How long should a video be?

You can read all over the internet that videos should NEVER be longer than two or three minutes.  When we get asked the same question, our response is “a video needs to be as long as it needs to be,” length should be the last thing on your mind. There’s no doubt that most videos are about three minutes long since that tends to be the limit of many people’s attention.

Consider for a moment your own video viewing experiences.  You’ll think nothing about sitting through a two hour movie but a two hour presentation streaming on the web is definitely another story.  On the other hand, if you found a great how-to video, maybe on fixing a clogged sink, you’d probably watch all of it to hopefully prevent you from calling a plumber.  Always let the content drive your program length.  If you have a lot of content that you think people will enjoy, consider making multiple smaller videos. There’s even a chance that Google will rank you higher because you have many videos vs. just one long video.

Of course you also need to consider your audience.  If you want video for a trade show, be sure it’s something solid that will hold people’s attention and hopefully drive them to talk to people in the booth after watching.  The shorter length will give more people an opportunity to see the entire clip vs. losing them to a long video.

And when you’re ready to research price, we always caution people to watch out for deals that advertise a low “cost per finished minute” or special rates for thirty or sixty second videos.  Broadcast television marketing still requires people to think in short time blocks but that’s not the case with the Web.  Over the years, we’ve created hour long programs at a fraction of some of our more complex thirty second videos, it’s all priced on what the client needs.  If you think about it, your website is your own 24/7, on-demand, broadcast network.  People can now view your content on their own time, when and where they want it.  In some cases, you might want to give people the ability to download your clip so they can share it with others, you can’t easily do that with TV.  Also keep in mind that recording and editing a one hour seminar can often be significantly less expensive than producing a complex, thirty second commercial.

Video Tip: Working with bad video

Technology keeps coming up with ways consumers and businesses can record their own video. Everything from the mighty Flip-type units to Smartphones now allow people to capture events with the push of a button. When used properly, these tiny cameras can yield great results. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. We’re often (more…)

Wheaton College Edit

Tim Morse (left) of M&M Films edits a DVD project with Tim Cunningham for Wheaton college in the edit suite.