'realistic' and to be considered as one big special effect. A big use of realistic animation is for the special effects industry. Like Gollum in The Hobbit (2012) and another famous character is Dobby (Fig. 16 ) from Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets . (2002)

Figure 16. Dobby as a believable realistic character in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

In realistic animation, but also a lot in semi realistic animation there is always movement. But, as Navone said, never without a reason. Ed Hooks says about acting: All action begins
with movement. Breathing is movement. A heartbeat is movement. These movements are so small that the observer can't readily detect the, ,but they are movements nonetheless. Movement may be imperceptible at first, but there is movement in every action. If you sit quietly and multiply 15x 92 there is movement, if only in the shifting of your eyes as you calculate. (Hooks, 2003, p8).

It can be a big challenge when somebody is not moving, to keep it alive. 22

3.4 Uncanny Valley Between Semi realistic and realistic it goes more and more realistic, but before it hits the point of being 100 percent realistic there is the Uncanny Valley. This is where for example human characters are so realistically made, but just a few tiny details are not good enough to make us believe it a 100 percent. The Uncanny Valley can happen because of a lot of reasons, it can be the eyes that are not 'alive' or the shaders, or often the movements are from motion capture data, which will be less good thought about, so the movements aren't as strong as when you make them from scratch. Sometimes it feels like living puppets with almost a scary real shaped face, but not moving correctly. Same problem may occur when doing rotoscopy in 2D animation. If you only copy the movements, without really knowing why it's moving, you will loose the essence. An example of the Uncanny Valley is visible in the film Polar Express (2004) I think it's a shame when movies have done so much work, and that it becomes Uncanny Valley. It's a mistake of the mix of technique and art.

Figure 17. This Computer generated (CG) Tom Hanks in Polar Express (2004) hits the Uncanny valley.

As an animator I love to have fully freedom of thinking how a character would move. But when you're stuck to a motion capture file it's hard to change it. Sometimes the transfer from mocap data loses the essential parts and the dramatic feeling in facial expressions lose their strength. And for an animator it's really important to show their dramatic skills so it can be frustrating when seeing mocap taking over, and not doing the job well. As Marc Davis, animator of 101 Dalmatians (1961) says: To be an animator, you have to have a sense
of the dramatic, a feeling for acting. (Hooks, 2003, p11). An example of well done motion

capture is Gollum in The Hobbit (2012) as a 'special effect' in a real-life movie.

Figure 18. Motion Captured character 'Gollum' by Andy Cerkis in The Hobbit (2012)

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3.5 Other useful aspects Because this supportive narrative key question is how a character could do an emotional performance, I don't pay too much attention to all the aspects that help the scene get even better. But just so we won't forget it's out there, here are some examples. First aspect is sound. With the use of music we can amplify the feeling of the audience. But you can also stop the music to get an emotional dramatic moment. For example in war movies, when a soldier comes to close to an explosion and is deaf for a moment, the quietness, looking around him, what a madness, that can be very intriguing. The use of color is another aspect that really helps the mood of the audience. If you use bright happy colors during the fun moments in a movie and than change to gray or darker colors it's easier to get emotional. Filmmakers often choose to change the weather or film sad moments during the evening, so it makes a little bit more sense why it's suddenly dark. In Fig. 19 you see Belle with the beast, he's dead, it's raining and so it's all even more sad. All other pictures are also dark or rainy, to amplify the sadness.

Figure 19. Disney often use the weather and colors to amplify a sad moment.

There are so many more aspects, but lastly I want to talk about the context, or the story. When I'm watching television and switch channels, it may occur that I jump into a scene, and somebody starts crying. Sometimes, when it's really good and somehow you feel immediately connected to the character, which makes you empathetic. But often in movies you need a little more context. If somebody finally gets what he wants, or when somebody leaves who means everything to the protagonist it can be very dramatic. But first we need to have seen some good moments to feel more pity. Disney often uses themes that are very recognizable for the audience. The reason that its important is because they will identify themselves. In Figure 19 are some examples. Belle looses her lover, Dumbo and Tarzan say goodbye to their mothers, and Louis the crocodile is sad because their friend Ray the firefly just died. A lot of people in the audience will recognize a loss in their family so it's easy to identify. In next chapter I will discuss much more about the audience.

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4 The Audience
4.1 why do emotions affect us and why are we getting sentimental? So we have learned a lot about the character, why and how he's acting during an emotional performance. If we look back to the main question: How to move to move us? it's now time to look at us, the audience. Emotional responses to fiction play an important role when we talk about the mimicking characteristics of reality in fictional stories. Probably because these emotions are the key to make a fictional story so good. But why is it that we respond emotionally to something that we know it does not exist and therefore is not real? David Bordwell says the following: In everyday life we perceive things around us in practical way. But in a film the things that happen on the screen serve no practical end for us. We can see them differently. In life if a person fell down on the street, we would probably hurry to help the person get up. But in a film when Charlie Chaplin falls we laugh. (cf. Bordwell, 1997, p68) It's interesting that people like to get sucked in a movie, to get sentimental, although the term 'sentiment' is not a label that people readily assign for their own perceived emotional state. First of all, it has a pejorative connotation. Sentimentality is silly, and a sentimental emotion is often considered phony, or insincere, and this goes all the more if it is an artificial stimulus like film that causes that affect. sentimentality is also associated with weakness and femininity in a sense hostile to women. People like to go to the cinema, so in the dark friends won't notice that they're shedding a tear. (Fig. 20) Also the loud sound let them swallow and sniff without getting caught.

Figure 20 People safely getting sentimental in the dark. (picture from www.zombiesquirrel.com)

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Being Sentimental isn't just an emotion. As said in chapter 2, an emotion makes us want to achieve a goal. Ed Tan and Nico Frijda wrote the following: There may be considerable variability in the meaning of the term for various individuals, and from theoretical point of view sentimental emotions may be blends of several emotions, rather than just one. (1999, p48) Perhaps one of the reasons for the unclarity is that the emotions referred to by this term are obviously more complex than the more common emotions such as fear, sorrow, and anger. In addition, sentimentality tends to be associated with the response to cultural products rather than to real-life situations. Sentimentality is almost invariably linked with crying. There are other emotions in which we shed tears, or at least feel a strong urge to cry, in particular sadness and being moved. But a sentimental emotion is not the same as sadness, although the two go together very well. In sadness, we recognize a loss of some importance. we can be moved to tears without being sentimental, as long as we know what moves us, and feel that its importance matches the intensity of our emotion. By a sentimental emotion, on the other hand, we mean an emotion characterized by an urge to cry or state of being moved with a strength in excess to the importance we attach to its reason. (cf. Tan, 1999, p49) The urge to cry is in turn associated with a state of general softening or helplessness. A second characteristic of what we refer to as sentiments is that they mostly occur as a response to the fate of others. We see someone else his fortune or misfortune and suddenly we find ourselves crying, without understanding exactly why the precipitating event would touch you so. Like in the scene of Black Swan (2010), the protagonist (Fig. 10) gets the news she has the most important role of the ballet play, she's happy and tells this to her mum on the telephone, but she gets emotional and because of that, I feel that I get sentimental. And the funny thing is, that if I imagine that I would get that part, I wouldn't cry in reality. So it's also because you see how much it's meaning for someone else, that makes you think differently. Finally, sentimental emotions have a certain measure of gratuitousness. they are not such a nature as to motivate taking or abstaining from action. It's not to safe our body, it's to care about someone else. I think it's a great thing we have as human kind. It makes us love everything that's shown on screen, of course, with a good story. For example Ratatouille (2007). It's about rats. Normally people don't care about rats, or even worse, they hate them and want them dead. But to show people that they have a life, hobbies, ambition, and goals, people start to like them, and want them to succeed. In Ratatouille, the rat Remy is the protagonist and has one dream: to become a cook. People hate rats in 26

the kitchen, and still the audience want him, in his fictional world, to become a cook, in the kitchen! The audience would even be sad if he wouldn't succeed! I think it's wonderful!

Figure 21. We don't care about ourselves, we care about a rat, becoming a cook! Ratatouille (2007)

There are a lot of outcome-related emotions that lend themselves to yielding or submitting on the part of the viewer. First, there is joy as a response to a favorable outcome and, less commonly, sadness where an unfavorable outcome is definitive and becomes part of life. Second, there is relief where hopes are fulfilled and fears are terminated. And third, there are acute feelings toward the protagonist, like pity and admiration, and corresponding feelings toward the antagonist, such as anger and schadenfreude 3. We admit that we are smaller than the events taking place and the spectacle we watch. In the magnitude of the sorrow or joy, or the manner in which the protagonists carry their fate, or of the purity, the completeness of feeling. At least, they may get a sense of being faced with something we have to accept and to submit to, as the way things go. In particular, with respect to the protagonist, it is as if we have to conclude that "your victory or your tragedy is larger than mine, or that of anybody else"it is this part of our understanding of the meaning of events that renders our emotions sentimental. (cf. Frijda, 1999, p51) I think sometimes it's overdone. Some movies are so full of miserable happenings that I feel I can't get sentimental anymore. Two examples are Precious (2009) and Les Miserables (2012). Both really good movies. As the audience, I like to see a glimpse of hope, or a relief. Precious was from the beginning till the end bad news. It was getting worse and worse with the girl. And when the movie ends, it looks like her life could go better, but it's not sure, so it misses the moment of fortune. Les Miserables has it a little less, but also in this movie, there are a lot bad things going on with the characters. It has a better ending, but for example, a lot of bad things happen in the beginning, I feel myself getting sentimental in the cinema, but after an hour of sad things going on, the next two
3 Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortune of others.

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hours is the same. So I was like come on, I'm not crying for 3 hours! Compared to Precious it's nice that they added sidekicks in it, to make it a bit more jaunty. So people could relief, and make themselves up for the next sentimental scene. I really loved the movie though, and the title les miserables is already saying its a lot of drama!

Figure 22. Precious (2009) A drama about an overweight, abused, illiterate teen.

The emotions may obscure the sentimental response from the viewer's awareness; the emotions themselves may be dominant in the viewer's consciousness. They have objects that are readily recognizable in the film, whereas the sentimental aspect is a response to a change in an inner process, that is, an abrupt giving up of coping effort or expectation. Sentiment in the film tends to hide behind pity, gratefulness, admiration, and the like feelings aimed at objects in the fictional world. Yet, the sentimental is a true emotional variant: It is a variation of emotion in its own right because it has its own mode action tendency. The action tendency in sentiment is to yield to the overwhelming. This accounts for the embarrassing quality of sentiment. (cf. Tan, 1999, p51) When the helplessness in sentiment is recognized, it does not conform to the ideal autonomous self that most of us prefer, and will cause embarrassment under normal circumstances. But in the dark of the cinema, and more so perhaps, in the safety of the witness position, we are more free to allow ourselves the enjoyment of temporary weakness. So in daily life, but especially in the cinema, the action tendency of sentiment, to give up one's individual autonomy and lose oneself into the great entity, easily merges with the action tendencies of the other emotions. The empathetic emotions, which are based on an appraisal of events from the point of view of virtuous protagonist and an understanding of the protagonist's feelings, are especially suited for such a merger. Sympathy, as I will talk more about in it's paragraph, is accompanied by a wish to be close to the protagonist, and in the sentimental form of sympathy this tendency neighbors the infatuated desire to 28

be near the protagonist all the time. Pity's action tendency is to care for, protect, and help the other. Sentiment turns this into an urge to feel into the protagonist's state of distress and share the suffering. Likewise, admiration when touched by sentiment assumes the extreme form of almost complete identification. 4.2 Recognition Recognition describes how the viewer perceives a character. In film, this is usually in the shape of a discreet, as shape imaginable, physical body, in other words a body with specific characteristics and properties, which may change during the story or which can develop. Except the bodily presence there are characteristics that contribute to the recognition of a character, including voice, music, names, descriptions, actions, relationships and roles. We also form images of characters on basis of cultural stereotypes, dialect, sex, etc. So, for recognition it's important that each character is represented in a consistent manner. That's why animation studio's they make 'bibles' of how each character thinks, moves, and talks. Also typical poses of the character, or ways to keep it on model. An interesting example of keeping a consistent manner is Gollum, or his alter ego Smeagol from The Hobbit (2012). (Fig. 23) Although they made great improvements, the makers could make him even more realistic. But because they already created the character earlier for The Lord of the Rings trilogy with a less realistic look, they had to take a step back and keep it less good. (of course still very, very good)

Figure 23. Gollum in The Hobbit (2012)

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4.3 Mirror Neurons A Mirror-neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Fig. 24 Is a funny example of Mirror Neurons. So the neuron mirrors the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate and other species including birds. In humans, brain activity consisten with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex. (cf. Giacomo, 2004, pp.169-192) I am not yet convinced about this Mirror Neurons, I believe in it, thats not the point. But I am not convinced about me getting sad only because someone is looking sad, it needs context, or some movement. And this argument of Tan makes sense to me: Sentimental emotion in the film, however, does not necessarily provoke sentimental emotion in the viewer-- if it does provoke any emotion at all-- and, conversely, sentimental emotion in the viewer does not only occur in response to sentimental emotion shown on screen. (Tan, 1999, p.53)

Figure 24. A monkey mirrors a human.

Hagener says it really could be used in film theory: From the point of view of these mirror neurons, there appears no difference between seeing and doing. And herein lies, of course, the potential that this new research field offers for film theory. Mirror neurons not only motor mimicry, the key to human learning, but also empathy and compassion with other human beings. It should therefore be obvious why a scientifically verifiable theory of sympathy and empathy might well have far-reaching consequences for film theory picking up where apparatus theory left off, or was deemed to be a failure, due to too many unproven assumptions. (cf. Hagener, 2010, pp.78-79)

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It often seems to be assumed that the viewer's emotion is a reduplication of the one represented in the fiction; this is plainly incorrect. To be sure, tears of sentiment are contagious, as all tears are. (Frijda1999, p. 53) I think Frijda's thought sounds much more correct. Mirror-neurons is a quite new field people are researching for, and I'm sure it has to do with film as well. But we need more than only tears to get moved. In fact, I notice that most of the time a tear doesn't do anything to me. Only when I see my mother shed a tear, or somebody really related. But in movies, when somebody sheds a tear, I don't feel anything. It's more the moment when there's more happening to the face. But we already discussed that in the previous chapter.

4.4 Identification Our propensity to respond emotionally to fictional characters is a key aspect of our experience and enjoyment of narrative films. Most frequently, we talk of this type of experience in terms of identification -- I could really identify with x'we might say; or, alternatively, 'the film left me cold I mean, I couldn't identify with any of the characters. (cf. Smith, 1995, p1) As mr. Smith says, Identification is a really important key aspect, it doesn't even has to be the protagonist who you can identify with. Lots of movies, for example The Goonies (1985) has different characters so the audience has a better chance to identify with one of the characters. In the Goonies you have the fat guy, the smart Chinese, the tough guy, the pretty boy etc.

Figure 25. The Goonies contains several different characters to identify with

But for example Billy Elliot (2000) which I started the introduction with, has one protagonist. It's a good example that it doesn't need to be the person itself, but also the environment that can make you identify with. I don't want to play ballet, but I do recognize 31

the way he's walking in the neighborhood, the same undershirt I wore when I was that age, sleeping with a brother on the same room, a father who's a factory worker, that all helped me to identify. We watch a film, and find ourselves becoming attached to a particular character or characters on the basis of values or qualities roughly congruent with those we possess, or those that we wish to possess, and experience vicariously the emotional experiences of the character: We identify with the character. (Smith, 1995, p2) Sentimental emotion in the film, however, does not necessarily provoke sentimental emotion in the viewer-- if it does provoke any emotion at all-- and, conversely, sentimental emotion in the viewer does not only occur in response to sentimental emotion shown on screen. So what happens on screen, might not be created to have you get sentimental, but that you recognize things that makes u get sentimental. Smith has a nice example about a father and son, watching Pocahontas (1995) in the Cinema. There is a scene where Pocahontas stands up against her father to prevent a terrible war. This scene is not meant to be a sentimental scene. But the father in the cinema, as a father, sees it as a very emotional happening and sheds a tear. While his son is just watching the scene as any other.

Figure 26. Pocahontas (1995)

4.5 Person Schema Any talk about characters as plausible and possible persons presupposes that we know what a person is. But the nature of the human subject is of course a highly contested issue among temporary thinkers. (cf. Phelan, 1989, p11) However, we can say with some certainty that it is important that the design of a film, which also include the characters, is tuned to the likely audience. Characters should not only be based on a generally applicable idea about how the audience will understand 32

them, they should also be based on the ideas of their social role within the culture of the film, in which they are located. This social role can be, by analogy with Marcel Mauss, split into a more general and a more specific form of human behavior. In 'A category of the human mind: The notion of person; the notion of self', Marcel Mauss presents a history of the concept of person-hood in Western culture, arguing that this narrow, universal category of the self was successively developed, from the notion of personnage, in which the individual is defined principally by her role within a social system, to the notion of moi, Identified as the modern conception of interiorized, monadic selfhood. ( Cambridge University Press 1985) We can argue that both notions of understanding (the characters) of film can be present at the same time. We see this conflict when we position a person, an actor, as a character in a film. The conflict which is that the character not only expresses that he is par of a larger system, the film, and the social context, but also that he expresses 'itself'. Clifford Geertz argues that particular cultural conceptions of personhood answer to general 'existential problems', and even within societies which stress the significance of the person as a role-player within a larger system, expressions of the person as an individual self are present. The narrow, fundamental category of the human agent (on which
culturally specific developments are based)

may be taken to include:

1. A discrete human body, individuated and continuous through time and space; 2. Perceptual activity, including self-awareness; 3. Intentional states, such as beliefs and desires; 4. Emotions; 5. The ability to use and understand a natural language; 6. The capacity for self-impelled actions and self-interpretation; 7. The potential for traits, or persisting attributes. According to this list, Murray Smith says a human agent must have the features and capacities listed above, or something like them, in order to fulfill a social role. A schema is a 'mental set'or conceptual framework which enables us to interpret experience, form expectations, and guide our attention. (cf. Smith, 1995, p21)

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4.6 Sympathy & Empathy Before I discuss more about Sympathy and Empathy I want to explain the differences. The two sound the same, but the meaning of the words, especially in emotional sense have an essential difference. Both have to do with feeling. If you have sympathy for someone than you're able to accept and understand the feelings, thought processes and behavior of the person. The person for whom you have sympathy can feel this as support or uplifting, even if you are not able to help with his problem because you're not an equal discussion partner. If you have empathy for a person, you will be able to completely empathize with the situation of the person. That you have empathy is because you have experience of the situation yourself or you are taking time to know what the person's problem is about. For having empathy you need to be more active than for having sympathy, so you are (in reality) more able to help. The viewer's knowledge may differ from that of the protagonist. For instance, we experience empathetic fear when the protagonist is in danger without knowing. A nice example of this is shown in King Kong (2005), when the protagonist, Ann Darrow has just escaped from danger, and thinks she's safe. While she's taking a rest we see giant bugs crawling, and eventually getting on her.

Figure 27 We see danger is coming. King Kong (2005)

Many empathetic emotions, including sentimental ones, are determined by some knowledge discrepancy between the viewers and the protagonists. However, in all empathetic emotion, the significance of the situation for the protagonist is relevant for the viewer's emotion. in non empathetic emotion this is not so. As cinema spectators, we enjoy the sight of a majestic landscape or the looks of a protagonist regardless of what they mean to the protagonist's fate and feeling. (cf. Tan, 1999, p.52) The viewer's response to a scene is an emotion episode in which interest and empathetic feelings like hope and fear increase with the difficulties the protagonist meets. It ends with joy or sorrow, and compassion or admiration, depending on the outcome.

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The viewer's appraisal that there is an outcome, whatever its kind, signals an abrupt break in interest and the sympathetic emotions like those mentioned. this allows acceptance of the state of affairs as it is, a standing-still of expectations, and hence allows for tears, almost as a function of the discomfort caused by the problem dealt with in the scene. this means that any major resolution in a conflict where the stakes are high in a traditional film's action can give rise to some kind of sentimentality. In every film there are climactic moments where interest in the viewer after a steady rise is highest, and where it is broken by the first unambiguous sign of a resolution: The onset of a kiss in the love scene, the solute turning of the body at a final goodbye, the one gesture that signals acceptance after a long rejection. But sentimental emotion may also readily occur in more offhand scenes, like I had with my Billy Elliot example. It's not about the scene what literally happened, but our own experience that we connect it with. For example, if I see a movie where somebody get's kidnapped and feels all alone, I do not have that experience, but I can connect it with the feeling of being all alone when I went to america, and felt alone the first few days. In sentimental movies (melodramatic) misunderstandings emphasize the viewer's feelings of helplessness; the sympathetic protagonist does not know that he is loved, and acts according to this-- which often means that he is working against his fortune-- and we as viewers cannot inform him; When the misunderstanding is lifted by the end of the sentimental film, the viewer is confirmed in his or her romantic belief that, after all, in the end the world turns out be just.(Tan,1999, p. 60).

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4.7 Fiction / Nonfixtion Like we already discussed earlier in this supportive narrative, emotions occur when a situation is relevant for an individual's concerns. They consist of an appraisal of the situation's significance and action tendency. The emotional experience is the awareness of the situation's particular meaning in terms of relevance for a concern, reality and difficulty, and the felt-action tendency. The action tendency itself consists of an inclination to act in a particular way. (Frijda, 1999, p. 51) For example, fear is an appraisal of a threat of psychical harm that cannot be countered, and the urge to run away, to protect oneself, or to freeze. The action tendency in emotion, moreover, is characterized by it's control precedence. That is, it strives forward completion at the cost of other ongoing actions and cognitive processes. This is what lends any emotion its force and relative em penetrability to purely cognitive considerations. That we respond emotionally to real events is, to use Colin Radford's phrase, a 'brute fact' of human existence; that we can also respond emotionally to fictional events is merely 'inconsistent' this 'brute fact'. (1975 p.67) But he never explains why emotional responses to fictional events should not also have the status of 'brute fact'. He either offers no arguments as to why the inconsistency between the two responses results in one being accepted, the other being deplored. By working initially from the scenario involving emotional responses to actual events, Radford has constructed the argument in such a way as to block alternative explanations of emotional responses to fiction. Radford begins by describing the nature of and criteria for emotional responses to real events, including the crucial criterion that we believe that the event has or is occurring. In doing so, he implicitly establishes this criterion as a norm for all emotional responses 1(cf. Radford, 1975, pp. 67-70) If we look it like that, emotional responses to fiction cannot but seem irrational and incoherent. But why should we accept this as a condition of all emotional response, when our experience of fictions tells us otherwise? Radford anticipates the objection that he has created a problem by failing to recognize two senses of the phrase 'being moved', one applying to real situations, one to fictional situations. However, he claims that the fact of similarity between emotional response to real events and that to fictional events means that we cannot ignore the crucial difference, that is, that belief does not seem to be necessary in this case of fiction.

1 whether to fictions or real events

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We need to recognize that there are two forms of emotional response, one to actual events, and one to fictional events, which share many features but which are not structurally identical. They differ precisely with respect to the nature of the object of the emotion. In a response to an actual situation, we must believe that the object ( the event to which we react) must exist or have existed. In a response to a fictional text, we merely imaginatively propose to ourselves that the object exists: we do not require any existential commitment. As an animator I know that its possible to bring life to every object. And its very interesting how one can believe, and get sentimental by, for example, a robot. Like Johnny five from Short circuit (1986)or Wall-E from the same name's film. (2008)

Figure 28. Wall-E (left) and Johnny five (right), both robots, both fiction, but both heartwarming!

Film-elicted emotion, furthermore, consists largely of witness emotions. That is the major affects in film viewing correspond to affects in daily life when we watch people to which we relate in one way or another, who are involved in an emotional situation, but under conditions in which we cannot act, be acted upon, or otherwise participate in the situation except as onlookers. (Tan,1999, p. 60). so we are concerned about their fate, but have to wait for the outcomes. The audience of films are led to imagine themselves as invisible witnesses that is physically present in the fictional world. Emotions when viewing film may also be evoked by the film as a man made artifact. Being a witness affords the viewer to take specific positions or attitudes with regard to events. The film narrative controls these attitudes to a large degree. It can stress the viewer's awareness of the significance of the situation in the fictional world to the protagonists. In this case, the protagonist's appraisal is included in the viewer's representation of the situation. The viewer then shares in the feelings of the protagonist. This emotion here is an empathetic emotion, and sympathy, compassion, and admiration are the most common examples.

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How is it that we can be moved at all by what we know to be non-existent? The idea that in engaging with fictions we behave as if we both believe and do not believe in the reality of the fictional events. Approaching this issue from the perspective of specifically emotional responses, however, provides no further arguments or evidence for the existence of the supposed 'paradox' than did considering our responses more broadly. (Smith, 1995, p55) Someone who approaches this question by first considering emotions in relation to real events, is Radford. He said that our emotional responses to actual events depend upon our believing that the given event has actually occurred. If someone is drunk, and explains that his mother had just died in a road accident, I will experience sorrow and grief in sympathy with my friend. If, however, he then breaks out into a smile, nudges me in the ribs and says 'Fooled you!' I will no longer feel any form of pity for him. The object of the emotion-- the belief that his mother has died-- has disappeared and a new emotion might appear with a different object. I can get angry at having been so deceived or laugh. with similar examples as the basis of his discussion, Radford then goes on to question how we can ever be moved by fictional entities and events which we never believe to be actual, for example the character Anna Karenina. Anna Karenina is the mental equivalent of the sister now known not to be dead. If the latter fails to move us, why should the former? An 'inconsistency' arises, then, because belief in the reality of agents and events appears to be a criterion of emotional response in the case of our everyday affairs, but not in the case of our experience of fiction. The problem, as Radford sees it, 'is that people can be moved by fictional suffering given their brute behavior in other contexts where belief in the reality of the suffering described or witnessed is necessary for the response'. Proffering several possible solutions to this paradox, he concludes that none are satisfactory and declares that emotional responses to fiction are not merely inconsistent with our emotional responses to actual events, but absurd, 'unintelligible', and 'unmanly'.

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4.8 Themes Ed Tan and Nico Frijda explain that there are three key emotional themes that are particularly conducive to provoke sentimental emotions. Three themes that can be identified are the separation-reunion theme, the justice in jeopardy motive, and the aweinspiration theme. The separation-reunion theme acts upon a basic attachment concern. Attachment concerns are desires to seek, retain, or regain intimacy, proximity, and dependency to selected individuals. To explain why so many people are overwhelmed by witnessing separation and especially reunion scenes, it has to be assumed either that even in individuals with favorable life histories, separations from the parents and especially the mother have left some sensitive mark, or that people as a social species have a hankering for bonding that is never fully satisfied and renders every (re-)union of some importance a "coming home". (cf. Tan,1999, p. 56). A third possibility is that most people have strong, though not always as easily accessible, memories of safety, warmth, and acceptance from an early infancy. A great example, and one of my favorite movies with a separation-reunion theme is Finding Nemo (2003) As sad as the separation is, how beautiful the reunion is.

Figure 29. Nemo and his father are holding each other tight during their reunion. Finding Nemo (2003)

Getting separated or a reunion, is also related to belonging to someone, or a group. I once heard a psychologist in a dutch tv show (proefkonijnen 1) talk about, why we care to belong to a group of people, and why we feel bad when excluded. Humans are beings that live in herds, the psychologist said: imagine yourself, back in the days, in the dessert, excluded from the herd, than you are practically dead. That feeling is what you feel when getting separated from people you want to have contact with. The second theme recurring over and over again in sentimental film is the justice in jeopardy motive, or, perhaps more generally, the moral rectitude under seduction theme. The world's corruptness obscures the good from view, but that good may on occasion nevertheless rear up its lovely head. In the family melodrama, a woman is visited with affliction, and in the end she either chooses to conform to the accepted moral
1 Dutch for 'laboratory rabbits', a tv show comparable with myth busters.

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standards or gives in to temptation. In either case it is her struggle with temptation that counts. Like Raponsel is locked up in her tower in Disney's Tangled (2010) she knows she has special hair and that the outside world is dangerous, but still she wants to know what's outside. The woman who pretends to be her mother, is the villain. Rapunzel takes her chance and chooses to leave the tower, and so the story begins.

Figure 30. Rapunzel laying down on grass for the first time of her life. Tangled (2010)

Why the power of this theme in provoking sentimental emotion? It may well lie in a romantic belief in a just world: We hanker for good being good, and the world being just, all experiences to the contrary notwithstanding, and we eagerly welcome any sign that the belief may be well founded after all. Perhaps it is significant in this context that the two sentimental themes mentioned so far tend to be strengthened by the occurrence of misunderstandings in the plot. In all genres, misunderstandings create suspense, as the ' viewer has to wait until they are resolved. (cf. Tan,1999, p. 60). Emotion is even more intensified when as the viewers may feel sorry when they suddenly realize they have had unwarranted negative and aggressive feelings toward the protagonist. akin to the rough diamond motive is the sensitive beast figure, like The Elephant Man (1980) and The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1996). We find ourselves sympathizing with the sensitive being who in the first instance presents himself as a monster, and has to deal with all the world's offense. The third theme is the least specific because it's not immediately associated with the film storys action or with an understanding of the protagonists feelings. We will call it the awe-inspiration theme. Being in an environment in which one feels tiny and insignificant, such as a huge coliseum or a cathedral, experience the vastness or endlessness of a landscape or empathizing with music may provoke two kinds of emotional response. In both cases, the stimulus is appraised as larger than oneself, and it provokes a tendency of helplessness and surrender, and serious respect as the less intensive response. On the one hand, the stimulus may be attractive and call forth fascination, a propensity for further contemplation and losing oneself in it. On the other it may have a repellent quality, eliciting a tendency to shiver and look for shelter. (Tan,1999, p. 62). 40

4.9 Assessment on the research question In the second chapter, we have looked at the psycho logic side of emotions. In the third chapter we have looked at it visually as a filmmaker. And in this chapter we have looked at the theories of why and how the audience responses. We have seen that although people are ashamed of getting sentimental, they secretly love it, especially in the dark when nobody notice their tears. Sentimentalism isn't an emotion as others, usually emotions are there to make us achieve a goal, but sentimentalism is made out of empathy and sympathy and is all about someone else, instead of yourself. We have looked at terms as the Person Schema, Mirror Neurons, and recognition. Identification is a really important aspect and does not have to do with the person itself but can also contain the environment. There's a lot of theories going on about fiction and nonfiction but I must conclude that we have the same reaction, the only difference is that we don't feel the urge to take action. In real life we could help some one, but in film we have to wait until they solve it on their own. If some one cries in film, we can't console him, which maybe makes us even feel more sentimental. It's the helplessness we feel. Context, or themes, is an important aspect as well. We've seen Ed Tan and Nico Frijda's emotional themes which are really clear and recognizable. It's fun to know that it even works more sentimental when somebody is deformed or presented as a 'beast' as I also do this in my project. But I will talk more about that in Chapter 6. I've noticed there are still a few things that I feel that is not much spoken about, like the way I feel getting really sentimental when somebody is on the point of breaking. So my research question is not yet completely answered, lets find that out in next chapter with a lot of analyzes where we will look into the finest details of the performance and, how I feel about it.

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5 Case Study
5.1 Introduction Case study In this case study I am going to look at the faces of the characters. What do I see, and what is the reason behind every movement? I have twelve different movies with completely different stories and characters. From little girls talking about dead mothers, to CG animated creatures, to gay partners that came back from the death. Different ages, different settings and different styles. Some scenes are full of details that gives me more to write about, but some scenes are subtle and are less to talk about. In the end of this case study I will look at the similarities and differences between scenes and I will look if the main question is getting more clear. Les Miserables (Jean Valjean) (Film time-code: 00.10.53) The first scene I'm going to analyze is a scene from the movie Les Miserables (2012). This quite long scene is about a man called Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who's singing about his past, how bad the people have treated him, about his mistake to steal again, and in the end of the scene he will change his life, he will become a new man, a free man. Because this is a musical, things are a little different than from reality, perhaps it's all just a tiny bit exaggerated. He's singing powerful which makes his breathing different than when he would talk normally. But it remains a very emotional scene, maybe even more because through the singing he can express himself better. At first he's particularly mad because of the way he was treated and the mistakes he has made. (Fig. 31A&B) After a minute he calms down and gets emotional because of the priest who had treated him as any other. He had touched his soul and teached him love, and made him wanting to change. (fig. 31C)

Figure 31. Expressions. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2012)

There are different emotions mixed in his face, he's tired, angry, sadness and confusion. He doesn't have much tears yet and his lower face is hard to read because of

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his beard. The mouth has strong shapes though. Every time he's speaking loudly a vein appears on his forehead. His eyes are very expressive and his skin creases easily because he's so thin. When he sings about the thought to be back in prison he covers his forehead with his hand. (Fig. 31D) Than he thinks about what the priest said and he starts to see the light. He is very moved by this feeling and almost ashamed as if he would not deserve it. And we can hear his voice changes because the emotions take over. (Fig. 32A) While he's making this turn in his life, the camera and he are also turning. He starts singing while walking to another place. Than he stands still, and falls down on his knees. He is crying and exhausted, his vein becomes very clear on his forehead. When he says I am reaching but I fall, and the night is closing in he blinks a few times and sheds tears. His eyes are almost squinted. During the scene he gets more and more saliva. His voice is very fragile, but when he starts to sing about escaping from this bad world and starting a new life he's getting more angry and his voice becomes very powerfull. He spits while talking and in the corner of his mouth you can see saliva. (Fig. 32D) He stands up, and is sick of his old life, and in a very angry way he walks away, tearing apart a paper and finishes his song in a long and powerful last line another story must begin!! (Fig. 32E)

Figure 32. Expressions. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2012)

I do feel empathetic feelings, but don't feel the urge to get too sentimental. Maybe because he's talking with a lot of anger, so he sounds strong enough and 'would not need my help' At moments when he's talking a bit more calm and sad I feel more pity. I'm no sure if it's te case, but it could be also that I miss his chin when he's pouting. The scene, as a song, is of course driven on music. But I don't feel that they tried to force us to get sentimental, it's not that they used a violin etc. I notice that he doesn't blink much, but when he does, it's a few blinks in a row. As if he forgets to blink because he's focusing on his emotions.

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I love you Phillip Morris (Steven Russel) (Film time-code: 01.23.48) This second scene is from I love you Phillip Morris (2009) about a guy named Steven Russel (Jim Carrey) who is lying his whole life and makes himself and his gay partner (Ewan McGregor) rich by frauding a lot. In the scene before this we have seen how Steven has faked a death from cancer and in an almost funny way escaped from jail. His partner is surprised by his appearance but not happy with what he did.

Figure 33. Expressions. Jim Carrey as Steven Russel in I love you Phillip Morris (2009).

The scene starts with a big smack in the face. The escape artist turned from genius to a desperate man because it's up to his partner if he forgives him. He is a bit shocked and starts talking. (Fig. 33A) he's explaining that he could not tell him that he was still living because that would not be safe. When he says ' I did it just so I can talk...(Fig. 33B) he has a short break because emotions take over, his chin and lip are pouting and his brow frowns. His eyes are squinted. (Fig. 33C) He pulls himself together and to cover his emotions he closes his mouth with a poor smile, than he finishes his line ' so I can talk'. But it's not only saying that line, I feel a lot of pity, and not only because I see his pouting lip, but also because I here that his voice changes. You can here in his voice that it's a big deal what he's about to say. When he finishes his line he looks away, he's very ashamed and finds it difficult to look his partner into his eyes. His partner looks at him and says he's skinny. Again, he smiles a bit, and says ' I'm just Hungry'. He looks at his partner again who wants to start talking, but he interrupts. ' Wait, listen, I just came here to tell you one thing, and that's it.' From this point he keeps looking him in his eyes (Fig. 33D.) With a miserable face he tells him 'I know you think that we were nothing but a lie', He sighs, and you can see him getting really serious before he says the next line from his heart: ' But underneath all those lies, there was always something that was real'. (Fig. 33E) during this line his voice changes again because of emotions. He than starts to become really emotional. His eyes are getting wet and are reflecting more. His eyes are squinting a bit more. He starts talking again: 'I thought about what you said to me' , again with a little smile (Fig. 34A) 'You said you don't know who I am, but I know now. I know who I am. I'm not a lawyer, I'm

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not a CFO, I'm not a cop....' Till here he's all right, but at the word cop he starts to cry, and getting desperate but also, as we have seen in the other chapters, he is relieving from his stress.. 'I'm not some kind of escape artist, Those Steven Russells are dead' His lower lip and chin are pouting, his lower lip even pulls a bit to the left. His eyes do not blink, as if he wants to keep observring how his partner is dealing with this confession (Fig. 34B). But his brows keep frowning and his lower eyes are squinting as if they are pushing out the tears. His voice gets really fragile when he says: ' And all that's left is the man that loves you' as this a very important part of what he wants to say. There is even a vein appearing on his forehead. (Fig. 34C) He sighs and swallows and finishes his line: ' And if you could see that, believe it.... I Promise I'll never be anything else... ever again.' Now he is finally done with what he wanted to say. We can see he became so tired of this stress in fig. 34D. His partner says: How do I know you are not bullshitting me again? All his creases are gone, only the tired face is left... he looks away... than looks back, he says ' You don't' .

Figure 34. Expressions. Jim Carrey as Steven Russel in I love you Phillip Morris (2009).

Personally I feel a lot of sentimental emotions going on. I am not sure if it's because he just acted so well or if there might be a factor that plays a role that I know Jim Carrey as a sympathetic happy funny guy and don't want him to be sad. Overall I didn't see any tears shed on his cheeks, they kept in his eye lids. What I also notice is that there is no music. So it's only the performance that does the trick, which, in my opinion, makes it even more strong.

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The Hobbit (Smeagol) (Film time-code: 02.18.00) The next scene is from The Hobbit (2012). I chose this one because I was surprised by the audience. I was sitting in a sold out cinema, and when this scene came up all girls were like 'aaawe'. They were almost in love with this ugly little guy, so I am really interested why they all like this character, as in previous scenes he even wanted to kill the protagonist.

Figure 35. Despite his scary faces, the audience was really empathetic to this guy.

When thinking it through, it's not that complicated. This character is schizophrenic. He has a very cute side, called Smeagol, but his alter ego, Gollum, is the bad guy. So every bad thing he does is easily accepted as a disease, and everything he does that's normal or kind, is 'cute'. Also, people were waiting for him, as he is an interesting character from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Another reason that I wanted to analyze this scene is because it's CG animated. Mainly motion capture4 by Andy Serkis, but of course there is a lot of tweaking done afterward by animators to make it perfect. This scene is very short, but emotionally. Bilbo has got Smeagol's ring, and Smeagol is desperately looking around for his ring. At this point he doesn't look scary at all, because of his sad face with big eyes.

Figure 36. Expressions. Smeagol in The Hobbit (2012).

His mouth is slightly hanging open and there is a bit of saliva on his lips.(Fig. 36B) His eyes are looking around and, somehow, his sound that he makes remind me of a purring cat, which makes him even more harmless to me. In previous scenes he's very moveable, he jumps and walks, but now, he's really calm. When he closes his mouth his cheeks move as if he's trying not to cry. His chin and lip are pouting and quivering a tiny bit. His
4Motion Capture is the process of recording the movement of objects or people to use it in 3D software.

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eyes are not blinking but he squint's while having his eyes wide open, and sheds a tear. It took me two or three times to notice this tear though. (Fig. 36C) He even makes a very soft cry sound. All of this makes Bilbo not want to kill him and decides to step back. But because of the sound of his feet Smeagol notices that he's very close to him and starts to get mad. He's going from sad (Fig. 37B) , to noticing (Fig. 37C) to angry (Fig. 37D). His sadness makes place for anger. First his mouth changes because of the sound of Bilbo's feed, and very quickly the cheeks and eyelids going down, so his eyes gets bigger, his frowned brows go up because of the surprise, and than down because of anger. His right side of the upper lip sneers together with his nose. The music helps a little bit, there are violins in it, but it's not only for this scene. This theme is something that's going on in the whole movie when there are calm scenes. I do feel pity in this scene, I really do, but I don't feel the urge to cry.

Figure 37. Expressions. Smeagol in The Hobbit (2012).

Brothers (Isabelle) (Film time-code: 01.23.20) This scene from Brothers (2009) is quite complicated. Or, the context what it is in. The girl in this scene, called Isabelle (Bailee Madison) is a daughter of a man who went to Afghanistan as a soldier. He was missing and his younger brother took care of his wife and children, like Isabelle. Since her father is back he has changed because he suffers from traumatic memories. The girl, as a kid, is full of anger and sadness and in this scene, she makes that clear. At first, she's a little naughty, as kids are, she takes the doll of her sister, to get attention. When she has to give it back she says ' maggie gets everything, she got the best doll' . Her mother tells her that it's her birthday. But than she says: I did not get anything that I wanted at my birthday..' Than she looks at her father and says 'And you were in stupid Afghanistan'. You might think it makes her not sympathetic but it's a child, and you can tell by her face that it's really bothering her. And because she already told a bit of her feelings now, she gets it difficult to hide her emotions, as the relief she's experiencing. But because the people aren't responding enough she gets even more frustrated. The corners of her mouth are quite low (Fig. 38A) as she is looking at the

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adults who continue there diner. There is a very little pouting going on. As a kid, she's looking for a new way of getting attention. She takes a balloon and starts scratching on it, so the people are getting annoyed by it's sound. (Fig. 38B) Her father is very stressed since Afghanistan and so they are two ticking time bombs. She continues doing the scratching until her father gets so mad that he pops the balloon and yells ' Enough!' At first she is shocked (Fig. 38C) but than as a reflex and a lot of anger she starts screaming 'Couldn't you just stay dead!' (Fig. 38D). A very big thing to say for a little child. Interesting

Figure 38. Expressions. Isabelle in Brothers (2009).

is to see her vein on her forehead, almost as visible as the one of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2012). Her eyes squint a bit and brows are frown. She continues talking 'You are just mad 'cause Mom would rather sleep with Uncle Tommy than you!' This line is a little bit hard to understand because she talks very fast and emotionally, so her voice sounds different. (Fig. 38E) Her eyes are wide open and she yells ' Mommy and uncle Tommy have sex all the time!' (Fig. 38F) If they just waited a little longer before the cut, than we could see the tear actually see falling out of her eyes. But they decided to cut to her father, who hears this new information. The girl hits on the table by saying the latter and when she's done she looks at her mother as if it's her mistake. Shes half shocked of

Figure 39. Expressions. Isabelle in Brothers (2009).

what she did, and half blaming her mother for the whole situation. (Fig. 39B) Everybody is quiet. The girl looks at the family, than to her father (Fig. 39E). Just wondering what will happen now. Her father is shocked. The last thing happens in the scene is that we see the little girl crying quietly, looking down. There is no music, which makes it much better in my opinion. Because now the quiet parts are really awkward and embarrassing. 48

Black Swan (Nina) (Film time-code: 00.22.20) To make a change and to have a different view I also want to analyze a scene that contains are emotions of happiness. In the movie Black Swan (2010) the ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) wants to have the main part of the ballet show, she thinks she won't get the job and she already congratulate another girl with her part. But than the girl comes back and is mad at her, she doesn't understand, and decides to have a look at the paper. Everybody congratulate her and it turns out she is the lucky one with the main part! As she is confused we don't see much happiness yet. She walks to the ladies bathroom, locks herself up and calls her mother (Fig. 40A).

Figure 40. Expressions. Nina in Black Swan (2010).

Her face is a little tensed but there are no wrinkles or anything yet. She gets emotional when the phone is ringing, her eyes are already a bit wet and her mouth is pouting (Fig. 40B) Her mother picks up the phone and she's clearly happy to hear her voice, (Fig. 40C) she immediately starts smiling and getting emotionally. But she's trying to keep herself strong, by moving her jaw a little to the left. She sounds very fragile and so her mother asks if something is wrong. She says 'I'm fine'. And again her mouth is pouting a lot and her brows are frowning. Her eyes are wide open and not blinking much.(Fig. 40E)

Figure 41. Expressions. Nina in Black Swan (2010).

Because she doesn't respond quick enough her mother asks again ' What is it'? And she answers 'uhm... He picked me mommy' (Fig. 40F) While waiting for a respond from her mother she starts crying, as a stress movement first looking to the left, and than closing her eyes because the tears are probably getting itchy. (Fig. 40A,B) She still doesn't here a 49

respond so she asks 'did you here me'? Than her mother responds happy and she starts laughing and crying as a big relief. (Fig. 40C) ' I will be home soon, I just wanted to let you know.' She says goodbye but before her mother can finish her line she already pulls away the phone from her ear and starts crying. She sheds a tear and starts laughing and crying at the same time, as such a big relief on the lot of stress she had earlier. She is probably exhausted as she turns away with his head against the door, leaning with her eyes squinted together.(Fig. 41D) Than looking up, almost like as if she's thanking god. A big vein is appearing in her neck and a very tiny one on her forehead.(Fig. 41E) She pulls herself together and she leaves the toilets. I felt empathic feelings because I can see it's her dream and a big deal for her. Also because she is such a fragile girl and not rude, I really do want her to succeed. Another thing that plays a role is that the film is sometimes confusing, and an example is the angry girl in the beginning. They all make her unsure if she should be happy with the part, because not everyone is happy with that. That makes it confusing and even more emotional. There is background music playing and it sounds positive. It makes the scene even better.

Warrior (Paddy Conlon) (Film time-code: 01.34.00) In my opinion father-son relationships are important and I don't like to see it when it's a bad relationship. In this scene from Warrior (2011) a father called Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) tries to have contact again with one of his sons. He's a few weeks sober as he suffers from an alcohol addiction. He wants to make contact but his son (Tom Hardy) think it's too late. He's already a grown up now and doesn't need him anymore. His father finds him in a casino and sits down next to him. This scene is different from others, the father is

Figure 42. Expressions. Paddy in Warrior (2011).

not crying, but I feel such a lot of pity. This time it's not him who does the talking, but his son, and everything his son says is not very nice. His son tells him a lot of harsh things, while he's trying to have a normal conversation. He tries to think of a topic to talk about. Then they start about a rescue his son did, and he says he's proud of him. (Fig. 42C)

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Than his father asks him about what happened at at his sons military time, because something clearly happened. Than his son says ' Spare me the compassionate father routine pop, the suit don't fit.' (Fig. 42D) his father doesn't show much differences in his expressions but he's clearly hurt by this. I feel so bad for him because I would never want to see my dad like that. No tears, just his awkward face. Paddy desperately starts talking again to his son: 'Tommy,I'm really trying here...' His son: You're trying?' .. Paddy: 'Yeah really, i'm trying' His son thinks it's too late: 'now? You're trying? Now? Where were you when it mattered? I needed this guy back when I was a kid. I don't need you now. It's too late now. Everything's already happened. You and Brendan don't seem to understand that. Let me explain something to you: the only thing I have in common with Brendan Conlon (his brother) is that we have absolutely no use for you.

Figure 43. Expressions. Paddy in Warrior (2011).

Well, that's really sad, I feel so much pity, and he doesn't even cry. So this is a new way of feeling empathetic to the character. The reason I feel so much pity is because the father is not saying much, he's just listening to his son who's telling it's too late. His son continues: 'Yeah, I was right, I think I liked you better when you were a drunk. At least you had some balls then. Not like now, tip toeing around, a beggar with your cup out. Take it somewhere else.' His son gets mad and throws coins in his casino cup: ' You know what! Here's a cup, why don't you go buy some more of your shitty tapes, and you go back to the room, and you listen to some more fish stories that no one gives a shit about.' His father looks desperately, and his son throws the cup of coins in his face (Fig. 43C) ' Now get out of here. Get the fuck out of here!' He looks at him, than looks down, he failed. And then he leaves. This is really a scene carried on miserable lines. Tangled (Rapunzel) (Film time-code: 01.25.22) Another CG animated shot, only this time fully animated and no motion capture involved. In this scene someone's partner is dying. In the film Tangled (2010) Rapunzel has just lost her villain and now her lover is dying because he was stabbed by a knife.(Fig. 44A) She's talking to him and when she says 'Stay with me Eugene' her voice changes because her 51

emotions take over. She takes his hand and puts it on her magic hair and sings the magic spell but nothing happens. (Fig. 44B) Her mouth starts pouting (Fig. 44C) and her eyes start to get wet. At every sentence she sags in a bit. Eugene tries to interrupt her and when he succeeds he says: 'Rapunzel, you are my new dream' She nervously smiles (Fig. 44D) about it and she says: 'And you are mine'. Her lips quivers a bit. (Fig. 44E)

Figure 44. Expressions. Rapunzel in Tangled (2009).

Eugene dies. She's looking at him with big wet sad eyes. (Fig. 45A) Her lower lids are filling with tears. She's just sitting there and holding his head (Fig. 45B) She sings the magical healing song one more time, but nothing happens. She leans on his face and starts to cry, first her eye fills with water, and than it drops down on her cheek and from her cheek on his face. She's catching her breath.

Figure 45. Expressions. Rapunzel in Tangled (2009).

I feel pity with her because it's well animated. But somehow it's not very strong, probably because I expect him to be alive soon because it's a fairy tale. But still, it's very sad. She's all alone in her tower and just lost her love of her life.

Super 8 (Alice Dainard) (Film time-code: 01.00.00) Another completely different scene is this one from the movie Super 8 (2011). In this scene a girl called Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) tells her friend that the reason why his mother is dead is because of her father. They are watching some old tape's of his mother with an old projector. The boy tells her that it feels weird to see his mother, as if she's still there. The 52

girl looks a little emotionally already (Fig. 46A) because of three reasons: She misses love from a mother, she doesn't have one. She feels sorry for him and she feels the urge to tell him what she knows. And the latter is whats this scene is mostly about. We've just seen some more video and after the cut she's already crying a little bit. She catches her breath and sheds a tear from her left eye (Fig. 46B) and starts talking : 'He drinked that morning, my dad.. he missed his shift'. (Fig. 46C) Her eyes are reflecting a lot because of the tears. 'You're mum took it for him, the day of the accident.' She starts to cry harder, her chin is pouting a lot and she's biting on her lip to pull herself together. (Fig. 47A)

Figure 46. Expressions. Alice in Super 8 (2011).

She wants to continue talking but she first has to breath, and to become calm (Fig. 47C) Because the tears are falling in her mouth she plays even more with her mouth to stop the crying. She blinks a lot at every time she wants to talk. She continues: 'He wishes... I know he wishes it was him instead of her.. and .. Sometimes I do too.. ' Thats really sad and the boy tells her not to say that, because it's her father she's talking about. Because she says that she gets more emotional again. She presses her lips hard against each other as a way to stop crying.

Figure 47. Expressions. Alice in Super 8 (2011).

I feel so much pity, because she has done such a great acting performance. I noticed that after every cut she had tears, so perhaps they could have cheat and sprayed some water in her eyes. But that doesn't matter, the scene looks great. I also notice that her nose gets wet as well, her nose starts running. Same as when I get emotionally. As a matter of fact, I also bite my lips a bit too.

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The Sixth Sense (Cole Sear) (Film time-code: 00.45.00) In the movie The Sixth Sense (1999) a boy called Cole (Haley Joel Osment) sees ghosts. In this scene he's finally ready to tell his psychologist Dr. Malcolm (Bruce Willis) about his secret. This scene is very subtle and there is not much going on. But because it's a very important, and famous scene I thought it might be interesting to take a look at!

Figure 48. Expressions. Cole in The Sixth Sense (1999).

At first they are talking about things that are on Dr. Malcolm's mind, but than it get's quiet. (Fig. 48A) The boy takes a deep breath, than closes his eyes, takes another deep breath, than he looks up to Dr. Malcolm. His eyes are quite dry at this moment. (Fig. 48B) He says 'I want to tell you my secret now' . A close up on his face, his eyes are getting wet. (Fig. 48C) Dr. Malcolm asks him questions 'In you dreams?' The boy shakes his head, Malcolm continues: 'While you are awake?' The boy nods scared and sad. Dr Malcolm: 'Dead people, like in graves and coffins?' The music starts to get scary. He shakes his head again, 'Walking around like regular people,they don't see each other, they only see what they wanna see, they don't know they're dead'. His face doesn't change much and it remains in this scary sad expression. His lips and eyes are wet.(Fig. 48F) Dr. Malcolm is impressed and asks him how often he sees them, the boy whispers: 'All the time, they're everywhere.... You won't tell anyone my secret right? I feel the most pity when he asks: 'Will you stay here until I fall in sleep?' It sounds so desperate. As a viewer I would love to help the boy. You definitely feel the helplessness I was talking about in another chapter. It's also possible that the music makes me feel more pity as well, as it was first scary, and when he asks him to stay it becomes more sad. So the music guides me through the scene. Also, he was whispering the whole scene. Flight (Whip Whitaker) (Film time-code: 02.01.00) Flight (2012) is a movie about a pilot called Whip, (Denzel Washington) who survived a plane crash together with more than 100 passengers. But because there are a few dead people, and the fact that he had alcohol in his blood, there is a big chance he goes to jail. During the movie he's constantly drunk. It's not the court that is his biggest problem, it's the 54

fact that he's an alcoholic, and that he doesn't recognizes that he has a drinking problem. In this scene he's in the courtroom, full with press and audience. At this very moment he is even drunk, he answers the questions and it's all okay. But than the member of the court asks him, if it was a staff member who died, who drunk the two bottles that were found in the garbage after the crash.

Figure 49. Expressions. Whip in Flight (2012).

He was able to lie about some questions, but he cannot lie about this woman.(Fig. 49A) He asks the member of the court three times to repeat the question and he's getting really nervous. He keeps pushing his tongue into his cheek. (Fig. 49B-D) and he mumbles something. And drinks some water. She asks him ' Excuse me, what did you say?' He gets close to the microphone and says 'I said, God help me'. This sounds like a normal

Figure 50. Expressions. Whip in Flight (2012).

sentence but during the movie he was very skeptical about people talking about god. And now he does it himself. The woman reacts the same as he would do ' Yes, well, however..is it your opinion.' Now he interrupts her, and says: 'It's my opinion Catherine did not drink that bottle, because I drank the vodka' . It gave me goosebumps the first time I saw this scene because this is the first time in the movie he admits, but also the people around him start to react and pictures are taken etc. He says it again: ' I drinked the wodca bottles on the plane.' The woman wants to start asking the questions again about his the few days before the flight, but he interrupts her again and says 'Oct. 11th 12th 13th and 14th I was intoxicated, I drink all of those days.. I drank..' The woman is surprised that he admits, and is happy to continue her questions: 'On the morning of the flight..' He interrupts again : 'I 55

was Drunk!' .. Than he even admits he's drunk now. And continues the little nerve movements as moving his tongue in his cheek (Fig.49E) He's getting more and more sweaty around his mouth, and shows even more stressful faces (Fig. 50A-B) ' I'm drunk right now, miss block.... because I'm an alcoholic' (Fig. 50C) The music starts and this is what we all wanted to see the whole movie long, that he admits that he has a problem. It's such a big deal, also that this makes him go to jail. It's interesting how he didn't cry in this scene, only a little bit wet eyes. Maybe because he's also drunk, maybe because he does so much to avoid crying like all those little nerve movements. Les Miserables (Fantine) (Film time-code: 00.27.00) The second scene from the movie Les Miserables (2012) contains another song, but this time by a woman. This time it's not about going to change, but about how her life could get this bad. The woman, Fantine, (Anne Hathaway) lays in a bed, just had sex for money, cut her hair for money, took out two teeth for money, in other words: Miserable. She looks bad and fragile what helps us to get empathetic. She gets up and starts singing. (Fig. 51A)

Figure 51. Expressions. Fantine in Les Miserables (2012).

I'm not going to go through all her lyrics, because that's quite a lot. She has a sad face from the beginning, but compared with whats coming it's nothing yet. She starts singing about what she was dreaming of. (Fig. 51B-C) When she sings about God that would be forgiving she gets a little more sad, but she continues singing. Her eyes are getting more wet and sometimes her mouth is pouting. She looks down for a bit and continues. Than she starts to sing about a man in her life who turns her life into shame and starts to frown really badly and her mouth is pouting. (Fig. 51D) It's such a sad face, she tries to catch her breath for a bit, covers her mouth with her hands and than she continues singing. She starts to get a runny nose. She's singing more angry, and after every long note she needs to catch her breath more and more, as we have when we cry out loud. She starts singing about her dream that her man would come back, and she gets a little smile on her face (Fig. 51B) And then, there is that moment that gives me goosebumps on my back, she

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sings: 'But there are dreams that can not be' In such a powerful and sad way, her frown brows, her eyes squinted, tears shedding from both eyes, a pouting lip, perfect! (Fig. 51C)

Figure 51. Expressions. Fantine in Les Miserables (2012).

This makes her really out of breath but she still continues singing (Fig. 51D-E). Then she finishes her song, and calms down. I love how her face started a lot cleaner, but because of the snot and tears she looks so messed up. It makes it really dramatic.(Fig. 51F) It makes her look more tired as well. In this scene I also noticed micro movements, I saw her face quivering and also her eyelids quiver at some moments. The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (Quasimodo) (Film time-code: 01.27.00) In this last scene we're going a little further back in time, this old movie called The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1939) has a great scene with Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) and also a slightly different way of acting, which is interesting.

Figure 52. Expressions. Quasimodo in The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1939).

Quasimodo has just saved the pretty gipsy girl from death and they are together in the bell tower. He just gave her some food and wants to leave, so he doesn't ruin her appetite with his ugly face. When he's about to leave she stops him, and asks him to stay. He tells her that he's not only ugly, but deaf too. At first he talks normal, but after a while he's getting uncomfortable, and starts to move out of stress. He takes a rope of the bell and leans with his head against it. (Fig. 52B) He says 'I never realized, how ugly I am' His voice gets louder, but also more vulnerable, I feel pity for him, especially when he finish his sentence: 'Because you're so beautiful' .(Fig. 52C) Then he smiles because he just said that, and gets 57

a little shy. And hides himself behind the rope (Fig. 52D) He continues: ' I'm not a man, Im not a beast...' And then he starts to laugh really loud which is a little awkward and then finishes his sentence again: 'I'm about as shapeless as the man on the moon' he laughs really hard, probably because he's death as well.(Fig. 52E-F) The gipsy girl doesn't laugh at all, she thinks it's a shame that he says those horrible things about himself. And thats what we feel too as viewers.

Figure 53. Expressions. Quasimodo in The Hunchback of the Notre Dame (1939).

Quasimodo tells her that she can talk with signs, and so she asks why he saved her. Than she stops laughing again, and goes back to his shy, sad posture.(Fig. 53A) 'You asked me, why I saved you? o.. I tried to carry you of, and the next day, you gave me a drink of water, and a little pity...' He cries. (Fig. 53B) He's not laughing anymore and reveals his sadness. But like earlier, he doesn't think about himself, he thinks of her, and tells her: 'Listen, you must never leave the church or they'll hang you...and that will kill me' Because he's so sympathetic we get sympathetic as well for him. It's hard to see what's happening in his face, as we see one side, and one side is covered with make up that is not moving. His mouth and chin is very expressive though. There is no music in this scene which perhaps makes it more intimately. Also his appearance makes us feel pity right away when we getting to know him better and he isnt that bad at all! 5.3 Assessment on the research question We have looked at twelve totally different scenes, they all had their own specialties and contexts. The performances are all different, but they do also have similarities. So if we look at the main question 'How to move to move us' let's see what we have found out in this case study about the 'movement' of the face. I noticed that a lot of performances contain nerve movements as little smiles like Jim Carrey or Rapunzel. Other nerve movements are biting on the lips, playing with tongue, rotating jaw sideways etc. The line between laughing and crying is really thin, as visible in the scene of Black Swan. That's because they both have to do with relief after a

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period of stress. I noticed a few characters pop up veins out of their foreheads when getting mad or when there is a lot of pressure on their faces like Zean Valjean or Isabelle. They all have one thing in common: Wet eyes. Some of them shed some tears too, but not much, only one or two. I also noticed that a lot of characters have big eyes, and don't blink much, but when they do, they blink a lot. As if they forget to blink until their tears are getting in the way, often they squint before they let the tears go. I noticed that I love when the tears are falling on the right time, as in Les Miserables. They almost all pout their lips and chins. I see the pouting of lip and chin as two different things as sometimes only the lip was quivering, and sometimes only the chin. I noticed that some of them generate saliva which can be dramatic when spitting out some loud words as Jean Valjean did. The approach of each scene is so different. Some are standing strong on their own, like I feel I don't need to know too much context when seeing the scene of Jim carrey. But some of them, like the one with Denzel Washington needs some story to be told, before I can get empathetic feelings. I also need to know, or see that the subject they are talking about, does mean a lot to them. The drinking problem, the ring, love. And then there is the way a scene goes, is it the character who's talking about his or her life, or is it somebody else who's saying things that makes the character emotionally. If somebody talks about his problem, and I feel I cannot help him, I feel helpless, as with the scene in the Sixth Sense. If we look at the beginning and ending of a scene, we see a lot of characters get very tired in the end. When there is relief, or when they stopped crying. They look exhausted. Also I noticed that some people get really dirty or wet in their face. Their face can become wet from tears, snot, sweat and saliva. It sounds dirty but it stands out. All those things make sense and are inspiring for animating an own animated scene. But every scene is different and must be looked at as a new story. So it's not smart to just 'copy' all these movements and think it will work. It's all about the context.

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6 Project Little Freak

Figure 54. My graduation project Little Freak

6.1 Performance After all this information I have gathered its time to analyze my own project: Little Freak. It is about a little deformed boy whos being used as a freak-show attraction. When his father asks him to make a birthday wish he starts to imagine. When the boy appears to be not so happy with his life his father tries to calm him down, but his son keeps talking and starts to cry. In the end, it was just his imagination and hes still staring at his candle, while his father waits for him to make the wish. I have used a lot of information to add in the performance of the character. I will first take a look at those, the visual. And after that I will look at it from the audiences perspective, so the more psychological side of it. 6.2 Tears I have used an edge of water on the bottom of the eyelid during the whole film. But I have made the line bigger as he starts to get more emotional. This way his eyes feel more wet and believable. When he starts to cry he sheds a little tear, but the biggest one is coming at the moment hes done with talking, hes quietly dreaming and a big tear roles over his cheek. I was inspired by the tear of Fantine in Les Miserables (2012). I think it makes us a little bit more sentimental when we see this big tear, so we really feel the boy has a hard time. Difference with mine and the one from Les Miserables is, that mine is shedding while being quiet, and the other is shedding while singing out loud. (Fig. 55)

Figure 55. Left: A big tear at the end of his talk. Right: Inspired by Les Miserables (2012)

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6.3 Pouting Another important aspect is the pouting of the chin. As we saw in a lot of scenes, the chin starts to wrinkle when a character is about to cry. I have tried to make this too, and I think it is a valuable addition. 6.4 Nose A little detail are the nostrils that are getting bigger or wider on some moments when he's about to cry. 6.5 Snot I already knew from own experiences, but I also noticed during the analyses that characters starts to get running noses when they are crying. It's just another thing that adds to make the character gets a changed look at the end of the scene. From clean and happy to dirty, wet and unhappy. Again, it makes it more 'real' character, when it all works like a real person. In the end, as children do, I've let him lick away some snot from his mouth. 6.6 Vein While watching all those scenes I realized a lot of people have veins on their forehead. It gives the performance more power as you feel the character is giving everything he or she got. The acting performance of the girl in Brothers (2009) was a big influence for me, she also had a little vein on her fore head, but it was the way she started screaming to her father that was a great inspiration for my animation. (Fig. 56) Another one was Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, who also was inspiring, because of the veins popping up everywhere. Besides it adds something to the performance it also makes the character more 'fleshy' and more alive.

Figure 56. Isabelle, Jean Valjean and 'Little Freak' have veins on their foreheads.

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6.7 Sweat After telling something very important, or when a stressful situation is happening, people start to sweat. An example of my analysis was Denzel Washington in Flight. It's another way to make a person look uncomfortable and less happy or clean. I have let the sweat appear in the last two shots, very little, but just to add that little detail to make him more believable. 6.8 Shivering While recording the voice over I asked voice actor Adam Nightingale to film himself, so maybe it would be of use for me. And it was, I saw how he was shivering at some moments, and I realized it would be great if the character would shiver at the end of his performance. It's because the character has a big discharge so it's natural to start shivering. Again, another way to add something to the 'transformation' from a clean character, to an affected character. 6.9 Pupils In my research on the pupils I found out that pupils getting smaller when a person gets stressed, so a person will get less stimuli from it's environment. I was a little stubborn in this one, because as you know in animated films people want to see big 'puppy' eyes. I have animated the pupils so they would respond on light and dark things. But at moments when he is looking his father in the eyes, I decided to make his pupils a little bigger, so it looks more sad and desperate. Because, if I would make the pupils smaller, it may look more angry. And after all, the average person will not think: Hey, thats not right! 6.10 Breath I figured out that during some emotional scenes, the characters are getting out of breath, or just having difficulties with breathing because the emotions take over. I don't have outof-breath moments, but there are some moments that the breathing is getting attention. Two examples: when the boy is sighing because he's thinking of the world behind the curtains, the candle is reacting on his breath, so you really feel his lungs are working. But the most important breath moment is when he is about to say 'you don't know me either dad!' you can hear his breath catches and his chin pouts so it all comes together like a sad moment.

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6.11

Voice

As I noticed during my research, the moment that I get sentimental, is when a person his voice changes. Because of this you really feel the struggle with the emotions. When we did the voice recording Adam did a great job. But my film is so short, that the audience doesn't have much time to really get to the know the normal voice, before it starts to change in the sad voice. One of the disadvantages of a short film. I tried to get this visible though, by using the pouting chin and squeezing eyes and brows. 6.12 Other aspects The way the character looks seems very similar to Quasimodo, but I actually did not t try to make it look like him, it just happened during the concept stage. Looking at a deformed character, makes us feel pity, and because its a child, its even more sad.

Figure 57. The poster gives us a bad prejudice, because he turns out to be a smart friendly child.

In chapter 3 I have talked about the mood, and I found out it's raining very often. In my film I also used rain and thunder, and darkness to get the right mood. The rain on the windows feel like tears falling down. And the thunder and scary poster in the beginning gives us a bad impression about the kid, who turns out to be less freaky than the poster shows us. He's turns out to be a cute kid with ambitions. (Fig. 57) This makes us feel guilty and feel bad for the character even more. The moments the kid is quietly being sad, is inspired by Gollum and the boy of The Sixth Sense(1999). 6.13 Audience If we look at the visuals, it's all in there. But does that mean it works sentimental? No. Behind all the visual elements, there is the psychological part, like we have discussed earlier. For myself it's hard to get emotional for my own made movie, but I've showed my project to several people and with those opinions I was able to draw some conclusions. My project is nicely done, but is it the best I could get? No. There are a few aspects that made it hard to get sentimental on this film. First of all, the film is very short. Due to

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the time I had to create this project I could only make a small story in a small amount of time. That means I have to ask the audience to get sentimental within one minute, which is quite challenging as the audience don't get much change to get to know the character first. As some people said to me, it looks more like a scene in a bigger movie which I agree. An advantage I have is that the boy is a kid, deformed, and acting friendly so it makes us empathetic easily. A thing that might be annoying to people, is that the boy talks quite smart for his age. Adam did a great job, but it's because of the dialog I made up. And the way a young kid is philosophizing about his life might be a little too much. I think I did a good job in the little time-frame I had. The boy is kind, thanks his dad, we see he has talent etc. But the major problem is that it all happens so fast that the moment the kid starts to get emotional is all a bit too fast and feels a little exaggerated. Another important aspect during my research was Identification. Can we identify ourselves with the boy? Maybe we are not deformed, but the expectations our environment or parents have of us, might be comparable for some people. There is something else that could make us feel less pity, and that's because the kid is screaming quite loud and he's standing up for himself. If he's standing up for himself, why would he need our help? It's the same thing I had with the scene with Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (2012). The anger of him doesn't ask for my pity or help, he can handle himself. But when he's all done and it turns out to be a dream, and he's quietly crying, then we do feel pity. It's the same after the girl in Brothers (1999) stops screaming, it is then when we feel more pity. (Fig. 58)

Figure 58. I feel more pity when they stop screaming and are quietly sad.

6.14 Conclusion Overall the scene works for the target group: animation studio's , it's not a bad animation, it's an emotional performance. But in order to get the audience sentimental, it needed to have a little more playtime, and maybe a different approach on the story and dialog. I'm satisfied for the quality I came up with, but, as always: It could have done better.

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7 Final conclusion
When I started writing this supportive narrative my view on the subject was short sighted and my hypothesis about the subject was too simplistic. Roughly speaking, I thought it was just a bit of pouting and shedding tears, and when the character would burst into tears the audience would automatically do the same. The main question ' How does an emotional character move and how does it affect the audience?' could be divided by two conclusions. One about the character itself, and one about the audience. Emotions are there because it's a survival instinct. Feelings are different from Emotions, as feelings are just feelings and emotions make us undertake action. When we feel the first urge to whine, we can try to stop or we can let it go, or even exaggerate it a bit, to get pity from others. In my hypothesis I told about the tears, I thought that they were one of the most important, but they are not. We don't shed tears because we feel sad, we shed tears because of stress discharge. The line between laughing and crying is thin, as we do both when discharging stress. When crying laughing can be mixed quite easily, also as a stress movement. There are a lot more stress movements as biting on the lips, rotating jaws, and quick body movements without goals. There is not a clear guide how a character should move for a sad performance. Every performance is different. But there are things to keep in mind when achieving one, almost as a toolkit that you may or may not use. Appearing veins, wet eyes, pouting, tears, snot, shivering, sweat, saliva, the pouting of the lips or chin and depressed posture are all 'tools' to help make the performance believable, if you do it the right way. Often In the end a character is tired and a little out of breath. It all depends on the context in which the character is thinking or acting. If the audience can't identify or feel empathetic it will not work at all. Sentimentality goes back to ancient history, We are looking for sensation, it's a kind of curiosity we possess. Despite the fact we are looking for sentimentalism, we are a bit ashamed to show it as well, so we enjoy it most when seeing a movie in the cinema, in the dark. Identification is a major aspect and does not only have to do with the person itself but can also contain the environment. When we see a fictional scene we respond in a kind of same way when responding to real life events, only we don't feel the urge to help. Because we can't. If someone cries, we can't console him, which maybe makes us even feel more sentimental, because of the helplessness we feel. The context is really important in some scenes. In some scenes we need to know the back story , and in others we immediately see that the character has a hard time. There is not just one answer to the main question, but this supportive narrative has been an eye opener for the lots of possibilities to approach an emotional performance and it will definitely help me with my future work. 65

References
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Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press White, D.L (2007) Acting for Film and Television CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Woodworth, R.S. (1938) Experimental psychology. New York: Holt. Zuckerman, M., Buchsbaum, M. & Murphy, D. 1980. Sensation-seeking and its biological correlates. Psychol. Bull. 88, 187-214. Films 101 Dalmatians, (1961) Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman, USA, 79 min. [2D Animated film] Avatar (2009) James Cameron, USA, UK, 162 min. [CG Animated film / film] Bambi (1942) James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, USA, 70 min. [2D Animated film] Billy Elliot (2000) Stephen Daldry, UK, France, 110 min. [film] Black Swan (2010) Darren Aronofsky, USA, 108min. [film] Brief Encounter (1945) David Lean, UK, 86 min. [film] Brave (2012) Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, USA, 93 min. [CG Animated film] Brothers (2009) Jim Sheridan, USA, 105 min. [film] Dark Knight (2008) Christopher Nolan, USA, UK, 152 min. [film] Dumbo (1941) Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, John Elliotte, USA, 64 min. [2D Animated film]

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Elephant Man, The (1980) David Lynch, USA, 124 min. [film] Finding Nemo (2003) Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, USA, 100 min. [2D Animated film] Flight (2012) Robert Zemeckis, USA, 138 min. [film] Goonies, The (1985) Richard Donner, USA, 114 min. [film] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) USA, UK, Germany, 161 min. [film] Hobbit, The(2012) Peter Jackson, USA, New Zealand, 169 min. [film] Hunchback of the Notre Dame, The(1939) William Dieterle, USA, 117 min. [film] I love you Phillip Morris (2009) Glenn Ficarra, John Requa France, USA, 98 min. [film] Incredibles, The (2004) Brad Bird, USA, 115 min. [CG Animated film] Iron Giant, the (1999) Brad Bird, USA, 86 min. [2D Animated film] King Kong (2005) Peter Jackson, New Zealand, USA, Germany, 187 min. [film] Les Miserables (2012) Tom Hooper, USA, UK, 158 min. [film] Life of pi (2012) Ang Lee, USA, Taiwan, 127 min. [film] Lion King, The (1994) Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, USA, 89 min. [2D Animated film] Man's Castle (1933) Frank Borzage, USA, 75 min. [film] Miracle Worker, The (1962) Arthur Penn, USA, 106 min. [film] Pocahontas (1995) Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg, USA, 81 min. [2D Animated film] Polar Express (2004) Robert Zemeckis, USA, 100 min. [CG Animated film] 69

Precious (2009) Lee Daniels, USA, 110 min. [film] Princess and the Frog (2009) Ron Clements, John Musker, USA, 97 min, [2D Animated film] Ratatouille (2007) Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, USA, 111 min. [CG Animated film] Seor Droopy (1949) Tex Avery, USA, 8 min. [2D animated short film] Short Circuit (1986) John Badham, USA, 98 min. [film] Sixth Sense, The (M. Night Shyamalan) USA, 107 min. [film] SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-..) Stephen Hillenburg, USA, 30 min [2D TV series] Super 8 (2011) J.J. Abrams, USA, 112 min. [film] Tangled (2010) Nathan Greno, Byron Howard, USA, 100 min. [CG Animated film] Tarzan (1999) Chris Buck, Kevin Lima, USA, 88 min. [2D Animated film] Warrior (2011) Gavin O'Connor, USA, 140 min. [film] Way Down East (1920) D.W. Griffith, USA, 145 min. [film]

Websites Crying Audience Picture: http://www.zombiesquirrel.com/z/?ArticleID=131 Crying at home Picture: http://www.lipstiq.com/2012/06/26/5-movies-that-will-make-aman-cry/

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