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urn:uuid:6f57b880-de4e-4ebe-841c-ae0164f07dd9 03 01 01 urn:uuid:6f57b880-de4e-4ebe-841c-ae0164f07dd9 15 9781800642515 06 10.11647/OBP.0283 00 EB E101 10 Creative Commons License 02 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 01 01 Characters in Film and Other Media Theory, Analysis, Interpretation 1 A01 21 0000-0003-1937-5999 Jens Eder 2 B06 21 0000-0003-1937-5999 Jens Eder 3 B06 Stephen Lowry 01 eng 00 874 03 12 AP 20 Character Theory B2 Film and Photography 93 JHBC 04 PN1995.9.C36 10 SOC024000 12 APFA 93 ATFN 20 Film and Photography B2 Media Studies and Journalism 10 PER004060 12 APFD 93 ATFA 20 Film Analysis 10 PER004030 20 Media Characters 20 Psychological Representation 20 Cultural Symbols 20 Emotional Responses 01 06 03 00 Characters are central to the creation and experience of films and other media. Their cultural significance is profound, but they also raise a wide range of questions.This book provides a comprehensive theory that guides the analysis and interpretation of characters across four dimensions: as represented beings with physical, psychological, and social characteristics; as artefacts with aesthetic structures; as meaningful symbols; and as symptoms of socio-cultural origins and effects. Integrating insights from film, media, and literary studies as well as philosophy, psychology and sociology, the book offers a broad range of approaches for understanding characters and the emotional responses they evoke. Richly illustrated and offering practical tools, along with case studies of numerous characters from different genres of films, this book will be invaluable to scholars and students of film and media studies and related disciplines, as well as artistic practitioners. 04 00 Endorsements Preface to the English Edition Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Diagrams List of Tables 1. Introduction 1.1 The Relationship Between Character, Action, and Plot 1.2 Why Character Analysis? 1.3 Searching for a Theoretical Foundation 1.4 The Structure of the Book PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS (T) 2. Research on Characters: An Overview (T) 2.1 From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century 2.2 Differentiation in the Twentieth Century 2.3 Polyphony and Possibilities of Integration in the Early Twenty-First Century 2.4 The Current State of Research 3. What Are Characters, How Are They Created and Experienced? (T) 3.1 Definition and Ontology: What Are Characters? 3.2 Communication and Meaning: How Do Characters Originate? 3.3 Reception: How Are Characters Understood and Experienced? 3.4 Consequences for the Analysis of Characters PART II: HOW TO ANALYSE CHARACTERS 4. A Basic Model for Analysis: The Character Clock 4.1 Characters as Represented Beings, Symbols, Symptoms, and Artefacts—and Their Reception 4.2 General Kinds of Characters 4.3 Expanding the Model: Contexts and Affects 4.4 Differentiating the Model: The Specificity and Mediality of Characters 4.5 Integrating the Structural Aspects: The Marriage of Maria Braun 4.6 Approaching Characters’ Realities: Yellow Fever 4.7 How to Use the Character Clock 4.8 Guidelines for Getting Started: The Most General Questions of Character Analysis PART III: CHARACTERS AS REPRESENTED BEINGS 5. Grasping Represented Beings: Forming Mental Models of Characters (T) 5.1 Character Models and Their Structure 5.2 Factors of Character Reception I: Social Perception and Cognition 5.3 Factors of Character Reception II: The Mediality of Characters 5.4 Modes of Constructing Character Models: Typification and Individualisation 6. Analysing Represented Beings: An Anthropological Heuristic 6.1 Overview: Grasping Represented Beings 6.2 Corporeality and External Behaviour 6.3 Sociality 6.4 Psyche: Inner Life and Personality 6.5 Overview: Focal Points and Connections of Character Traits 6.6 Transformation and Deconstruction of Represented Beings 6.7 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions about Characters as Represented Beings PART IV: CHARACTERS AS ARTEFACTS 7. Shaping Characters with Cinematic Means: Sensuality and Structure 7.1 Cinematic Techniques and the Aesthetics of Characters 7.2 The Structure of Character Development: How Information Is Provided 7.3 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions about Character Construction 8. Characters as Artefacts: Aesthetic Qualities and Conventions 8.1 Dimensions of Characters as Artefacts: Realism, Stereotypicality, Complexity, and Other Contested Qualities 8.2 Character Conceptions as Conventions of Representation 8.3 Conclusion and an Example: Sensory Qualities, Dramatic Composition, and Structures of Characters as Artefacts in Casablanca 8.4 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions about Artefact Qualities and Character Conceptions PART V: CHARACTERS IN CONTEXT: MOTIVATION, ACTION, AND CONSTELLATION 9. Motivation and Plot: Characters’ Needs, Goals, and Actions 9.1 Varieties of Motivation 9.2 Motivation and Conflict 9.3 Motivational Systems, Personality, and Identity 9.4 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions about Action and Motivation 10. Character Constellations as Social and Aesthetic Systems 10.1 Hierarchies of Attention: Main and Secondary Characters 10.2 The Orchestration of Characters and Their Traits: Analogies and Contrasts 10.3 Functional Relations: Characters’ Roles in Narrative and Plot 10.4 Conflict Constellations: Protagonists and Antagonists 10.5 Interactions, Relationships, and Values: The Character Constellation as a Social System 10.6 Overview: Typical Character Constellations in Different Kinds of Films 10.7 An Example: The Character Constellation in Casablanca 10.8 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions on Character Constellations and Stereotyping PART VI: CHARACTERS AS SYMBOLS AND SYMPTOMS: INTERPRETATION AND IMPACT 11. Characters as Symbols: How Characters Convey Higher-Level Meanings 11.1 Characters and Their Higher-Level Meanings 11.2 Characters in Larger Webs of Meaning 11.3 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions on Characters as Symbols 12. Characters as Symptoms: How Characters Interact with Reality 12.1 The Causes of Characters 12.2 The Uses and Effects of Characters 12.3 An Example: Characters as Symbols and Symptoms in Casablanca 12.4 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions on Characters as Symptoms PART VII: IMAGINATIVE AND AFFECTIVE INVOLVEMENT WITH CHARACTERS 13. Imaginative Involvement with Characters: A Matter of Perspective 13.1 Current Theories of Involvement with Characters 13.2 Perspective, Identification, Empathy: Conceptual Foundations 13.3 Perspectives on and with Characters 13.4 Identification and Empathy 13.5 Cinematic Methods of Shaping Perspectives 13.6 Polyphony of Perspectivation: Characters, Narrators, and Filmmakers 13.7 Common Perspective Structures in Film 13.8 Imaginative Closeness and Distance to Characters 13.9 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions on Perspective and Imaginative Closeness 14. Affective Involvement with Characters: Sympathy, Empathy, and Beyond 14.1 A Theoretical Basis: Concepts and Layers of Cinematic Affect 14.2 Cues, Dispositions, and Forms of Involvement with Characters 14.3 Perspectival Appraisal and Involvement with Represented Beings 14.4 Forms, Cues, and Contexts of Affective Involvement with Characters: An Overview 14.5 Typical Development Patterns of Affective Involvement 14.6 An Example: Affective Involvement with Characters in Casablanca 14.7 Guidelines for Analysis: Questions on Affective Involvement with Characters PART VIII: A SUMMARY AND A CASE STUDY 15. Summary: Fundamentals of Character Theory and Analysis 15.1 A Theoretical Basis and a Model for Analysis 15.2 How Can Characters Be Understood in Their Different Dimensions? A Conceptual Toolbox 15.3 Experiencing Characters: Imaginative Closeness and Affective Involvement 15.4 Limitations, Implications, and Applications of the Theory: The Variety of Characters 16. A Challenging Case: Characters and the Weight of Reality in Death and the Maiden 701 16.1 Characterisation and Mental Modelling in the Prologue and Exposition 16.2 Character Models and Artefact Qualities at the End of the First Act 16.3 Affective Involvement with the Characters at the First Plot Point 16.4 Conflict Structure, Motivation, and Side-Taking in the Second Act 16.5 Perspective Relations and Imaginative Closeness up to the Climax 16.6 The Characters’ Thematic Meanings at the Film’s Ending 16.7 The Characters as Artefacts and Their Mediality in Film and Theatre 16.8 Symptomatology, Evaluation, and the Weight of Reality Bibliography Filmography Index of Films Index of Topics 1 (T) indicates chapters with a primary focus on theoretical groundwork. 01 00 03 02 https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0283_frontcover.jpg Open Book Publishers 01 Open Book Publishers 16 Brandenburger Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur 01 programname Publication Fund for Open Access Monographs of the State of Brandenburg Cambridge, UK 04 01 20250729 02 WORLD 06 15 9781800642485 06 15 9781800642492 06 15 9781800642508 06 15 9781800646681 06 15 9781800642515 WORLD 09 Open Book Publishers 02 Publisher's website: web shop https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0283 20 02 20250729 02 7.99 USD WORLD 09 Open Book Publishers 29 Publisher's website: download the title https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0283.epub 20 02 20250729 02 7.99 USD WORLD