After taking the red pill, Neo awakens to a world unlike any he has known—a swirling domain of shapes and colors, each buzzing with energy. These shapes, as he soon realizes, represent the emotions embedded in cinematic narratives. As they float around him, some spike erratically, while others form smooth arcs or jagged peaks. Each emotion reveals its unique trajectory, and Neo, ever the seeker of truth, begins his journey of clustering these emotions one by one to uncover their hidden patterns.

Armed with the elbow method, Neo ensures his classifications are meaningful and precise, dividing the arcs of each emotion into distinct clusters. His task: to decode the variations within and across clusters, understanding how these emotional arcs evolve and what they signify in the context of cinematic storytelling. In the following graphs, opaque lines represent the average emotional intensity for each cluster, while the transparent regions illustrate the standard deviation, capturing the variability within the group.

Sadness: A spectrum of stories

These graphs represent the average emotional arc for the sadness emotion across all movies within each cluster.

Neo first focuses his sight on a group of dull blue shapes representing sadness. They pulse gently, as if weighed down by the gravity of their meaning. He steps closer, observing their subtle oscillations and distinct groupings.

Sadness reveals a broad array of shape patterns. While most movies follow one cluster of fairly consistent sadness (Cluster 0), its trajectory is marked by a subtle undulation—beginning slightly elevated, dipping, and then gradually recovering before tapering off at the end. The high standard deviation underscores the notable variability in each cluster. However, distinct patterns still emerge.

Neo’s Interpretation:

• High-to-low sadness arcs (Cluster 1): This could easily represent narratives that start steeped in despair, resolving into hope.
• Low-to-high sadness arcs (Clusters 2 and 4): These would be stories that build tension and sadness up. In both clusters, sadness peaks toward the end but then dips slightly in the final moments.
• Flatter trajectories with more variability (Cluster 3): Sadness builds up as the story sets in but then gradually comes down to a more peaceful ending.

“Sadness carries the burden of truth,” he murmurs, tracing the arcs. “It forces us to face inevitabilities, but even the heaviest sorrow finds resolution.”

Surprise: Or not surprise?

Neo’s gaze is drawn to a cluster of flickering yellow shapes, darting unpredictably like fireflies. These represent surprise, their erratic movements hinting at the disruptive force they bring to narratives. Surprisingly (pun intended), most movies follow a fairly flat trajectory for surprise, with slight variations.

Neo’s Insight:

• Flat patterns (Cluster 1 and Cluster 2): In the first, surprise grows incrementally throughout the narrative; in the second, it presents a very slight midpoint spike.
• High-to-low surprise arcs (Clusters 3 and 4): Early and/or mid-narrative peaks in surprise, followed by a gradual or abrupt decline. These may be stories with fairly linear plots but still include a slight resurgence of surprise at the end.

“Surprise is the system’s glitch,” Neo muses. “It disrupts monotony, injecting unpredictability into the matrix of emotions.”

Fear: Peaks of unease

Neo shifts his attention to a jagged cluster of crimson shapes, vibrating with a palpable tension. These shapes, he realizes, embody fear, their sharp edges and abrupt peaks reflecting moments of heightened unease. Fear exhibits significant variability, its arcs marked by sharp peaks and valleys. Most movies begin with a subtle fear that declines at the end of the movie (Cluster 1) or a fear level that escalates gently before rapidly diminishing at the end. Building tension with fear seems to be a common sight, but it needs to resolve by the end. However, the remaining clusters present clear-cut peaks at different moments in time in a movie. Neo thinks to himself:

There seem to be some definite key moments in a movie where fear may rise:

• Early peaks (Cluster 5): Evoking unsettling situations right at the outset.
• Midpoint peaks (Clusters 0 and 6): Fear crescendos in the narrative’s heart, maintaining suspense.
• Late peaks: Either abrupt or smoother, they allow tension to build up in the story until resolution.

“Fear lingers in the shadows,” Neo whispers. “It shapes tension and stakes, peaking when we least expect it.”

Joy: The arc of resolution

Neo’s eyes finally land on a cluster of bright golden shapes, glowing with an inviting warmth. These represent joy, their arcs curving like radiant smiles as they rise and fall. Joy displays a pattern unlike any Neo has seen so far, resembling a horseshoe with a happy ending and beginning (Cluster 0). For the rest, Neo notes:

• Steady increases (Cluster 2): Narratives where joy builds progressively, culminating in a triumphant climax.
• High-to-low arcs with recovery (Cluster 3): Joy diminishes from the get-go, is at its worst past mid-story, before rekindling at the end.
• Defined peaks (Cluster 1): A smaller cluster of movies seems to agree on distinct peaks of joy at 1/4 and 3/4 of the story, while also beginning and finishing strong.

Conclusion

“Each emotion,” Neo concludes, “is a thread in the narrative tapestry. Together, they weave the stories that define us, challenge us, and ultimately set us free.” His mind now used to the company of the different emotion shapes, Neo wonders if these shapes could have an impact on how people would like a movie or if they could be linked to any important historical or cultural event. While thinking about it, he goes back into the matrix.