Every film tells a story through numbers. This guide explains what each metric means, why it matters, and how to use these insights to deepen your understanding of cinema.
The fundamental measurements of film editing rhythm
The mean duration of all shots in the film, measured in seconds.
ASL is the fundamental metric of film pacing. A low ASL (2-4s) indicates rapid cutting typical of action films, while a high ASL (10-20s+) suggests contemplative, slow-burn cinema.
Mad Max: Fury Road has an ASL of ~2s, while 2001: A Space Odyssey has an ASL of ~20s.
The middle value when all shot durations are sorted.
More resistant to outliers than ASL. If a film has a few extremely long shots but mostly quick cuts, the median gives a better sense of the "typical" shot duration.
Total number of shots (cuts) in the film.
More shots = more visual information and faster pacing. A 2-hour film with 3000 shots feels very different from one with 500 shots.
Average number of cuts per minute of runtime.
Normalizes shot count by duration. Useful for comparing films of different lengths. Action films often have 10-15+ cuts/min, while art films may have 2-4 cuts/min.
Visual characteristics of lighting, color, and camera work
Average brightness of each frame over time, sampled every 2 seconds.
Reveals lighting patterns. Dark films (noir, horror) have low luminance. Bright comedies have high luminance. Changes show day/night transitions or mood shifts.
Standard deviation of pixel brightness in each frame (how much variation between light and dark).
High contrast = dramatic lighting with deep shadows and bright highlights (film noir, Blade Runner). Low contrast = flat, even lighting (sitcoms, some digital films).
Ratio of warm colors (reds/oranges) to cool colors (blues) over time.
Warm tones feel intimate, nostalgic, or aggressive. Cool tones feel detached, futuristic, or melancholic.
The Matrix is heavily blue-tinted (cool), while Mad Max: Fury Road is orange-tinted (warm).
Frame-to-frame difference measuring how much the image changes.
High movement = kinetic energy (action scenes, handheld camera). Low movement = static, composed shots (Wes Anderson, Kubrick).
Understanding the film's visual palette and color identity
8 most common colors in the film, extracted via K-means clustering on sampled frames.
Reveals the film's visual identity. Wes Anderson films have pastel palettes. Blade Runner 2049 is orange and blue. The Godfather is brown and gold.
Standard deviation of hue distribution (0-1).
High variety = colorful, diverse palette (Pixar films). Low variety = monochromatic or limited palette (noir, some period pieces).
Percentage of warm-toned pixels (reds, oranges, yellows) vs. cool-toned (blues, greens).
Warm films feel energetic, nostalgic, or aggressive. Cool films feel detached, futuristic, or melancholic.
Mean color saturation (0 = grayscale, 1 = fully saturated).
High saturation = vibrant, stylized (musicals, fantasy). Low saturation = muted, realistic (dramas, war films).
Measuring the emotional and kinetic energy of scenes
Combined score (0-1) of motion, visual energy, and cut density at each moment.
Creates a "tension curve" showing the film's emotional/kinetic peaks and valleys. High intensity = action, chaos, climax. Low intensity = calm, contemplation.
Top 10 highest intensity points in the film.
Identifies the most visually/kinetically intense scenes — likely action sequences, climaxes, or shocking moments.
The single highest intensity moment in the film.
Often corresponds to the narrative climax. Useful for analyzing story structure.
Mean intensity score across the entire film.
High average = relentless pacing (action films). Low average = contemplative (art films).
How the film's pacing maps to story structure
The film divided into Setup (0-25%), Confrontation (25-75%), and Resolution (75-100%), with metrics for each act.
Classic screenplay structure. Shows how pacing changes across the story. Act 2 often has faster cutting (rising tension), while Act 3 may slow down or speed up depending on the climax.
Statistical variance of shot durations.
High variance = unpredictable rhythm (experimental films, thrillers). Low variance = steady, metronomic pacing.
Moments where the cutting rate significantly increases or decreases.
Identifies rhythm changes. Accelerations often mark action sequences or tension build-up. Decelerations mark emotional beats or resolution.
Analyzing the density and detail of visual compositions
Percentage of pixels that are edges (detected via Canny algorithm) in each frame.
High edge density = visually busy frames (cityscapes, crowds, detailed sets). Low edge density = minimalist compositions (deserts, empty rooms).
Mean edge density across the film.
Reveals overall visual style. Blade Runner is high complexity. The Tree of Life is low complexity.
200 vertical stripes, each representing the average color of a moment in the film.
Visual fingerprint. You can "see" the film's color journey at a glance. Useful for comparing films or identifying color patterns.
The Matrix barcode is green-tinted. Mad Max is orange. Moonlight shifts from blue to pink to blue.
Shot detection: PySceneDetect (content-aware) • Color clustering: K-means (8 clusters) • Edge detection: Canny (50/150 threshold) • Sampling: 2-4 second intervals
Cinemetrics Analyzer v2.1.0