1. Achieving Empathy
Sympathy
Kristian Egge
K0147159

2. Sympathy vs. Empathy
These are two of the most commonly misunderstood
terms in the English language.
They are both an act of feeling, but;
Sympathy means feeling FOR something
Empathy is feeling WITH.

3. Sympathy vs. Empathy
For instance:
Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone.
While, empathy on the other hand can be described as sharing a
feeling with someone.
- ‘‘putting yourself in their shoes’’.

4. Empathy to create comedy
Empathy in comedy is about identifying yourself with
the character on screen.
If the character on screen embarasses him/herself you
feel that emotion
- You identify yourself with it and you emphasise.

5. Empathy to create comedy
‘‘All great cartoon characters are based on human
behaviour we reckognize in ourselves.’’
- Chuck Jones
(Legendary AnimationDirector at Warner Brothers)

6. The seven basic emotions
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Happiness
Sadness
Surprise
Contempt

7. ‘‘Go for the empathy as much as the gag. Remember
the heart. Don’t just try to be funny. Evoke tears as well
as laughter’’
- Ed Hooks (Acting for animators)

8. Maximus
‘‘Tangled’’
(Walt Disney Animation Studios)

9. Maximus
Maximus trying to get to Flynn:
Determined
&
Frustrated
As an audience we emphasise with his frustration.
- And the increase in frustration creates comedy,
the emotion builds and the harder he tries the funnier the scene becomes.

10. Maximus behavior
Determined to catch Flynn -> Frustrated when he can’t get passed Rapunzel.
Tries to keep in control of the situation:
He does not want to sit down or let go of the boot.
He tries to keep his pride for as long as possible.
He needs to feel that he is making the choice to sit down
and that he decides when to let go of the boot.
- To us this is funny because we emphasise with his frustration and his stubbornness.
-

11. Maximus emotions
In the clip Maximus goes through a range of emotions:
Angry
Sad
Happy
Disgust
All of these in a short period of time, but because he displays all these feelings it all
becomes funnier to us.
- It ‘‘plays to our heart’’.

13. Warwick
‘‘Lifes too short’’
(R.Gervais, S.Merchant, W.Davies)

14. Warwicks behavior
Determined to get his trophy -> refuses to accept any help.
Tries to show that he is in ‘control’ of the situation:
While hanging from the shelf he turns around and says ‘‘all right?’’
Even after falling down he tries to control the situation:
It was their fault that he ended up on the floor.
They must admit that they where supposed to move the trophy down anyway.
Pretends he forgot what he came for – hoping to walk away with some pride.
- As an audience we find this is funny because we emphasise with his stubbornness and
the fact that he is humiliated in front of his ex-wife and her new boyfriend.

15. Warwicks emotions
In the clip Warwick goes through these emotions:
Fear
Anger
Disgust
Contempt
Sadness

17. What they have in common
They have a lot of the same negative emotions.
Both are stubborn characters that tries to keep their pride for
as long as possible.
They both need a female character to help them
communicate and keep them from ending up in a fight.

18. What separates the clips
The animation:
Goes through a lot of emotions in a short period of time and then
adds a slapstick gag to get a laugh at the end.
(Funny to everyone)
The live action:
Has less emotions and has the slapstick gag in the middle (the fall).
They then use the humiliation of that to make us emphasise with
the character at the end.
(Aimed at an older audience)

19. “Animation is not about moving characters around;
it is about creating characters who move people.”
- Angie Jones , Jamie Oliff

20. Thanks for listening!

21. References
Links:
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-sympathy-and-
empathy/
http://www.psychic101.com/empathy.html
Litterature:
“Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG’’ (2006, Jamie Oliff & Angie
Jones)
“Acting for animators” (2000, Ed Hooks)