In a Perfect Fever

In a Perfect Fever riffs on a ubiquitous trick in film and television history, where the switching of a practical light — a light source within the frame — serves as a moment of conspiracy between filmmakers, characters, and audience, allowing drastic, even impossible changes to the scene while still functioning as a believable, diegetic moment. Unfurling like a dream, the video expands to consider recent psychological studies investigating empathy, that find increased stress levels and shorter life spans for the individuals doing the caring. How do we name the value of this costly connection?