1. A computer-implemented method for identifying a shot transition in an image sequence, comprising: determining a first ordering of a first multiple of blocks in a first frame of the image sequence based upon block values associated with the first multiple of blocks; determining a second ordering of a second multiple of blocks in a second frame of the image sequence based upon block values associated with the second multiple of blocks; determining a distance between the first frame and a second frame based upon a permutation of the first ordering of the first multiple of blocks so as to correspond to the second ordering of the second multiple of blocks; storing the distance in a time series of past frame comparisons, the past frame comparisons including distances between frames that precede the first and second frame; determining the existence of a shot transition based upon distances in at least a portion of the time series of past frame comparisons; identifying a first shot and a second shot based on the determined shot transition, wherein the first shot is comprised of a plurality of frames that precede the shot transition and the second shot is comprised of a plurality of frames that follow the shot transition; processing the first shot with a first video tool adapted for video conditions of the first shot; and processing the second shot with a second video tool adapted for video conditions of the second shot.