ScriptViz: A Visualization Tool to Aid Scriptwriting based on a Large Movie Database

TL;DR

ScriptViz is a visualization tool that aids scriptwriters by retrieving and presenting relevant visual references from a large movie database, enhancing the scriptwriting process through external visual support.

Contribution

It introduces a novel system that provides real-time, script-based visual references from a large database, supporting both fixed and variable visual elements for scriptwriters.

Findings

ScriptViz helps writers find relevant visual references.

The tool produces consistent yet diverse visual options.

User evaluation shows improved script visualization.

Abstract

Scriptwriters usually rely on their mental visualization to create a vivid story by using their imagination to see, feel, and experience the scenes they are writing. Besides mental visualization, they often refer to existing images or scenes in movies and analyze the visual elements to create a certain mood or atmosphere. In this paper, we develop ScriptViz to provide external visualization based on a large movie database for the screenwriting process. It retrieves reference visuals on the fly based on scripts' text and dialogue from a large movie database. The tool provides two types of control on visual elements that enable writers to 1) see exactly what they want with fixed visual elements and 2) see variances in uncertain elements. User evaluation among 15 scriptwriters shows that ScriptViz is able to present scriptwriters with consistent yet diverse visual possibilities, aligning closely with their scripts and helping their creation.