Empathy: The Most Important Element in a Storyteller's Kit Bag
Video production is, at every stage, about being in tune with other people.
From understanding a project brief and a client's needs, to working with a crew on set, to the empathetic gauntlet-run that is conducting interviews and the psychological labyrinth that is getting into your audience's head while editing, managing to see the world from the perspective of others can be a make-or-break attribute for a filmmaker.
Filmmaker Ryan Booth (who recently shot an excellent behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of The Revenant - see above) gets this point across better than anyone in an impassioned talk he gave for the Creative Mornings series late last year:
Ryan Booth speaks on the importance of empathy for yourself, your collaborators, and your clients.
If you want to hear more, Ryan also wrote an in-depth articlefor Musicbed covering his thoughts on the topic.
“It’s about being present, it’s about creating real moments, and it’s about doing it together.
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It's a hard line to walk for us creatives - we need the affirmation that comes with praise for our work and often it's a necessary trait to ignore the opinions of others in order to stay true to a vision- art is not created through democracy. However singularity of vision is not the same thing as arrogance and pig-headedness.
Roman Krznaric is also worth a few minutes listening to on the subject of empathy.
Empathy by philosopher Roman Krznaric
What do you think? Is empathy just a buzzword or is there something of value in what Ryan says?