London
(ANI):
An
expert
is
of
the
opinion
that
contemporary
Hollywood
filmmakers
have
mastered
the
art
of
grabbing
viewers" attention
with
the
correct
lengths
of
each
shot
based
on
a
mathematical
pattern.
James
Cutting,
a
psychologist
at
Cornell
University
in
Ithaca,
New
York
analyzed
150
movies
to
reach
the
conclusion.
In
the
1990s,
the
attention
span
of
moviegoers
was
first
measured
into
a
series
of
waves
using
a
mathematical
trick
called
a
Fourier
transform.
It
was
observed
that
particular
length
of
attention
spans
in
the
viewers
often
recurred
at
regular
intervals.
Now,
this
property
is
known
as
a
1/f
fluctuation,
or
'pink
noise," reports
New
Scientist.
Cutting
has
measured
the
duration
of
every
shot
in
150
high-grossing
Hollywood
movies
in
various
genres
released
between
1935
and
2005.
He
found
that
later
films
were
more
likely
to
obey
the
1/f
law
than
earlier
ones.
However,
Cutting
insists
that
directors
are
not
deliberately
using
mathematics
to
make
movies.
He
thinks
films
that
happen
to
be
edited
in
this
way,
which
are
often
more
gripping,
has
inspired
other
filmmakers
to
follow
suit.
It
also
explains
the
reason
most
recent
films
tend
to
follow
1/f.