How short is just right?

I've got a question for you:

What's the shortest runtime is for a successful series? (flash included)

I see a lot of successful videos on YouTube and similar sites run between 2:00 - 3:45 (interesting: the same time as a radio single). In that time you can create characters, and make the audience care about them or the situation. This is great for everybody, it creates die-hard fans and provides a more enjoyable experience. But we've also all seen the super short 3 - 5 second videos (i.e. Dramatic Groundhog), with millions of views, but there's no plot or story to follow up on. Short of shock value these clips don't emotionally resonate.

So I pose the question: What's the fastest way to resonate with an audience?

I've been tracking viral videos and experimenting with Moving Box's videos (using the awesome site TubeMogul). Through my research I've got a lead: about 20 seconds. Taking pacing and script into account, I'm going to run an experiment with our new series, Purgatory Pizza. 20 seconds clips, each with one (or two) encapsulated joke(s), and some degree of character development. Episodic, so you can watch them all and get a story. I'm aiming to release one here on NG in the next 48 hours.

What do you think?

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Thank You! There were awesome results for the Olympus Burger Trailer Focus Group, thank you so much for everyone who gave their opinions. Version 3 coming soon, I re-worked the whole intro and edited even tighter, and found some better clips. Now we're doing sound design :)

How short is just right?

Comments

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LeafWorthy 2008-09-10 02:20:00

I'd have to lean towards 30 seconds. It's the amount of time a comercial has and it has done them well for years and years. For a sequential series, though, I'd have to say to attain truly entertaining moments AND have enough exposition to create an engaging story line is probably more like 2-3 minutes. But as a qualifier I would say there has to be a distinction in subject matter. Comedy can be achieved incredibly quickly, while any sense of drama, suspense, or mystery inherently requires larger amounts of time.

Sound-O-Vision 2008-09-10 02:20:00

great thoughts, LeafWorthy. I'm inclined to agree. I'm hoping that the situation of working in Pizza joint for eternity is distinct enough to hold through microsode to microsode. I believe characters will develop only after watching multiple "bites", and visible portrayal of emotion will be crucial in getting the audience to feel anything for the rapidly displayed characters.

ChaoticBlessings 2008-09-10 03:58:12

I also have to agree with LeafWorthy, it strongly depends on what you're actually aiming for. While small jokes can happen in seconds, other things need more time. Introducing a Character alone requires quite some time (although you can really shorten this if you work with a lot of stereotypes. This time everyone will already know what the character is going to do and will expect certain aspects of the characters personality).
If you're interested in developing even some kind of interaction between characters and/or their environment, you definitely need more time, too.
In TV Ads you usually have certain stages. "Present the Product"->"show the positive sides of the product"->"get the customer to identify with it"->"get the customer to develope a feeling of need for the product", orso. Sometimes the first ones are mixed up.
Seeing those stages, ofc an advertisement takes a bit of time. 30 seconds are often taken as one of the ideal timeframes for above mentioned stages.

Coming from that, you have to see what you actually want to realize. If you want entertainment, everything between 3 seconds (a stereotyped person in a stereotyped or none environment makes a short joke) and several hours (Movie type, long developed characters, storyline, etc pp.) is fine. Comedy limits that frame to a certain point, because noone can be entertained by the same jokes over and over again for ages.
20 seconds might be a good timeframe if you want to introduce certain things over the episode. This way, you have time to introduce, get to the point, make the joke. Might work fine.

Sound-O-Vision 2008-09-10 03:58:12

Nice thoughts. The commercial parallel I didn't even think of. As I got through the Purgatory Pizza script, some bites may run up to a minute and a half, so there will be some variety. MC Death Bear and I are hoping to get a volume 1 out tomorrow.

JACK-IN-THE-DARK 2008-09-10 18:23:11

For videos on youtube i like movies that are shorter than 1 minute, but for flash i really don't care about the lenght but i prefer movies that are less than 1 mega.

Clayman2 2008-09-10 21:22:37

I think that the length of the flash has to change depending on its content. Action packed movies and flashes based around a handful of thematic jokes with basic plots need to be about 2:00-3:45, IMO.

Flashes with strong stories need to be 3-5, because it allows development and takes the focus of of any impurities in the animation/art.

For single gags to kill time and get some publicity, that 20-40 second size is needed.

Of course, this is just my opinions. Hope I helped!

ThePhantomSlasher 2008-09-15 15:33:22

Well if you do indeed want to make a series this is what i would do. start out short with the 20 seconds and so one and once you gather a pose of fans for the series start making them longer. it's a formula i have seen work before and it seems affective.