Comments on: Are there time standards for documentary films? How to decide how long a film should be? http://www.aspectmediafactory.com/documentary-films/are-there-time-standards-for-documentary-films-how-to-decide-how-long-a-film-should-be Documentary Films, Commercial Advertising, New Media, Production, Post-Production Sat, 19 May 2012 03:40:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: poochie12 http://www.aspectmediafactory.com/documentary-films/are-there-time-standards-for-documentary-films-how-to-decide-how-long-a-film-should-be/comment-page-1#comment-6778 poochie12 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:41:59 +0000 http://www.aspectmediafactory.com/documentary-films/are-there-time-standards-for-documentary-films-how-to-decide-how-long-a-film-should-be#comment-6778 Credits count toward running time. I think you should allow 1-2 mins for opening credits and 2-3 for closing, but that depends on how many people are working on the film. Also don't sell short the idea of starting the documentary while showing the opening credits, it may not seem like the most professional way but documentaries are about information so the more the better. Just makes sure the credits are not on screen at the same time as any other text information and they are distinctive from other text. I'm not aware of time standards for documentary. It depends on what you want to do. If you want a television documentary then 22-23 mins would seem standard if on commercial television. But quality documentaries rarley go for anything less then a 1hr time slot.<br><b>References : </b><br> Credits count toward running time. I think you should allow 1-2 mins for opening credits and 2-3 for closing, but that depends on how many people are working on the film. Also don’t sell short the idea of starting the documentary while showing the opening credits, it may not seem like the most professional way but documentaries are about information so the more the better. Just makes sure the credits are not on screen at the same time as any other text information and they are distinctive from other text.

I’m not aware of time standards for documentary. It depends on what you want to do. If you want a television documentary then 22-23 mins would seem standard if on commercial television. But quality documentaries rarley go for anything less then a 1hr time slot.
References :

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