Sympathetic Doesn't Have To Mean Likable

Sympathetic Doesn't Have To Mean Likable from Jennine Lanouette on Vimeo.

Likeability VS Vulnerability in your characters is the difference between sympathy and EMPATHY in your work.  You want your audience to EMPATHIZE with your characters.  I was looking at some pitches yesterday from students for new comedic acting pieces and many were pretty brutal with anger, pain or intensity of emotions that needed more backstory.  If you do not set-up the character in some way to have a vulnerable moment where we see motivations for these actions, they just feel like an empty, soulless character.  Look for ways to show the vulnerability in your characters, even if it's just a micro-expression and you can have them do most anything in your shots.