Definitive proof they just make same films over and over again
A Different View with Dave O’Connell
Just as all music is basically the same three chords in a different sequence, so it now appears that the world of movies can be broken into just six component parts – and everything that seems new is really just a variation on a very old theme.
Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part, when you strip away all the smoke and mirrors, there are rags-to-riches stories; riches-to-rags; a fall followed by a rise; a rise followed by a fall; a rise followed by a fall followed by a rise and a fall followed by a rise followed by a fall.
If box office returns are your measure of success, stick to the negative that ends with the positive – and throw the rollercoaster of life into the equation.
Top of the pile was the happy-sad-happy arc – or what is known as a ‘man-in-the-hole’ movie – with the straight rags-to-riches close behind when it came to biographical movies . . . but a distance away when it revolved around mysteries or thrillers.
All of this might seem terribly obvious – given that we all love a happy ending but we’d go mad if it was a smooth ride from the very start – but a team from the behavioural economics and data science department at the University of Birmingham devoted some time to reaching their conclusions.
They analysed data from over 6,000 movie scripts to identify the pattern that makes the most money.
The most successful movies are ‘man-in-a-hole’ stories, in which the protagonist suffers a big fall and then a big rise.
The least successful are ‘riches-to-rags’ – and the ones most enjoyed by audiences were simple ‘rags-to-riches’ stories, where things start bad but then get better.
All of these arcs also apply to novels – and given that books are normally the starting point for movies, that only stands to reason.
Our emotional responses, too, make perfect sense; we like to see our heroes persevere, overcome adversity and then get the girl at the other end.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.