Data Story
The Ensemble Poster
A poster wall where casts become crowds: ensemble size reshapes engagement without guaranteeing higher ratings.
filmimdbtmdbcastpopularityratings
Dataset scope
991
films1922–2023
years218
max cast616.7
max popPosters are binned: cast size becomes a readable crowd pattern rather than a literal headcount.
Loading ensemble poster data
Hypothesis
Larger casts correlate with higher popularity but not necessarily higher ratings.
Question: Do ensemble casts correlate with higher audience engagement?
Method: Compare cast size against popularity and vote_average across decades.
Prediction: Cast size tends to increase popularity signals; ratings remain mixed for very large ensembles.
Test: Correlate cast_size with popularity and rating, and compare distributions by cast-size bins.
Narrative Arc
Act I
Posters arrive with a few faces.
Act II
Ensembles swell into crowds that fill the wall.
Act III
The wall reveals the trade: reach rises, but ratings don’t always follow.
Datasets
- imdb.film_cast
- imdb.films
- tmdb.movies
- 13_ensemble_poster.json
Limitations
- Cast size does not measure star power or billing prominence.
- Popularity favors recent releases and marketing-heavy campaigns.
- Very large casts may include background and uncredited roles upstream.
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