Pain in Film

Pain, specifically nociception, is the body's response to damage. Since film is a visual medium, the sensation is difficult to convey to an audience. Nonetheless, conveying pain is a valuable skill as it is an effective way to demonstrate vulnerability and elicit empathy. Fortunately, humans are naturally empathetic and susceptible when viewing the pain of others. Filmmakers need only make the injury realistic in its texture and sound to elicit a response. They can even enhance the sensation through the utilization of editing and music. These are common techniques in film to evoke vulnerability and make the audience connect with the character.

Pain Empathy

A typical human response when witnessing someone getting hurt is to wince, look away, or otherwise express discomfort. This response can be attributed to humanity's capacity for empathy. Studies have shown that when an individual witnesses someone in pain it can trigger the same neural pathways responsible for that feeling. However, studies have also shown that these neural pathways are developed by first-hand experience and thus those who lack that experience will show decreased empathetic response. As each viewer's experience varies, so too will their empathetic response.

Performance

Because viewers' experience with pain varies, an actor's performance is especially important to bridge the gap and trigger its own empathetic response. They may use a variety of methods to enhance their performance such as studying other performances or recalling similar experiences. Whether exaggerated or subtle, the emotions of these performances can help evoke a response from the less sensitive viewers in the audience.

Film Techniques

Fake blood on arm

Texture

In order to evoke an empathetic response, the fictional injury must be realistic enough for the audience to remember or imagine the feeling. To capture that realism, makeup artists must understand human anatomy as well as how to make the injury look good on camera. They utilize a variety of materials such as silicone, clay, and gelatin to create the prosthetics that exhibit the injury. Then, if the injury requires blood, tubes of various sizes may be added to the prosthetic before it is layered onto the actor. Depending on the type of wound, blood, and/or edit the makeup artists can adjust the pressure, thickness, and color of the fake blood. For instance, if the blood is arterial, the artists will use a vibrant orange-yellow hue. This attention to detail gives films an accurate but stylized portrayal of damage for audiences to relate to.

Sound

Sound Effects

Just as realistic portrayals of damage can evoke first-hand empathetic responses from the audience, accurate sounds can trigger first-hand memories even if they are imitations. In film, not all sound needs to be entirely accurate to be believable to the audience. The process of imitating sound in post-production is referred to as foley. Aside from bleeding, prosthetics cannot fully imitate the sound of a wound and thus foley is crucial to depicting and even enhancing the audio of pain. When a character is either hit or stabbed, a piece of meat, like steam or chicken, is an easy way to get a realistic, meaty sound. Celery is the go-to substitute when trying to create the sound of broken bones. Typically, multiple of these sounds will be layered on top to create a heavier, more impactful sound. Even if the audience has never experienced these injuries, the exaggerated sounds will leave little to the imagination.

Music

A film's soundtrack can greatly influence the tone of a particular scene. In regards to pain, intense music can reinforce the actions on screens such as a fight scene. It can also make the audience tense and thus more sensitive to the plight of the character. Finally, it can disorient and upset the audience with unpleasant sounds like tonal dissonance. Through music, a filmmaker can prime their audience to have a certain emotional response to a scene.

Editing

How a scene is edited can have a major impact on how it affects the audience. Fast cutting is a method by which the scene cuts in very short intervals (approximately 3 seconds) in order to quickly convey information and/or increase the intensity of the scene. The combination of quick cuts and unsettling images can help the audience feel the shock and terror of the scene.

Examples

Psycho, 1960 (Editing, Music)

Psycho (1960)

Psycho is about a Phoenix office worker who steals money from her employer. On her way to meet her boyfriend, she stops at a motel run by the lonely Norman Bates and his controlling mother.

*Spoilers* Psycho's infamous shower scene relies entirely on editing and music to convey the pain and horror of the attack. The cuts are fast and erratic, barely giving the audience time to register the images and everything is shot up close to hide the violence while still making it prevalent. The audience is already put into a place of discomfort and suspense by the editing but the scene is tied together by an incredibly unpleasant, dissonant theme that removes any doubts as to what is happening. The unsettling combination of fast cuts and tonal dissonance allows the film to avoid utilizing texture while capturing the pain and fear of the scene.

Hacksaw Ridge, 2016 (Texture, Sound Effects)

Hacksaw Ridge follows the true story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector, who is awarded with the Medal of Honor after saving 75+ men in the Battle of Okinawa.

*Spoilers* The violence and bloodshed of the Battle of Okinawa are on full display in this film. The sound effects are visceral as bullets pierce soldiers, bones break, and limbs are blown off. However, it is after the battle that the texture gets to shine as the audience sees bullet wounds, shattered arms, and lost legs. In all of them, the blood is realistic and the prosthetics are well crafted. Such realism combined with strong performances by the actors results in a vivid depiction of the hardship and suffering that followed the Battle of Okinawa.