Youtube Video Length

mckinise

mckinise

I am working on a situational comedy. It was written to include commercial breaks with cliffhangers at the end of each act. Currently it is going to end up being around 18-20 minutes long, but could easily be broken up into smaller parts.

Being that I am planning on releasing it on youtube, would it be better to break it up into 3 episodes, thus giving it a chance to retain more of the audience, or keep it whole?
 
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It depends on the film.

The better it is made, the more it can hold interest.

Your real length limit is memory space. YT limits us to 2 Gigs. I uploaded a 22 minute production using HD WMV DUAL LAYERED COMPRESSION. It reduced the file size from nearly 3 Gigs to 873 Megs.
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
It depends on the film.

The better it is made, the more it can hold interest.

Your real length limit is memory space. YT limits us to 2 Gigs. I uploaded a 22 minute production using HD WMV DUAL LAYERED COMPRESSION. It reduced the file size from nearly 3 Gigs to Megs.
Click to expand...

I agree. I had to rewrite the opening of the film to keep viewers past the first 30 seconds. Starting slowly can kill you on YT.
 
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mckinise said:
I agree. I had to rewrite the opening of the film to keep viewers past the first 30 seconds. Starting slowly can kill you on YT.
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It's a different medium than television. You're competing with videos of pandas sneezing for the attention of people that have short attention spans. Perhaps trim all the fat in the film, and like I said earlier, split it up into like a mini-series

watch web series like The Guild or Legend of Neil for an example of what I mean. The Guild was originally conceived as a television pilot as well, so it may provide you a good example.
 
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Unless your YouTube account is verified and in good standing, the maximum length of a clip that you can upload (regardless of memory usage) is 15 minutes. Once your account is cleared for longer length uploads, the limit goes up to 22 hours.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
Unless your YouTube account is verified and in good standing, the maximum length of a clip that you can upload (regardless of memory usage) is 15 minutes. Once your account is cleared for longer length uploads, the limit goes up to 22 hours.
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Yeah, mine is capable of doing that, I'm not sure what the criteria is though
 
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I've found through experience that shorter videos tend to perform better, and it is easier to put polish into your work that way as well. Definitely break it up into 2-6 minute installments.

Also, by splitting up your videos you can upload more often, which helps to give you the image of being more active, even though you are producing the same amount of work as someone who makes longer videos. Maintaining your audience and never letting them believe that your project is "dead" is extremely critical to building your viewerbase (though many other factors go into play, obviously).
 
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mussonman said:
It's a different medium than television. You're competing with videos of pandas sneezing for the attention of people that have short attention spans. Perhaps trim all the fat in the film, and like I said earlier, split it up into like a mini-series

watch web series like The Guild or Legend of Neil for an example of what I mean. The Guild was originally conceived as a television pilot as well, so it may provide you a good example.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the recommendations. The Guild, in general, has given me a few ideas as far as breaking the pilot episode into smaller pieces.

Each of the acts is so dependent on the earlier portions that I may have to start with a "Last time on" teaser to catch the audience up.

They can stand up on their own comedy wise, but the story elements of both acts depend on the disaster contained in Act 1. Even the tag is related to something that happens in ACT 2.

That said, I am wondering if I should just streamline it into one 15 minute episode and create micro episodes written for online consumption from here on.
 
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You should do something like "Legend of Neil" which does a recap (Last time on LoN, THIS happened)

But the recaps are hilarious on their own, it not only keeps you updated on the story, but it provides a lot of laughs, and with minimal time added to the duration of the video.
 
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Finally getting ready to begin production of the series. My major concern is maximizing audience retention. Therefore, shorter is probably better. We will be starting with a Holiday episode and then moving on to episodic content early next year.

The first episode of the action series will be about 9 minutes long. I am using the following time blocks.

Action: 8 minutes
Sitcoms: 5 Minutes
Kidcom: 3 minutes (Think Fred or Hannah Montana Shorts)

I am toying with the idea of shortening the action series to about 5 minutes and leaving each episode on a cliffhanger, with the exception of the end of a story arc.

Each episode with include a Previous episode teaser for the action series.

The sitcom and Kidcom will both be stand alone.
 
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