Condensing computable scenes using visual complexity and film syntax analysis

Abstract

In this paper, we present a novel algorithm to condense computable scenes. A computable scene is a chunk of data that exhibits consistencies with respect to chromaticity, lighting and sound. We attempt to condense such scenes in two ways. First, we define visual complexity of a shot to be its Kolmogorov complexity. Then, we conduct experiments that help us map the complexity of a shot into the minimum time required for its comprehension. Second, we analyze the grammar of the film language, since it makes the shot sequence meaningful. These grammatical rules are used to condense scenes, in parallel to the shot level condensation. We've implemented a system that generates a skim given a time budget. Our user studies show good results on skims with compression rates between 60-80%.