Story
Peak and end
People judge an experience by its peak and how it ends, so build both.
Takeaways
- Pick the one moment you want rewound and protect it.
- Make the ending the calmest, longest hold.
- Do not spread effort evenly; the average is not what is remembered.
What it means
We remember the most intense moment and the last one, not the average. A film is short enough that both can be designed: one moment the viewer would rewind, and an ending that holds long enough to land.
In a RasanAI film
The engine spends everything on one signature moment (an object splitting the word, an oversized payoff line emerging off the frame) and gives the payoff the longest holds of the film, with an accent curve of its own on the closing hit.
Origins and sources
Peak-end rule: Kahneman and colleagues. See Laws of UX, Peak-End Rule. Read the source.