The aim of this research project is to create a general framework for multimodal video search by examples (MVSE) so that video archives can be searched by examples of any content; and to build a prototype MVSE tool that is efficient, effective, scalable and extensible, in order to demonstrate the framework. This project will benefit public and private organisations such as the BBC who maintain large collections of video archives, and want to use the MVSE tool for their own staff, as well as enabling public access to these archives. The project will also benefit other organisations who collect large quantities of audio-visual material and want to develop their own search tools using the framework developed by this project.