3 How Long Should I make my Summer Vacation Film?

[Robert Prior]

Depends on the video. If there's a story with tension drama etc, even if that's just exploring a place, then I'll watch longer. If it's just pretty pictures my mind wanders after 2-3 minutes.

So for me the ideal length is limited by your storytelling skills, not your photography/videography skills.

 

[alex_markov]

I can only share how I will do it
Make it as long as the worthy footage you have and don't bother - you can't please all different viewers - very few will watch it the whole - most will skip or cancel anyway
Wish You all the best

 

[Electromen]

After making many videos and observing family & friends watch them, I've determined that 7 minutes is the Max.

 

[old man mavic]

@Dale D ,post the whole thing Dale and let members make their own minds up ,personally i would prefer to see it without all the speeded up sections, and enjoy it as it should be seen,pandering to others is not going to do the video justice
of course after the full version then do as others have suggested and do a Mini series of your adventures

Yours OMM

 

[retiredNH]

I don't understand the issue here. What is the purpose of the video? Is it for your satisfaction, giving you something to look back on to remind you of the trip? Is it to show your family and help them to remember? Or is it to impress others, strangers, with your adventure, your video editing skills, or something else?

The answer of course, is probably all of the above, which suggests that each audience (you, family and strangers) would probably be best served by something different. For instance, family would probably like more shots of you and people they know, while strangers would be turned off by this.

Make sense?

 

[Chrislaf]

Post a shortened condensed version for the forum (kind of like a movie trailer) and provide a link to the full length version(s) on your Smugmug site for those who want to watch more.

Chris

 

[Dave Maine]

For me, it comes down to the storyline and it’s interest to the audio. I generally stop watching a random collection of shots very quickly - 1-2 minutes. If the storyline is good, and the video is well executed there is no reasonable length limit under an hour.

Drone films are no different than other films. Netflix and other streaming services seem to find audiences expecting and enjoying 50 minutes to 1 hour creations. The shorter films preferred by some largely have no story of interest that engages the audience longer.

One of the big keys to long form storytelling is keeping the shots short (5 sec or so) and cutting different angles in to develop the story around the subject of interest.

 

[Crash Gibby]

I'd like to poll the potential audience! It is well known that the watching time of the average video viewer is less than 3 minutes. So I have just completed a 6 week photography summer vacation, crammed with tons (or gigabytes) of data, including spectacular landscapes, videos, timelapses, sunrises, sunsets, astrophotography, fishing expeditions, and hiking treks. Nobody in the world can compress that amount of data into 3 minutes.

So I have been at my computer for the past week, assembling and editing this data. I have come to the 11 minute mark and am only about 55% through the material. Do you split the show in half? Do you "go for it," with as tight an edit as possible? I have shortened slide to 2 seconds, and sped up drone and other videos to the point where they border on Keystone cops material.

This would be a seminal video for me- e.g.: a family keepsake. It is meant mainly for my wife and children. But the material is so good I really wanted to share it with my Mavic Pilots friends too!

What would you do? Full length, let the time limits be(Mod Removed Language)Break the video into the two 11 minute films?

Dale

Dale

My 2 cents worth.
Some videos can not be made short and if they are done, they turn out not doing anybody justice. I know the norm is 2 to 3 minutes but all cant be that short. I am of a small group that enjoy longer ones. A video with a bunch of too short clips is not my cup of tea.
There are 4 or 5 fellows I follow faithfully on this form. Karl Decker. His videos are cliff hangers for all 10 to 20 minutes. You could not do his videos any shorter or you would be speed ramping all the way up and down and do a quick shot circle at the top. Not his style nor my liking.
Another fellow can turn a water fall into a master piece. Alex Markov . His videos seem to run 5-6 minutes and are great.
So my point is a collection of yours would not do you justice to have a bunch of too short of clips in it. Make it two parts if you have to. Maybe even 3.
Family trips, graduations and weddings are very hard to keep short. I work hard on shortening mine. Some I only post on YouTube as unlisted as they are family or friends likings only. I just send them the link.

So If I was you I would split into 2 or even 3 parts and let people see your real talent.

 

[Crash Gibby]

I've watched many YouTube videos over 10 minutes. I don't watch choppy videos and don't watch videos without a "story".
Quality and content are much more important than length "rules". It also depends on your intended audience and what they want to watch. Only you can know what your intended audience wants to see.

Well put FLDave. My thoughts exactly.

 

[take a hike]

I agree, watching B-roll only video will top on eyeballs on around 3min
If U want to hold on for more than 3min then you should tell a story... or, break your 6 weeks into multiple short B-roll videos ( maxing at 3min each )... that is my take

Cheers,

Take a Hike

It's all about hiking, I am an expert hiker, I often go out to the nature w/ my GoPro & Drone, take some footage and relax, in this channel I record my hikin...

www.youtube.com

 

[Photo Beaty]

From my stand point I would like to see all of your stuff, but would prefer short videos that have a subject so I know what to expect. For example, fishing, night photography, rivers, mountains, etc.

 

[Twocalf]

I'd like to poll the potential audience! It is well known that the watching time of the average video viewer is less than 3 minutes. So I have just completed a 6 week photography summer vacation, crammed with tons (or gigabytes) of data, including spectacular landscapes, videos, timelapses, sunrises, sunsets, astrophotography, fishing expeditions, and hiking treks. Nobody in the world can compress that amount of data into 3 minutes.

So I have been at my computer for the past week, assembling and editing this data. I have come to the 11 minute mark and am only about 55% through the material. Do you split the show in half? Do you "go for it," with as tight an edit as possible? I have shortened slide to 2 seconds, and sped up drone and other videos to the point where they border on Keystone cops material.

This would be a seminal video for me- e.g.: a family keepsake. It is meant mainly for my wife and children. But the material is so good I really wanted to share it with my Mavic Pilots friends too!

What would you do? Full length, let the time limits be(Mod Removed Language)Break the video into the two 11 minute films?

Dale

Dale, as a native Montanan (now living in Idaho) I have certainly enjoyed your recent vacation photos. With regards in how to handle the video content, as I recall you use Adobe Premiere which relies heavily on the idea of "sequences", each a separate timeline with "similar" video content. How about breaking up your video clips into separate sequences (i.e. timelines) for each "scene". All of the sequences can then be combined into the "exhaustive" video for your family and friends and then you parse out each sequence to us heathens on a timely basis?

Cheers and keep up the good work!

PS if you're ever interested in the geology of Montana give me a shout.

 

[ikkel]

Alan! I like this idea very much! I can do the enchilada first, then break it up into , for example, 5 segments of a 25 minute video at 5 minutes per video?

Dale

That's how I do it.
I make an installment of several video's. This year it will be 8 parts (teaser is posted here yesterday).
Too much stunning footage for one video, tons of footage and a pitty not to use it.
So an Installment it is.
This is my fourth installment, did one in 2021, 2020 and 2019. Everybody who watched it found the idea of an installment good and I myself like it a lot more then one complete video for myself if we want to rewatch it.