the human factor
Diagnosing the Power of Emotions in the Film Script
by Roland Zag

Stories are a fundamental foodstuff of the soul. In order to understand which basic human need they satisfy, the social roots of our humanity must be understood. "the human factor" differs from most other screenplay theories in that it originates in the spectators and their instinctive social needs. This approach suggests that stories are essentially about belonging. It proposes that an emotional bond between the story and the audience can only be created when the proceedings in the narrative follow the principle of give and take that in most cultures regulates social life.

Here we describe the basic level of emotions that generally affect the spectator subconsciously. This is an arbitrary phenomenon, requiring the emotional engagement of the audience. The hypotheses formulated here were deduced by analyzing numerous successful films and further validated by looking at flops.

In diagnosing the emotions generated in the screenplay and their effect on the spectator, one can gain insight into why and how films reach their audiences. Elements and procedures of this diagnosis are sketched below.

∫ EMPATHY AND DESIRE
∫ EMOTIONAL TRIGGER MECHANISMS
∫ STRATA OF ETHICS
∫ FULFILMENT OF THE DEMANDS

EMPATHY AND DESIRE

An elementary social condition of being human is our relation to our fellow men - our interdependency. Human beings insist on the right to belong, they want to "be in the game".
Stories are essentially about belonging.

Dynamics between people - individuals or groups - can be broken down to acts and principles of give and take. The giver is entitled to receive; the one who takes too much should suffer the consequences. Compensation is due for those who receive too little.

Readers or spectators evaluate a story or film according to an inner yardstick. They try to assess which character is in the right and which in the wrong. A feeling of social disproportion or inequity in the plot generates a desire for a remedy that would create harmony and equity.

While watching the dramatic proceedings on the screen spectators are stimulated to share the experience ≠ to empathize - which is a basic element of human socialisation.

A well-constructed story starts off by conveying some strong social inequity, and after developing the plot it creates a desire for equity. The farther the characters or events deviate from the inner yardstick as defined by the spectator, the stronger the desire of the spectator for the story line to return to a "happy medium", an equilibrium, a homeostasis. It will be up to the author to decide how far this desire will be fulfilled or denied.

EMOTIONAL TRIGGER MECHANISMS

We suggest here a number of emotional trigger mechanisms which seem necessary to touch the innermost feelings of the audience.

• The core of a story is always a high level of social inequity. Accordingly, it focuses mostly on reaching social equity. The protagonists' goals must be related to the central social inequity.
  
  
• Characters who are being discriminated against by the group receive the highest level of sympathy from the spectators, since they are deprived of what they deserve. Characters who take too much are conceited and thus, in principle, negative. The audience balances instantaneously, almost subconsciously, between conceit and discrimination, down to the most subtle details.
  
  
• A decisive factor in instilling sympathy in the audience are the characters' contributions to or on behalf of others (i.e., giving and taking). These contributions need not be of the material kind; they can take the form of assistance, solidarity, infinitesimal signs of affection. All these raise the value of the character's stature in the eyes of the audience.
  
  
• A significant mechanism of well-constructed stories is the social benefit achieved at the end. It can take the form of new contacts, cemented relationships or barriers overcome. Integration is generally more important than segregation.
  
  
• It is important for the audience to experience the extent of the social community behind the characters. The impact of characters increases (in the eyes of the audience) as soon as more people are perceived to be behind them. Bad guys become worse, good guys becomes better. The emotional energy of a scene or story can be modulated with this mechanism.
  
  
• For an audience to feel strongly, it is important to distinguish among four types of social circumstances and the energy required to move or stay. Also here the principle of give and take is active in the evaluation made by the audience.

1. Difficulty to enter a group. Initiation is the mechanism to enter ≠ the individual must make contributions to the group to be accepted.

2. Difficulty to break out of a group. The greater the magnetism of the old group and the sacrifice of the individual by breaking out, the more valuable the new freedom won.

3. Difficulty to endure a group. The individual's level of inner resistance raises the value of the endurance.

4. Difficulty to cope with being outside a group (cast out). This condition can be just (punishment of criminals) or unjust (persecution of innocents). The level of attachment the individual feels towards the group determines the strength of the feelings in the audience.

STRATA OF ETHICS

Rules of give and take govern various strata of the human experience. Each human bond has its own rules and set of ethics. The audience's experience is activated differently depending on the relational ties shown, such as family, groups, friends, love relationships, etc. Each of these ties overlaps with the others. Accordingly, each story line can be described as a ≤layering≤ of relationships. One can identify nine ethical "strata" in which the audience will seek to bring give and take into balance. They are listed here in no particular order.

I: Individual Ethic ≠ Well being, health and entitlement to self-determination are undeniable rights of every human being. If characters exaggerate their rights, they will be perceived as selfish and disagreeable. However, remaining true to oneself under all circumstances is the highest virtue.

II: Family Ethic ≠ The characters are expected to offer assistance and show respect towards one another. The audience's reaction depends on how far characters or events stray from these virtues.

III: Friendship Ethic ≠ In general, the audience reacts positively to the virtues of friendship and loyalty; betrayal is the worst vice.

IV: Group Ethic ≠ Groups coerce individuals with their pressure. Resistance is a sign of the individual's natural right to self-determination.

V: Ethic of the Sexual Couple ≠ Ties between couples acquire stability when they are strengthened by mutual contributions.

VI: Ethic of Gender or Generation ≠ Belonging to a gender, ethnic group or generation can create ethical ties. Faithfulness or faithlessness regarding oneπs own origins is decisive.

VII: Ethic of State/Law The state is either threatening or protective depending on how far the law deviates from one's own inner sense of "justice".

VIII: Ethics Regarding Ideals ≠ Many people have formed ties with ideas, ideals or absent people ≠ religiously, artistically, etc. These kinds of bonds are highly valued by the audience.

IX: Human Ethic ≠ Each human being possesses subconsciously a "healthy human set of ethics" with fundamental prerequisites: the rights of the individual and the group must be safeguarded (the 10 commandments); the survival of mankind itself must be secured; women and children are more worthy of protection than men; different rules prevail under martial law than during peacetime.

IDENTITY and the FULFILMENT OF THE DEMANDS

The quality of a strong script lies in its ability to develop as many conflicts as possible between the individual strata of ethics within the story line and thus to stimulate them within the audience. The effect is to force the audience into these same almost insurmountable conflicts and to ultimately offer an acceptable solution to the dilemmas created (whereby a solution does not necessarily imply a "happy ending").
The overriding conflict in all functioning stories lies in the ambivalence between the IDENTITY of the individual on the one side and the FULFILMENT OF THE DEMANDS of the various strata of ethics on the other.
Accordingly, there are some important criteria to check in scripts. The preconditions for an emotional attachment will not be established if these are not fulfilled:

How big is the conflict between give and take among the characters?
Where does the greatest social inequity lie?Where is the right to self-determination abused the most?
Where do characters want to go within the story?
Which demands are legitimate according to the spectatorπs inner yardstick, which are not?
Are the characters contributing to others, are social benefits high, is there a social background?
Which strata of ethics have been dealt with?
Are there conflicts among the nine strata of ethics?
Were the characters faithful to their innermost core?

"the human factor" is NOT an alternative to accredited screenplay teachings but can be regarded as a supplement. It is aimed at authors, producers, commissioning editors, dramaturgical editors, subsidy commissions and decision-makers of any kind regarding the production of films. The general applicability and practical implementation of this approach can be demonstrated by the author on the basis of numerous examples and analyses.

© Roland Zag