ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 2 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

I would be very concerned about cutting off 2/3 of a project... That will destroy the structure. Personally I would maybe make some changes but not what you ate suggesting. You cut it to 30 mins because that produced the story you wanted to tell. A 10 min version isn't a cut down story, it's a very different story.

Story telling needs an audience. Without one it's just a place for dust to gather. Before embracing upon the story telling journey the audience should really be the first consideration. Who will see this? If the answer is "just me", then do what you want. If it is for festivals, research what festivals want/expect and make it for that audience.

All to often I see scripts written or films made with no plan for who will actually see them. Then when it's finished/made it's to late.

There must be some festivals for 30 min docos? Specialist documentary festivals would surely have a section for that...

Good luck and great website ;)

12 years, 2 months ago - Peter Butler

Hi Betty.

I made my short animation "Baggage" specifically for Virgin Shorts. Although having a time limit is a good plan as it means you have to be disciplined and means any fluff is removed from the film. For me I found that 2:20 was just too short and certain parts of the film suffered slightly.

So from now on I've decided to never make a film to fit into festivals and just to make it for me. But obviously you still want to see it from an objective point of view so you can make the correct decisions in what footage needs to be cut.

Hope that helps?

12 years, 2 months ago - Betty Martins

I aggree with you. But someone has mentioned that to me and suggested it which got me to consider. Is the first time I work in this system as my previous docs were for very specific places (museums) so it is a learning curve for me.

12 years, 2 months ago - Dominic Stinton

6 years ago (snap Lawrence!) I made a documentary called 'A Portrait of Walthamstow Market'. I planed in advance to produce three cuts of the film for different markets, a 30-minute version - which I consider to be the actual documentary, a 10-minute version, and a 3-minute version made with Virgin Media Shorts, Soho Shorts Rushes etc. in mind. The film is an impressionistic collage of interviews and images built around a loose narrative structure which made that approach possible - it wouldn't work with all stories. Doing the three cuts definitely maximised the films' exposure - it was nominated for Best British Documentary at Rushes for example - and lead to far more people seeing the 'real' documentary.

12 years, 2 months ago - Saranne Bensusan

6 years ago I made a short narrative film of 21min. of the theory that the film would be as long as it needs to be to tell the story. This turned out to be its downfall, most festival limit short films to twelve minutes, (some are six, but its fifteen at Cannes) but over the last couple of years it has found popularity with many festivals which don't have such restrictions, so at the end of the month I am shooting a feature based on "I put my Heart into this Film."I do however regret having missed out the the chance to have the film more wideley seen when it was first made. (There is no way that I could have cut it down to twelve let alone six minutes)

12 years, 2 months ago - GILLIAN MCIVER

I would recommend trying to shorten it to about 23:30 min then it can be bought by TV and you would not have to cut it again. It also gets you into those festivals that accept docs under 25 mins or under 30 mins.

I recommend show the doc a few times to trusted folks who don't know the film at all, and they can help you to see the stuff that could be cut.

12 years, 2 months ago - Betty Martins

HI Dominic, thanks. I did a cut, 26 minutes. I think it works much better, but 10 I find it really difficult because although the narrative is quite reflexive, is just the interviews, the project is a lot about context and experiences and I feel a lot is missed. I might try but do you think 26 minutes can be also good length for festivals??

Thank you all for the valuable information.

Best wishes,
Betty

12 years, 2 months ago - Betty Martins

Thank you very much for the advice Lee! :)

12 years, 2 months ago - Betty Martins

Hi Peter! This is great, I share your views.
Although I like this to be screened at festivals, it wasn't the first objective. I am very concerned about the methodology of this project as this is a delicatei issue.
The film has such a social value,and a methodology behind it. I am presenting it at conferences and Universities and I am getting it to review in the Uk and Brazil. I thought a 10 minute version could work as to promote it, but will loose the essence and what I want the audience to experience from this. I will continue my journey here :)... Thank you so much!