How can computer vision widen the evidence base around on-screen representation

There is strong demand for more complete and better data around diversity in the screen industries. Focusing on on-screen diversity and representation in the UK, the evidence base around representation on-screen has been narrow so far. Diversity evaluation needs to consider more than on-screen presence – it should also consider prominence and portrayal. In this position paper, the ethics of applying computer vision to study on-screen characters is discussed via a conceptual framework of on- screen diversity metrics. Computer vision should be applied to identify character occurrences, rather than demographic classification. An illustrative ex- ample of measuring character prominence using a short video clip is shown. It concludes with four areas of applications where adopting computational methods can create a measurably more inclusive and representative broadcast landscape.