How long should a movie be?

Ever wondered?

Turns out there's no consensus.

Most people in the film industry seem to believe that a feature film should be no shorter than 40 minutes long, others that it should be at least 80 minutes in length; still others that it should be at least 58 minutes 29 seconds long.
en.wikipedia.org...

They can't even agree how short a movie should be, but there's no upper limit.

A movie could, in theory, be hours and hours...even days long.

So why are the vast majority of movies around the 100 to 120 minutes mark?

It appears to be just an arbitrary benchmark, a convention, if you will, which film producers everywhere adhere to unthinkingly (presumably, if it were any longer, the majority of viewers would lose interest?).

Why aren't there any enterprising people out there making 3, 4, 5, hour long movies?

How come there are no day long, or week long movies?

Let's face it, you can watch any complete series back-to-back like it were one, single movie.

Your thoughts?

a reply to: CJCrawley

Why aren't there any enterprising people out there making 3, 4, 5, hour long movies?

They do! They call them mini series.

Too long a movie at a theater means throwing a lunch break in there somehow and that makes it messy with everyone having to keep their tickets and such like. People can only sit still for so long watching a movie. The times have evolved this way. They used to be shorter.

P

a reply to: pheonix358

Not very convenient for movie-goers, I agree.

But since the majority of the movie-watching public seem to do so online these days, that wouldn't be a problem.

I can't believe that no one has pushed the boat out on this yet.

they have 6 or 14 hour movies they break them into 3-7 diffrent movies to make more money like lord of rings is one movie in 3 parts harry potter 7 parts

I think a majority of movies are made so they can fit into a 2 hour time slot on TV with commercial breaks/editing. That usually means about 90 min of movie. There are definitely longer movies though. I believe King Kong was around the 3 hour mark. The longest movie I ever watched was the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse movies Planet Terror and Death Proof. Two full length movies with "fake" commercials in between, and I use the term fake loosely since Machete was actually turned into a real movie 3 years later.

Let me give an example. Gone With The Wind, movie is 4 hrs long. There is a break in the movie at the 2 hour mark so people can get up and stretch, while the film reels where changed. I believe there was a study done one time where 2 hours seems to be the time limit we sit still long enough to watch a movie. After that we seem to loose our attention span.

i dont know how long they should be but have been a movie buff my entire life....
i also love watching the long, 3+ hour movies....
i think most are above the 90 minute mark
i also get agitated when i want to watch a flick and i look and it is 80 minutes long....i feel like i got ripped

a reply to: pez1975

What is that guy kicking in your signature!?

Good movies are too short.

Bad movies are too long.

originally posted by: PhoenixFreeman
a reply to: pez1975

What is that guy kicking in your signature!?

It's the BigDog robot. It was designed as an idea to help soldiers carry supplies.

Here's a movie Ambiance. The first trailer was a whopping 72 minutes long. The second trailer will be 7 hours 20 minutes and the third will be 72 hours. The full length movie will be 720 hours, premiering in 2020!

Ambiance

WHAT?

On December 31, 2020 the Swedish artist Anders Weberg end his 20 plus years relation with the moving image as a means of creative expression.

After more than 300 films he puts an end with the premiere of what will be the longest film ever made.Ambiancé is 720 hours long (30 days) and will be shown in its full length on a single occasion syncronised in all the continents of the world and then destroyed.

In the piece Ambiancé space and time is intertwined into a surreal dream-like journey beyond places and is an abstract nonlinear narrative summary of the artist’s time spent with the moving image . A sort of memoir movie . (Film memoir ) . This in the visual expression that is constantly characterized the work throughout the artists career. This will be Anders last film he will ever make.

As a small tease until the premiere in 2020 shorter teaser/trailers will be presented at different occasions.

2014 – Short teaser which is 72 minutes long and that has the intent to convey the mood and tempo from the full piece. (The teaser was online between July 4 and July 20 2014 and had amazing view counts. 1,622,147 loads and 281,359 views.)

2016 – The first short trailer with duration 7 hours 20 minutes. 2018 – Longer trailer with duration 72 hours.

The teaser is available for screenings off line at festivals/exhibitions so please get in touch if interested. Also if you want Anders to visit you and do a presentation, lecture or workshop.

"abstract nonlinear narrative summary" . .. it sounds intriguing but dry and likely WAY too long for my taste!

a reply to: CJCrawley

You should check out Boyhood. It's about the life of a young man, Mason, from age 5 to age 18. The movie was shot over a period of 12 years using the same characters. It is truly a masterpiece.

I especially love how the Director got creative with it near the end by giving the audience a different perspective on life in order to shatter the illusion most people believe believe in. This could potentially wake a lot of people up. I was just a little disappointment I was already awake and knew the point he was getting at and I'm sure many of you will feel the same way too. That's all I'm going to say about that since I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so enjoy.



IMDb

Too short and its a gip, too long and its a bore.

More people will pay to see it somewhere in the middle.

originally posted by: intrptr

Too short and its a gip, too long and its a bore.

More people will pay to see it somewhere in the middle.

I watch movies for quality, not quantity.

Yesterday I saw two vastly different films.

Jean Luc Goddard's, 'Adieu au Langage' seemed short at 110 minutes while 'Dear White People' was excruciating after half that time.

a reply to: Psynic

I watch movies for quality, not quantity.

Well yah. My point was more to why they make a movie a certain length. That formula before release is designed to attract the most paying customers.

Blazing Saddles long. After I sat through that I wished for the past 5 hours of my life back.

Or The English Patient. I needed a doctor after sitting through that monstrosity of sap.

Or The Big Lebowski. It should just be called Donny dies at the end, Walter's still a hothead and The Dude is still abiding and being a lazy slob.

An hour and a half? Sure. But leave the epics for the books.

a reply to: CJCrawley

Check out Gone with the wind....quite long....hours in fact...and only 1 part

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Or Titanic. Back in the day it was on two VHS tapes. Half the movie took up one VHS.

Four hours or so to see a ship sink.

As George Costanza said it eased into the water like an old man into a hot bath.

originally posted by: CJCrawley
Ever wondered?

Turns out there's no consensus.

Most people in the film industry seem to believe that a feature film should be no shorter than 40 minutes long, others that it should be at least 80 minutes in length; still others that it should be at least 58 minutes 29 seconds long.
en.wikipedia.org...

They can't even agree how short a movie should be, but there's no upper limit.

A movie could, in theory, be hours and hours...even days long.

So why are the vast majority of movies around the 100 to 120 minutes mark?

It appears to be just an arbitrary benchmark, a convention, if you will, which film producers everywhere adhere to unthinkingly (presumably, if it were any longer, the majority of viewers would lose interest?).

Why aren't there any enterprising people out there making 3, 4, 5, hour long movies?

How come there are no day long, or week long movies?

Let's face it, you can watch any complete series back-to-back like it were one, single movie.

Your thoughts?

Movie theaters make their money on concessions not tickets. Most concessions are sold before the movie starts. It is in the best interest of the theaters to show as many movies as possible. Limiting movies to two hours allows for two afternoon and two evening shows during the hours most people attend. There's also the matter of how long people can comfortably sit and how long people can pay attention. If you pay close attention, you will notice that each well-structured movie contains a number of eight to fifteen minute segments, each a mini-story designed to match the average attention span.

The structure of story has not changed since the oldest recorded stories. Humans seem to be hard-wired in their story structure expectations.