Cinematic Empathies. Spectator Involvement in the Film Experience (original) (raw)

2012, Kinesthetic Empathy in Creative and Cultural Practices, edited by Matthew Reason and Dee Reynolds

"In his chapter, ‘Cinematic Empathy: Spectator Involvement in the Film Experience’, Adriano D’Aloia discusses the role of empathy in spectators’ involvement in narrative fiction film. He highlights the importance of the ‘quasi’ or ‘as if ’ aspect of empathy: when we experience the fictive world of the film ‘as if ’ it was real, while also knowing that it is not and we relate to the other ‘as if ’ they were us, while knowing that they are separate. This ‘as if ’ experience is an imaginary act that activates the spectator’s kinesthetic sensations in a motor imitation of movement perceived in the film, which can be that of a character or of the #lm itself, as in the movement of the camera. D’Aloia exemplifies graphically the ‘as if’ experience in #lm spectatorship by contrasting the reaction of spectators within a film who witness an acrobat falling with the reaction of spectators in the cinema; whereas the former jump up in horror, the latter remain seated – perhaps also horrified, but viewing the event ‘as if ’ real, while not actually happening in front of them. D’Aloia also explores connections between motor and emotional experience in spectators’ responses to films. However, he regards imitation in the form of synchronisation (e.g. foot tapping) as a relatively basic and undeveloped form of activation, which ‘must not be confused with empathy as such’. D’Aloia emphasises the potential of "lm to intensify the spectator’s experience, and rather than temporal alignment as in the musical context, he is interested in how, for the cinema spectator, motor imitation carries an affective charge that intensifies emotional response. !e camera can include its own movement – that of the‘film’s body’, which is specific to the "lm medium – thereby intensifying the spectator’s own kinesthetic sensations as they internally ‘imitate’ the movement of the camera as well as the character. Spectators’ involvement can be enhanced by skilful acting, by narrative, or by the dramatic quality of the movement itself, such as an acrobat swaying on a tightrope, in danger of falling."