Thursday, February 23, 2012

Character Screentime Analysis


We have had charts similar to this before, but this one takes it above and beyond the past ones.  All the mane cast characters are painstakingly timed from every episode.  Based on the captions, he factored pretty much every single aspect of a characters appearance.

I'm surprised Applejack had so much air time, considering she really didn't have a huge presence overall in season one.   Twilight is pretty obvious though!

Anyway, check out his DA page here if you want to thank him!

125 comments:

Wolveon said...

Man, that pictur looks weird!

Roman500 said...

So...how bout that Trixie.

Mysecsha said...

Thank you. Iz nice chart. I like it vera much. But iz not storeh updayte.

Bombedrumbum said...

Well, AppleJack is on the top of the list at least.


Why is AppleJack always one for low expectatioms from bronies? Sheesh....

RavensDagger said...

Wait, RD and PP had LESS than AJ? Hmm, I can't wait to see the reversal in season two's version (I almost pity Fluttershy, she has had nest to no screen time to date).

CaptainDash said...

And I thought I had it hard. I re-watched all of season one and looked for things like them destroying buildings or someone squee'ing or pinkie hopping.
But that is way more painstaking.

DashieBro said...

That's a cool analysis

CommandoDude said...

This chart reveals a DISTINCT lack of Rarity!

Amilopectina said...

Statistics level PONY: WAY TOO MUCH!

Nostalgia Schmaltz said...

INB4 people use this to whine that their favorite pony has the least screentime.

CityFlyer502 said...

Wow. Talk about commitment. This must have taken a crazy amount of time to put together. I'll definitely be sending this guy a thank you note on dA.

Niko said...

Oh Lordy, the amount of time that would've taken...

DashieBro said...

How much time do you even have to spend to get this information?

DashieBro said...

It seems like it would take an incredibly long time

TsarNicky said...

I've always sort have been curious of this!!
A chart like this one must have taken ages! Props to the creator for their work.

Chromosome said...

Wow. I'm literally doing statistical analysis homework right now and I wish my teacher would give assignments matching this level of awesome.

Xenowad said...

Clearly needs more fluttershy.

One Radical Dude said...

If Season Two ended right now, there would be noticeable differences. No surprise that Twilight had the most time last season. However, I'd say Applejack is winning right now for Season Two (just a guess, of course)

11Bolts said...

I.. honestly don't care because it doesn't really matter how much screen time they get.

CityFlyer502 said...

@Bombedrumbum I've never had low expectations for her. And that goes for any of the ponies.

Octavia9th said...

That's pretty crazy (and awesome), if you ask me. Imagine how that graph would look for Season Two so far. Poor Fluttershy's line would be almost nonexistent...

Chucklesmoke Spray said...

I like how you can see signifigant dips in certain episodes, like CMC ones. Wanna see them analyzed now.

Octavia said...

Didn't even see Fluttershy's lines at first. lol It's a kinda cool graph.

Bombedrumbum said...

@CityFlyer502 woop woop


I always expect the best of any pony!

The only thing that bugs me is that Rainbow Dash has been getting a bit, how should I say it, worse in Season 2. There are some good qualities, don't get me wrong, it's just that that little thing is the only thing that I see wrong with the ponies :)

Don't misinterpret that. I like the ponies.

ponydoraprancypants said...

Awesome. As should be the case, Rarity had the most screentime after Twilight Sparkle. In Season Two, I feel like Applejack and the CMC have had the most screentime. At least Rarity had the best episode!

-K Project- said...

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i can't distiguish FS color from AJ or RD from Rr

11Bolts said...

FAFAFAFAFFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA Fair enough

MyBoyJ said...

@Bombedrumbum

How dare you insult best pony Rainbow Dash!

Sir, I challenge you to a duel.

Pistols at dawn.

I'm joking of course. All ponies are best ponies.

wackypony said...

i don't get why it matters.

it doesn't make one pony better than the other.

Nice to know, but utterly useless.

Bombedrumbum said...

Ugh, the one thing that I don't like about this fandom is what the term "x is best pony" leads to. It would be nicer if we instead used "i like x the best", but I see why people would want to say that their favorite pony is best pony.


AppleJack is my favorite pony, but if you really gave thought to "best" pony, then Princess Celestia would take the prize, as she is literally the best pony :p

Bombedrumbum said...

Especially when that guy^ says it

11Bolts said...

I like ponies based on personality, and on rare occasions, looks. But I agree Bombedrumbum, rainbow Dash has been getting... worse. Neverless she is the most athletic and challenging (next to Applejack, who's more?). And...................................20% COOLER

Bombedrumbum said...

@11Bolts Eeyup.

@MyBoyJ Eeyup.

CityFlyer502 said...

@Bombedrumbum Never saw anything to misinterpret. It's your opinion, and you're entitled to say it.

ShakeNDake said...

Well, I thank you sir for giving me this well displayed graph and table of something that I've never even once had a concern about. Now I am interested. Can't believe AJ got second, mainly because she normally seems to be more in the background of the later episodes.

wackypony said...

@Bombedrumbum

I like that. I can easily see why Dashie, who is best pony, is someone's least favorite.

if i hadn't put my mind through 3 seperate hells over her, Twilight would be my favorite.

and what do you mean "That guy says it"

Bombedrumbum said...

@wackypony well, based on your past commenting tendencies......

Harwick said...

I'm going through Twilight withdrawal this season. Really though, I would think that any chart of season 2 would be very spikey (not the dragon), as the episodes seem to focus on only one or two ponies at a time.

11Bolts said...

Oh yeah, some bronies might already know this but my favorites are Octavia, Fluttershy, and Zecora(zebra i know).

Bombedrumbum said...

@CityFlyer502 by that logic trolls would have control of the entire internet :p


Troll logic!

11Bolts said...

Zecora must be really good at rapping, no racism intended at all

Bombedrumbum said...

@11Bolts if you're going beyond "pony", then Discord would definitely be my favorite

MyBoyJ said...

@11Bolts

Well, she is a master of rhymes...

11Bolts said...

Oh, AND...... Big Mac, super strong, super quiet (except for that one episode) and super awesome.

Bombedrumbum said...

Well, when you think about it, Doscord also rhymed too! Well, not exclusively, no, but still

11Bolts said...

@-K Project-
Can think up of fast rhymes, and can somehow predict what words will rhyme corresponding to future events, ex: parasprites.

-K Project- said...

@11Bolts

heheheee it's embaracing but i read raping lmao

11Bolts said...

That has nothing to do with Zecora's awesome rhyming skills.

11Bolts said...

Oh RAPPING, hehe sorry.

62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996 said...

@Bombedrumbum
I don't know about that, I've been part of fandoms where such arguments can be like that. Round here though it seems more like light hearted ribbing, speciallyy with the typical follow up of "silly *poster*, thats a strange way to spell..." which is itself than often followed by a post remarking on both of the priors poor spelling :)

This seems all the more obvious when one considers that many folks are prone changenge their declaration of who is best pony every time a new episode airs or a good piece of art/writing is posted. Also the fact that even non-speaking background ponies are eligible, as well as the occasional inanimate object.

11Bolts said...

@62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996
I do not know understand anything you just said, so.....
NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN

Bombedrumbum said...

@62835fdc-HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED


Yeah, but some people ruin the fun by taking it too far. I'm not going to get Wacky with my explanation, now, but I won't name anyPony

CityFlyer502 said...

@62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996 That's how I've always seen the best pony debates around here. Playful jabs as I see it. And this is just me, but my opinion of "best pony" hasn't wavered in the least. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy what the focus pony in each episode does.

jessewq said...

So basically it's just this with Spike added.

This also marks the second time Sethisto has been surprised by Applejack's abundance of screentime.

One Radical Dude said...

@Harwick Yeah; it's been a weird season on character screentime, and I'm so not used to seeing too little of Twilight. I'm happy to hear that the upcoming three episodes will give three characters (Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike) that have had too little screentime a boost.

If there is a chart for Season Two, it's going to be radically different from the previous season.

Scott_Lochmoeller said...

I've never been clear on why ED has this weird anti-Applejack mentality. Not that anyone here is against her, but there does seem to be this idea that she's a lesser member of the mane cast who doesn't figure into the show much. And I don't get.

Because outside ED, AJ seems like one of the most popular and important characters. Her family keeps popping up and it was hinted at in season one and expounded upon in season 2 that her farm basically IS the ponyville economy.

Plus there's a definite running theme of crushing responsibility to her life. It was funny when Twilight went nuts over missing a deadline, but AJ is the one with the world on her shoulders. Listen again to Winter Wrap Up. All the ponies treat the event as a fun annual tradition EXCEPT AJ, who's lines are all about the food supply. She knows the stakes if the event goes awry, something that Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were all too insular or oblivious to notice. That's also what Applebuck season and Last Roundup were about. AJ felt she had to measure up to these sizable responsiblities, and when she didn't, she didn't handle it well.

Not to mention it's gotta sting that after all her hard work to keep her family and the whole darn town fed, she doesn't get much in the way of reward. Okay, she gets some, but it's obvious that the farm is still struggling to stay in the black, (a real problem with many farms, actually.) And she doesn't get much prestige for her efforts. Blueblood spat the fritter back at her, And as much as everypony says they love her cider she nearly lost the farm over a 3 day incursion from some flim flam artists.

I think there's a lot to love about aj and her family and they do get a lot of love. But then again, she probably does get dragged down with "most level headed, even against twilight" and for some, that can make her seem unremarkable. But I love her. She's a close second for my favorite character, (Twilight does just edge her out for me, but I think AJ leaves the other 4 in the dust, much as I do love all of them.)

-K Project- said...

I know my spelling sucks, it's hard being not-english-language-native

sry xD

Ryan said...

Season 2 will probably be very up-and-down since the episodes tend to focus on just one or two of the Mane 6 at a time.

The big loser in S2 is Fluttershy. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she has less screen time than Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom at this point.

11Bolts said...

@-K Project-
I have to admit, that was SO funny.

Phantom240 said...

So here we see that Fluttershy is officially getting the proverbial shaft.

11Bolts said...

/ \
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
/ | | \
/ / \ \

eggsalad said...

I was surprised to see that Applejack actually had one of the larger portions. It felt like so little.

11Bolts said...

That was a fail brohoof design.

eggsalad said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller
And thus the tale of capitalistic suppression of the worker is retold.

Scott_Lochmoeller said...

@One Radical Dude

I'd argue that Season 2 subtlety retooled the show as a whole. Season one had an anchored protagonist in Twilight Sparkle around which a quasi ensemble floated. Season one had episodes putting other ponies in the spotlight, but the actions of those other ponies almost always affected Twilight directly and prompted her involvement.

Season 2 has changed the show into a true ensemble, in which there is no one protagonist and they all share the spotlight. This has had the effect of seeming to "demote" twilight a bit, and frankly, there may be something too it. Still, when people talk about the lack of Sparkle I think they tend to forget that Season 2 was front loaded with Twilight. The Discord two parter, lesson Zero and Luna Eclipsed were all basically the season's main "Twilight Episodes." We just didn't notice or appreciate it at the time because in the process of that those felt more like season 1, where Twilight was the protagonist. It took a few weeks of Twilight light and no show twilight for us to really "get" that the show's formula had fundamentally changed.

Scott_Lochmoeller said...

@eggsalad

lol, I really wasn't trying to score or make any political points, but if the shoe fits I suppose...

Kryptchild said...

@Bombedrumbum

AJ is on top because the list is in alphabetical order. Twilight had the most screen time with Rarity in second. Though Rarity only got a little more screen time than AJ

Bombedrumbum said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller I couldn't have said it better myself :)

Bombedrumbum said...

I was talking about the AJ commrnt when I said that, but dang, all of your comments are great!

eggsalad said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller

Remember, if a story is being told...it obviously has underlying political doctrines trying to be subliminally injected into your mind.

62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996 said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller
I don't think it's so much a case of AJ being the least important/popular of the mane-6, so much as it's a matter of her being the least memorable. FIM is something of a sit-com where everyone gets a chance to play the comedian, everyone but good old reliable AJ who is largely straightpony to everyone else's wacky antics.

Everything you have to say about here is true and all, but none of that is the focus of the show, so as a result the ever level headed AJ can kinda come off as all too ordinary, even a bit boring. Not that I hold any of that against her, she plays a vital role in the cast and I'd sooner lose Fluttershy than AJ.

...not that I'd actually want to see Fluttershy go... I just mean... I um... please don't kill me.

DashieBro said...

@MyBoyJ very interesting, but it was also very stupid

Bombedrumbum said...

@eggsalad suddenly the story of the big bag wolf all makes sense to me....

Hat said...

http://derpy.me/lmf5h

Harwick said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller

I don't disagree, but I do feel like while the show could have benefited from being more of an ensemble and less Twilight and friends, I feel that removing the need to shoehorn Twilight into plots has led to them becoming a little too single-focused and lacking in subplots.

Episodes like last week's "A Friend In Deed" are pretty much just one concept played through for 22 minutes. It sometimes feels like they've taken the easy way out by freeing up the format of the show, rather than really pushing the boundaries of what they could do.

Still loving season 2 mind you... just want more ponies per week.

eggsalad said...

@Bombedrumbum

Now you're catching on my student. Now look above you, you see that man with all the numbers as his name? Well his comment has an underlying message about the differences between moderatism and radicalism in democracy. Political messages are hidden everywhere!
*taps temple*
You just have to be able to see 'em!

62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996 said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller
Actually despite Twilight being the clearly centralizing element of every episode, I personally find that S1 was a better ensemble show than S2.

Too many episode in S2 are so character centric that it's often to the detriment of all other characters. If a pony isn't the focus of an episode their screen time is almost zilch, or at least it feels that way. Where as in S1 it seemed more like no matter who the focus was on, everypony had an important role to play, resulting in episodes often being more about group dynamic or at least the interplay between two characters, as opposedsed to S2's rotating spot-light hogs.

Unsuspecting Herd said...

The surprises to me are that Spike had the most screentime in E6 and Rainbow Dash had the most in E21.

c.t.burgh said...

Fluttershy doesn't get enough airtime in Season 2... It's sad! Fluttershy deserves it!

Fireseeker said...

Rainbow Dash has the least air time of the mane 6? This is unacceptable!
Oh well, I think season 2 might have changed that :)

Ulrik said...

@Bombedrumbum At least Applejack got three center episodes this season.

Ulrik said...

@Bombedrumbum Yay Applejack is best pony.

Bryan said...

I did a quick analysis of the correlations between all of the pairs of friends, and came up with some interesting results: http://i.imgur.com/QDi21.png

Spike has a close relationship with Twilight but avoids/is avoided by the rest of her friends (including Rarity and Fluttershy). Applejack has strong relationships with Rainbow Dash and Rarity but avoids/is avoided by Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie has strong relationships with Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. Rarity and Fluttershy have a strong relationship.

Bombedrumbum said...

@Ulrik *shrugs*

@Bryan huh.

Ulrik said...

@Bryan So what about Rarity and Spike?

Bryan said...

@Ulrik

Rarity and Spike have a correlation of -0.32, which means that they are less likely to appear together with reasonably strong statistical significance. Since Spike is enamored of Rarity and has shown that he deliberately seeks out her company I can only assume that this means that Rarity is avoiding him. Kinda sad. Looking forward to the season 2 stats to see if "Secret of My Excess" changes that.

Agile Wings said...

@Scott_Lochmoeller Very nicely said :)

And wow at this chart, will thank the dude who did this as it looked like it took ages!

Mike said...

I like these analyses.

Bombedrumbum said...

@Bryan how do you get the.numbers and statistics out of this?


@Mike same here

Mike said...

you can tell Twilight Sparkle's the main character in season 1: she's got just a little less than double the screen time of everyone else. I should also add that everyone else's percentages of total screen time are impressively similar.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Starscream said...

So if I am reading the sum total right it is

Twilight 954,800 22.63%
Rarity 587,800 13.93%
Applejack 572,500 13.57%
Fluttershy 555,100 13.16%
Pinkie Pie 541,100 12.82%
Rainbow Dash 536,900 12.72%
Spike 471,200 11.17%

Ivar said...

And somewhere in the distance, Princess Luna is asking herself why she's not a recurring character.

Marvin Martian said...

As you can see gentlemen, Spike has the least screentime.

He needs more screentime (and love...) in my opinion.

Zachary D. said...

I think aj is only looked over that's all. I meen we have pinkies and dash who are all over the screen flying and jumping on and off. Then there is two and rare who both have magic and the interact with the world using said magic. And flutershy is just flutershy she's quiet and You really have to listen to her. Aj is great but just over looked that's all.

Zachary D. said...

Oops I meant twi iPod corrected me ^.^

Bryan said...

@Bombedrumbum The Excel spreadsheet with the source data is available via a link from dziadek1990's DeviantArt page, which is linked to above.

Kits said...

@62835fdc-3fb1-11e1-9fc6-000bcdcb2996

Overall, this.

There are episodes that feature the whole cast: Last Roundup comes to mind. I've long maintained that the best episodes (and fanfics) are everypony episodes.

Whether Twilight is the focus or not doesn't matter to me. But I like it when all the ponies _do_ something in an episode.

Ivan The Adorable said...

Nothing too surprising here. I still find it interesting that people downplay Applejack's presence so much. She has a very strong show in the earlier episodes of Season 1, and then fades out after Fall Weather Friends. Overall, I'd argue she still aids more plot motion than both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

I would be interested to see how the Season 2 chart will look like, especially if we consider some of the stronger side characters. Fluttershy is fairly nonexistent so far and it wouldn't surprise me if she has less screen time than the CMC (definitely Apple Bloom), Spike, and even Cherilee. Were pretty far into the season too, and it looks like the two episodes after Fluttershy's have little need for her as well.

FreezingShock said...

I really enjoy making graphs and lists, so this was a pleasant surprise. I would really have loved to see each character's averages displayed in the graph, though.

Viridian said...

Impressive amount of work went into that, and I must say, it's rather informative...

And yet this song is all I can think about.

Supreme Commander of Brony Mountain said...

Studio B I find your lack of Fluttershy disturbing...

crystalmountain said...

Hmm, needs more Fluttershy.. Hopefully she won't be outshined by anypony this next episode. :P

Phxntxm said...

Rainbow Dash has the least time of the mane six?!
This is blasphemy!!

Kaiku said...

Not bad, Rarity... not bad!

Jimperator said...

Twilight Sparkle dominating the competition. Way to go book worm.

Filip said...

I hope the chart for season 2 comes soon.
It will be for sure less balanced, and that is what concerns me the most as of today.

Filip said...

@Harwick

We share the same opinion.

One Radical Dude said...

@Marvin Martian Spike may actually be beating Fluttershy this season so far. She's had fewer memorable moments than he has. We're going to have to watch the last episodes to see how the results end. Either way, they are going to be a lot different from the first season.

Jimmy James said...

It'll be very interesting to see a chart like this for season 2. This would be something really cool to show the writers!

El_Darax said...

I'm still nerd-raging over the overall lack of Fluttershy in season 2..........

Shes been there a bit....but definitely the least of ALL the mane 6 by far. Hopefully her upcoming ep will make up for it.

Rémiz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rémiz said...

Disregard my last comment... here is the cumulative frequency of distribution (in percentage) for data geeks : http://i.imgur.com/2khiK.png
(note that my scale goes to 120%, because it's 20% cooler)

One Radical Dude said...

There's a new analysis of the main group for Season 2, episodes 1-10.

http://fav.me/d4s1dv4

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