02Structure of Sympathy
Built on Murray Smith's structure of sympathy. Interpretive: read by a model.
Is my protagonist compelling? Is the audience rooting for the people I want them to root for?
Shows how strongly the audience recognises, follows and sides with each major character, and where that changes.
€11 is the price for a feature-length script, up to 120 pages. A 10-page scene costs €4. Most reports are ready in a few minutes. No account, and your script is deleted as soon as the analysis has run.
- Best for
- Writers whose feedback says a character is "hard to connect with" and who want to know which lever is the weak one: recognition, alignment or allegiance.
- Not designed for
- Ranking characters by likeability. An intentionally repellent character can be a fully engaged one; the instrument separates engagement from approval.
What you get
- Recognition, alignment and allegiance for each major character, as strong, moderate or weak
- Allegiance across the script, one small chart per character, with the scenes where it turns
- What the audience knows compared with each character, which is where suspense and mystery come from
- The moral cues behind each character’s standing, and notes for the next draft
- Sc. 131, 74
Ki-Tek's murder of Dong-Ik in scene 131 is the most violent turn in the film, yet his allegiance line dips only slightly there; it falls further at scene 74, when the secret room is exposed. The film keeps him pitiable.
For the next draft
- Yon-Kyo never learns she was deceived, and her allegiance line sinks to its lowest in scene 131, the scene in which her husband is killed. Do you want the audience to feel for her at that moment?
What it measures
How the audience engages with each major character, in Murray Smith’s three terms: recognition (can we pick them out and remember them), alignment (whom the story attaches us to) and allegiance (whose side we are on).
Method
- 1.The major characters are found, with the scenes each one appears in.
- 2.Each is read for recognition, alignment and allegiance, and allegiance is traced scene by scene.
- 3.The readings are set side by side, so you can see whose side the audience is on at each point.
Price by script length
Every price includes VAT. You choose the length when you upload.
Terms used in the report
- Recognition
- How distinctly a character registers as an individuated person, with memorable traits and clear wants.
- Alignment
- How much the narration attaches us to a character: time spent with them and access to what they know and feel.
- Allegiance
- The audience’s moral rooting: sympathy earned (or lost) through what the character does.
- Knowledge position
- Whether the audience knows the same as the character (aligned), more (superior, which gives suspense), or less (inferior, which gives mystery).
Run this on your draft
Structure of Sympathy on a feature-length script, up to 120 pages. Shorter scripts cost less.
Feature-length price: €11
Analyse my scriptFurther reading
The references show where the instrument comes from. They don't validate individual readings; the methodology page covers what is measured, what is inferred and the known limits.