3 Screenwriting Tools That Help The Audience Empathize With Characters by Karl Iglesias

[@scifirealism5943]

1. Character being mistreated 2. Showing their humanity(their driver centers around them caring about someone other than themselves) 3. Having admirable traits

[@starcrafter13terran]

Possibly, 4. Having the character overcome their fear to save someone they care more about than themselves.

[@TheRealOtakuEdits]

That can be seen as them showcasing their admirable, courageous trait but it's a good example.

[@Arbiter417Machinima]

@@babumurugesan6977 It's never a guarantee that the audience will connect with your characters, but try focusing on universal emotions: love, hate, fear, hope. For empathy, just make sure the audience can clearly understand your characters' motivations, they don't have to agree with your characters' actions, just make them understand. PS: I'm not a professional, so take everything I said with a grain of salt.

[@matheuscastordeazevedo2128]

@@starcrafter13terran that's the second. he is caring more about someone other than himself. and when you say overcome a fear, it's a little of the third, a corageous trait.

[@matheuscastordeazevedo2128]

@@babumurugesan6977 watch the video again. lol. this is the whole point of the video.

[@JorgePrietoNYC]

Creating empathy for your protagonists in the first 10 pages/minutes is a must to hook the audience. Once they start caring for your characters, they will stay and root for that character's journey till the end.

[@visforvendetta1326]

Except Wolf of Wall Street, Casino, and Good Fellas are all award winning films that do not have characters who empathize with anything other than the tangibles of materialism. What Karl is talking about is sentimentality.

[@JorgePrietoNYC]

@@babumurugesan6977 First, give your character a struggle, from the first frame the audience need to see, feel your character's suffering, his/her conflict, internal or external. We all identify with struggle, conflict, goals and with who or what is interfering or contributing to these struggles. It's a 90 minute journey of your protagonist and how he/she overcomes, what would we do in same circumstances, and the end does he triumph. It's really important to start late, meaning at your character lowest point in their lives, and end early, scenes 3 pages long max. Know your beginning, your ending, these are your roadmap, what happens in between, it's a surprise to you and to your audience, but have a killer ending, where ALL IS LOST and GAIN. Hope this helps, I'm no pro, but have writing for years, everyday, some great, others not so great. Write, write and read screenplays in your genre. I enjoy Drama. Connect with your story, because if you care, your audience will care as well. Peace.

[@matheuscastordeazevedo2128]

@@visforvendetta1326 in the art of the story, empathize is scalable. and overall, it must be clear, what emphatization means. it's not caring about. it's to have any understanding of what the character is passing through. But yes, karl is talking beyond empathize. although, is not talking OUT of the realm of empathization. And by scalable, i mean, you do not need to make the audience empathize in the pixar/disney level, where they care so much about a character that can make them cry. But as little as to understand why or how a character will survive the obstacles of the story. As we do curiously do about thoses "criminal protagonists" movies that you mention.

[@visforvendetta1326]

​@@matheuscastordeazevedo2128 To empathize is to understand. As a writer, as a director, my commitment to the audience is to commit to a character that lives in the world. If you're writing a villain or someone who is morally ambiguous, you should still care about them so that you elevate them to a place where we the audience can believe them, not despite their flaws, but because their flaws could be our flaws.

[@mic7able]

I love the plant in Leon. Simple, effective, brilliant.

[@firstlast-oo1he]

*What he is describing is sympathy not empathy! There IS a difference!* Also, empathy is more important. Whether or not you feel sorry for a character does not matter if you cannot empathize with them. Empathy means the ability to share the feelings of someone else. Sympathy = I understand how you feel. Empathy = I FEEL HOW YOU FEEL. You don't need scenes like the ones he described to do this. You just need to figure out how to make the audience feel the way a character feels in any given scene. Main character is angry? Make the audience feel angry. Main character is sad? Make the audience feel sad. Main character is afraid? Make the audience feel afraid (this doesn't have to be a horror movie; fear can be experienced by creating suspense).

[@atallguynh]

Best comment I've ever seen on this topic. Thank you.

[@KimTownsel]

Years ago, I was in a writing group with Karl. I found out he had written The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters and was amazed that he was so modest! I interviewed him and called myself his first fan. The book is excellent!

[@2Tubist]

But 1 important factor in Wall-E is: 'he' is adorable (from the first moment we lay our eyes on him)

[@jamescamren4757]

I'm glad he shared this with us. Very helpful.

[@ineffa8le00rt]

Save the plant!

[@kevsh16]

L.A. Confidential: In the opening sequence Bud White stops on the way to a Christmas party to beat up a wife abuser. Although we discover later he's a police enforcer with questionable morals, that powerful first impression highlighting his soft spot for abused women forgives his later transgressions (for some viewers that may even include forgiving him for striking Lynn?), and instantly makes him a deeper, more compelling character to watch.

[@pumpkini586]

Yes! This is one of the best and most effective save the cat moments.

[@rahulbohra8338]

Yes, similar trait was used for the corrupt cop in Crash…he was a diligent son…

[@wubranch1]

He’s right about the technique being revealed, and it’s effect on you. You start seeing the structure then you stop being effected as deeply by the movie.

[@hamanu666]

Great video about characterization and development. Thank you very much!

[@drawinganimekid5686]

I just discovered you but i already love your videos!

[@GaryKlineCA]

The beginning of Sling Blade. A lawyer/counselor arrives to interview the main character, who's about to be released from a state mental hospital. He describes his horrible childhood, and we feel sympathy for him. He then explains why he's in the hospital - because he killed his mother and her teenage lover.

[@jaredjenkins99]

The first hour of Rocky

[@judichristopher4604]

Great Video... He is "Right ON" ...

[@mclennon_music]

Great WALL.E example

[@sophienachbaur6516]

great video!!

[@emilyeshraghi8197]

Super helpful! :)

[@Luke_Stoltenberg]

It is true that becoming proficient in a craft to the point you can see behind the scenes in real time kinda spoils the magic. You get like a junky, nothing obvious gives enough of a hit and you're constantly searching for a better high from something made well enough to hide the gears and allow you to sink into it

[@reelscreenwriting8940]

Empathy is essential if you want the audience to care about your characters. Great information, I highly recommend you all check out his book. I took a course with him in the past and learned a lot, highly recommend :)

[@thereccher8746]

Characters don't need to be likable. "Likability" is a marketing rule to pander to the dumb masses. The real key is empathy. The Punisher in the MCU Daredevil had grown men crying in the cemetery scene because every parent connects to what he's feeling. Even if he is a cold blooded murderer

[@giorgigudiashvili4876]

Great guy but whenever I see the topic I get reminded of Enrique Iglesias.