Generating dynamic temporal versions of content

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving at a temporal engine, from a user, a desired temporal parameter associated with a media content tagged with metadata;

analyzing by the temporal engine, the metadata to generate a short-form version of the media content comporting with the desired temporal parameter and preserving a pre-determined thematic aspect of the media content, the thematic aspect being associated with certain portions of the media content, the analyzing of the metadata comprising performing computerized data analytics on the metadata by the temporal engine in an iterative prioritization process to define the short-form version of the media content; and

receiving at the temporal engine, an additional desired temporal parameter associated with the media content, and altering a total length of the generated short-form version of the media content during consumption thereof by generating another short-form version of the media content based on re-analyzing the metadata to preserve the pre-determined thematic aspect to comport with the additional desired temporal parameter;

wherein the metadata is indicative of start and end points of at least one of scenes and scene portions defining two or more story arcs of the media content, wherein generating the short-form version of the media content comprises including and excluding at least one of the scenes and scene portions to provide a temporal cut definition of the short-form version of the media content preserving a first of the one or more story arcs without preserving a second one of the one or more story arcs based on user preference.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the desired temporal parameter comprises a first time duration that is shorter than a second time duration associated with a long-form version of the media content.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the additional desired temporal parameter associated with the media content comprises a numerical time duration that is longer than the first time duration and shorter than the second time duration.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the generation of the short-form version of the media content comprises generating a playlist of the start and end points of the at least one of the scenes and scene portions comprising the temporal cut definition of the short-form version of the media content.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining at least one of user preferences relevant to one or more aspects of the media content and user analytics data, wherein the user preferences comprise media content components of interest to a user requesting the short-form version of the media content.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving at least one of an additional user preference and additional user analytics data during consumption of the short-form version of the media content, and altering the generated short-form version of the media content during consumption thereof to comport with the at least one of the additional user preference and the additional user analytics data.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one or more aspects of the predetermined thematic aspect of the media content span the media content and additional media content associated with the media content.

8. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving at a temporal engine, from a user, a desired temporal parameter associated with a media content tagged with metadata;

analyzing by the temporal engine, the metadata to generate a short-form version of the media content comporting with the desired temporal parameter and preserving a pre-determined thematic aspect of the media content, the thematic aspect being associated with certain portions of the media content, the analyzing of the metadata comprising performing computerized data analytics on the metadata by the temporal engine in an iterative prioritization process to define the short-form version of the media content; and

receiving at the temporal engine, an additional desired temporal parameter associated with the media content, and altering a total length of the generated short-form version of the media content during consumption thereof by generating another short-form version of the media content based on re-analyzing the metadata to preserve the pre-determined thematic aspect to comport with the additional desired temporal parameter;

wherein at least one of the short-form version of the media content comporting with the desired temporal parameter and the other short-form version of the media content comporting with the additional desired temporal parameter comprises a rearrangement of the certain portions of the media content revealing a previously un-revealed thematic aspect of the media content.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable program code embodied thereon, the computer executable program code configured to cause a processor to:

receive a user-specified time limit during which the user desires to consume a media content, the user-specified time limit being less than an originally intended duration of the media content, the media content being tagged with metadata;

analyze the metadata to automatically generate an alternative version of the media content meeting the time limit and preserving a pre-determined thematic aspect of the media content, the thematic aspect being associated with certain portions of the media content, wherein the computer executable program code configured to cause the processor to analyze the metadata comprises computer executable program code to perform data analytics on the metadata in an iterative prioritization process to define the alternative version of the media content; and

receive an additional user-specified time limit associated with the media content, and alter a total length of the automatically generated alternative version of the media content during consumption thereof by generating another alternative version of the media content based on re-analyzing the metadata to preserve the pre-determined thematic aspect to comport with the additional user-specified time limit;

wherein the metadata is indicative of start and end points of at least one of scenes and scene portions defining at least one narrative of the media content; and

wherein the media content is at least one of produced and edited such that upon the automatic generation of the alternative version of the media content, the at least one narrative remains hidden in a long-form version of the media content, yet appears in the alternative version of the media content.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the automatic generation of the media content comprises including and excluding at least one of the scenes and scene portions in a rearranged order to provide a temporal cut definition of the alternative version of the media content.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the computer executable program code configured to cause the processor to automatically generate the alternative version of the media content comprises computer code configured to further cause the processor to generate a playlist of the start and end points of the at least one of the scenes and scene portions comprising the temporal cut definition of the alternative version of the media content.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the computer executable program code further causes the processor to receive at least one of user preferences and user analytics data during consumption of the alternative version of the media content, and alter the automatically generated alternative version of the media content during consumption thereof to comport with the at least one of the user preferences and the user analytics data.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the second user-specified time limit is a numerical time limit longer in duration than the first user-specified time limit and shorter than the originally intended duration of the media content.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory unit operatively connected to the processor, the memory unit including computer code configured to cause the processor:

to retrieve a user-specified time limit during which the user desires to consume a media content, the user-specified time limit being less than an originally intended duration of the media content and the user-specified time limit being indicated by the user through a user interface hosted on a remote user device, the media content being tagged with metadata;

analyze the metadata to automatically generate an alternative version of the media content meeting the user-specified time limit and preserving a pre-determined thematic aspect associated with a narrative represented in the media content, wherein the computer code configured to cause the processor to analyze the metadata comprises computer code to perform data analytics on the metadata in an iterative prioritization process to define the alternative version of the media content; and

receive an additional user-specified time limit, and alter a total length of the automatically generated alternative version of the media content during consumption thereof by generating another alternative version of the media content based on re-analyzing the metadata to preserve the pre-determined thematic aspect to comport with the additional user-specified time limit, the media content comprising a media content file previously tagged with metadata;

wherein the metadata is indicative of start and end points of at least one of scenes and scene portions defining two or more story arcs of the media content, wherein generating the alternative version of the media content comprises including and excluding at least one of the scenes and scene portions to provide a temporal cut definition of the alternative version of the media content preserving a first of the one or more story arcs without preserving a second one of the one or more story arcs based on user preference.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the user interface comprises a plurality of options for optimizing the alternative version of the media content including at least one of an option for dynamically updating the user-specified time limit to the additional user-specified time limit, an option for specifying user preferences associated with one or more components of the narrative, an option for generating an offline-viewable instance of the alternative version of the media content, an option to save a playlist representative of the automatically generated alternative version of the media content, and an option to share the automatically generated alternative version of the media content with another user.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the media content is tagged with the metadata, either prior to production or after production of the media content, the metadata being indicative of start and end points of at least one of scenes and scene portions defining the pre-determined thematic aspect associated with the narrative represented in the media content.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the additional user-specified time limit is a numerical time limit longer than the user-specified time limit and shorter than the originally intended duration of the media content.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the memory unit including computer code configured to cause the processor to automatically generate the alternative version of the media content comprises computer code configured to cause the processor to generate a playlist of start and end points of at least one of scenes and scene portions, the at least one of the scenes and scene portions being rearranged in order, comprising a temporal cut definition of the alternative version of the media content.