Data Story
The Trailer Cut
A heatmap of thematic beats showing how narrative obsessions rise and fall by decade.
filmimdbtmdbkeywordsthemes
Dataset scope
2295
films1915–2024
release yearsKeywords
themesHeatmap
formatKeyword clusters are parsed from TMDB tags and normalized by decade.
Loading trailer cut data
Hypothesis
Certain themes spike in tandem with audience attention over time.
Question: Which themes rise or fall over time, and do they correlate with popularity?
Method: Aggregate keyword frequencies by decade and compare with popularity averages.
Prediction: Theme surges align with higher popularity.
Test: Correlate theme frequency and popularity by decade.
Narrative Arc
Act I
Themes appear as trailer beats across decades.
Act II
Clusters intensify as cultural obsessions emerge.
Act III
Peaks reveal the pulse of popular storytelling.
Datasets
- tmdb.movies
- imdb.films
- trailer-cut.json
Limitations
- Keyword coverage is sparse for older films.
- Theme vocabulary varies across regions and languages.
- Keyword parsing relies on metadata consistency.
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