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WHAT makes Christmas special to you? Festive experiences tend to include a series of selected el- ements that influence our sense of nostalgia, triggering good feel- ings, happy memories and emo- tional vulnerabilities. Elements can be positive (your favourite carol) or negative (COVID), each adding to our personal experience. These ele- ments form the "genetic make- up" of our individual Christmas experience, updated yearly as new elements materialise. The same is true of our favourite festive films. Each hone seasonal elements to identify with the au- dience. Christmas films can be set against a snowy backdrop, re- late to melancholy experiences or offer myriad enchanting yuletide moments. Beloved Christmas films To qualify for "Christmas mov- ie" status, the story needs to have a meaningful use of Christmas and yes, that means Die Hard does qualify. Netflix's Christmas Chronicles centres on a family who've lost their father, instantly playing on the melancholy of the situation. The writers use pock- ets of that element at different stages during the film, playing with our emotions. Welcome to element philoso- phy. With Christmas elements, scriptwriters use them to tell their story, composers sprinkle scores full of sleighbells and pro- ducers use them to influence us to buy a ticket. "Element place- ment" dictates our emotional rollercoaster journey, and their positioning within a film's dura- tion is as crucial as the element itself. Film writer Natalie Haynes ex- plains that the best Christmas films put characters through the wringer – as in It's A Wonderful Life, for example, where George Bailey decides to kill himself on Christmas Eve because he per- ceives his life to be a failure. Haynes suggests Christmas movies rate love over money, family above gain, and add a little magic to the whole affair. Some- times they don't even have to be about Christmas – such as Meet Me in St Louis, starring Judy Garland. But the Independent's 20 great- est Christmas films 2020 suggest seasonal elements are important. As viewers we require familiarity and direction to enjoy and iden- tify with a festive film. Screen- writing templates for dramatic structure exist, such as Blake Snyder's Save the Cat, but where in the film's timeline should the elements be placed? How the golden ratio can be applied The golden ratio is a math- ematical proportion found in nature, such as the pattern of a shell or a sunflower. Mathe- matically, it's a way of dividing a fixed length in two so that the ratio of the shorter portion to the longer portion equals the ratio of the longer portion to the entire length. Known as the golden or divine proportion, it has inspired artists throughout history to rec- reate it in painting, music, design, architecture. Through seven years of re- search I discovered that the gold- en ratio can be made to fit any- thing if you look closely enough. It was originally suggested the pyramids were designed with the golden ratio in mind. But some- thing of this magnitude will con- tain many patterns, including the golden ratio. I wanted to find a system where people could utilise the golden ratio accurately as a modern-day model, as opposed to some- thing imposed on a piece of art or a building long after the fact. I came up with the "Marley sys- tem" so creatives can use this time-based measuring device to match the golden ratio philoso- phy to performance, ending an age-old argument of analysis: "Is the golden ratio used?" In May 2021, The Conversation published my article detailing how the golden ratio could ex- plain the formula of hit musicals. Applying the Marley system to films highlights the key elements that intersect at the golden ratio points dictated by its duration. Normally the golden ratio cal- culations are used as measure- ments of length of physical ob- jects. The Marley system takes these measurements and applies them to seconds, minutes and hours of duration. These dura- tions are then divided by 1.61803 (the number that represents the golden ratio) and a point in the film's timeline is marked. For example, the main golden ratio point of It's A Wonder- ful life is 4,820 seconds into the film's duration of 7,799 seconds, when George's Uncle Billy los- es the day's business takings on Christmas Eve. A further golden ratio point is established by di- viding the original golden ratio duration by 1.61803, and so on until we have 16 points in total. Traditionally, the golden ratio demonstrates a sweet spot of aes- thetic beauty in nature. In film, a standout moment that enforces 12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 JANUARY 2022 Stephen Langston is Programme Leader for Performance, University of the West of Scotland OPINION Stephen Langston The hidden maths behind our favourite Christmas films The golden ratio is a mathematical proportion found in nature, such as the pattern of a shell or a sunflower Hugh Grant plays the UK's prime minister in Love Actually