Keating: The Emotional Curve
Film scholars have traditionally been at odds as to whether story is provided in service of spectacle, or vice-versa. This dichotomy has further delineated into three distinct categories of narrative operation: Classical , Alternation , and Affective . However, a separate model (or, perhaps, refining of the Affective model) has since been classified to accomodate for nuance heretofore unacknowledged: the Cooperative model. This cooperative model asserts that spectacle and story work hand-in-hand to create a series of highs, lows, victories and defeats for the protagonist to experience, and the audience to feel, vicariously. This meandering of story, with dramatic ups and downs, are referred to as “emotional curves.” In traditional film discourse, the Classical model maintains that narrative is the dominant figure in a Hollywood film. Every diegetic moment acts in service of progressing the fabula forward in a standard “cause-and-effect.” The Alternation model, con