The Impact of Acting on Film Narratives

This paper is owned by its authors and used under the Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). It was presented at the Computational Humanities Research Conference, scheduled from December 4 to December 6, 2024 in Aarhus, Denmark.

#Introduction: Acting in Movies

When we watch a film, we see more than just a story unfold. It involves a mix of writing, camera work, editing, and, most importantly, acting. While many studies focus on the script or the visuals of a movie, this paper takes a different route. It looks into how the actors' Performances add depth to the storytelling in contemporary American films. By using technology to analyze Emotions in speech, we dive into what makes acting in movies so special.

#What Makes Film Unique?

Films use various elements to convey meaning. There’s the Dialogue (what characters say), visuals (camera angles and colors), and sound effects. Previous research often looked at parts of this mix, such as how dialogue reflects character types or how visuals define a genre. However, one crucial area hasn’t received much attention: how actors' performances bring a script to life.

In films, emotions are expressed through acting. Consider a simple phrase like “I’m warning you.” In the movie Knives Out, this line is spoken by different characters in different tones-angry, sad, or cheerful-showing that the same words can hold various meanings based on how they are delivered. This demonstrates how much performance matters in storytelling.

#The Research Approach

We aim to understand how performances in films can vary emotionally. Instead of just looking at the words, we explore how actors express emotions through their speech. By developing models that recognize emotions in speech, we can analyze how performances change based on context, genre, and the specifics of the dialogue.

To do this, we created a dataset of spoken performances from American films, aligning them with the exact words spoken. This dataset helps us see how the feelings conveyed through speech differ from the written lines in the script.

#Data Collection Process

Our method starts with gathering movies. We take a bunch of films and extract their audio, then use technology to break down the spoken parts. By identifying when different characters speak, we create a record of their lines and the emotions attached to those moments.

To make sure we only analyze the actual movie content, we need to filter out the credits and those quiet moments at the end. We use various tools to ensure we gather clear and accurate speech for our study.

#Recognizing Emotions in Speech

The next step involves figuring out the emotions behind the words. We use a model trained to recognize basic emotions in speech, such as happiness or sadness, based on a well-known emotional framework. This model is tested on different conversations to measure its accuracy.

By analyzing the emotions expressed and how they relate to the words spoken, we gain insights into how emotional performance varies dramatically in different Contexts.

#Analyzing Emotional Changes Over Time

One of the main aspects we explore is how emotions in films change over time. We look at trends in how emotional expression has shifted in movies over the years. Do older movies show more emotion compared to newer ones? Does the style and pacing of storytelling affect how emotions come across?

Our findings suggest that emotional expression has varied over the decades. In fact, older films tend to have more Expressive performances. It seems as if around 2010, expressions of emotion dipped a bit, creating what could be described as an emotional chill in cinematic performances.

#Comparing Across Decades

By analyzing various films released over the years, we can see patterns emerge. The emotional density of the performances can be plotted out, showing how films from different eras handle emotion differently. This can lead to thinking about how changing social norms and storytelling styles influence the way actors convey feelings.

#Emotional Range in Performance

Another point we discuss is the concept of emotional range-how versatile an actor is in expressing different emotions. Some genres allow more room for emotions than others. For instance, comedies might lean toward lighter emotions, while thrillers might focus on more intense feelings.

Through our analysis, we find that family-friendly films often show a broad range of emotions, while thrillers tend to be more limited in this area. This indicates how genre conventions can dictate the emotional depth available for performances in film.

#Dialogue and Emotional Flexibility

What’s even more interesting is how the words spoken affect emotional performance. Some phrases can be very flexible, allowing actors to play with their delivery and express a wide array of feelings. In contrast, phrases that are more functional-like simple yes or no questions-tend to limit emotional expression.

For example, the line “You’re alive” can be said in numerous ways: joyfully to a friend or angrily to an enemy. This flexibility shows how the same words can carry different emotions depending on the context and the delivery.

#Limitations and Future Directions

While we have made strides in understanding how performances work in movies, there are still limits to what we can conclude. For one, the model we use to identify emotions is based on a predefined set of basic feelings. This approach may not capture the full range of emotions that people can express.

Also, movies are created through collaboration. The final performance we see is a joint effort by actors, directors, and editors. Our research looks at what is shown, but it doesn’t dissect how these decisions are made behind the scenes. Future studies could benefit from looking at the roles of different contributors in crafting performances.

#Conclusion: The Importance of Performance

In wrapping this all up, our research demonstrates that films should be studied as performance pieces, where acting plays a vital role in how stories are told and felt. By analyzing emotions in contemporary American films, we open up new avenues for understanding how acting impacts narrative.

We hope this work sparks interest in more studies that focus on performance in movies, as there’s so much more to explore beyond just the words on the page. After all, films are like onions-they have layers, and sometimes they make us cry!