About MPAIL

MPAIL: Media Production AI Lab, formerly known as the S3D Film and Research group, focuses on understanding and improving media production pipelines and experiences. While our primary focus is on film production, we also explore digital art, video games, VR and AR.

MPAIL brings students together from Carleton University and the University of Waterloo with a variety of backgrounds and experience--from computer science, to HCI and interactive media and design. We work with industry to gain hands-on media production experience and develop solutions to current and future problems.

Some of our most recent projects include:

  • "The Colour of Horror" exploring trends in colour over time, across genres, and between directors. Do certain palettes increase your likilhood of making more money or winning more awards?
  • "Bias in Film" explores various forms of bias in film and advertisement materials. Are films and advertisements becoming more inclusive? How does this impact box office sales?
  • "Sentiment of Film" explores the various plot types of films through sentiment analysis of their dialogue. What types of plots are the most successful?
  • "Automatic Tagger and Asset Organization" uses AI to tag people and objects in shots, then determine if assets related to those tagged items exist and automatically populates and organizes structures for artists working on the shot.

If you are interested in learning more about our work, or interested in working with us, please contact Lesley Istead at LesleyIstead@cunet.carleton.ca.

About Lesley Istead

Img

  • Academic

    I recieved my PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2018. I also received an MMath and BMath (CS) from UW. I participated in the coop program, which was pretty awesome.

  • Experience

    I have worked at a number of companies including Adobe Research Labs, Google, Sun Microsystems, Side Effects, and Gener8. More information about my industry experience can be found on my LinkedIn page. Click here for more.

  • History

    I grew up on an inactive farm outside of Milford, Ontario---in Prince Edward County. I went to PECI, which is now a K-12 school, though it wasn't during my time.

  • Interests

    I love Muay Thai and have been practicing since 2007. I also like to sew (I may have tried cosplay once) and draw.