Choosing a length for your videos

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When I first started creating videos professionally several years ago, figuring out the proper length was something rather new to me.  We have discovered through trial and error that in our church services the ideal video is anywhere from a minute and a half to three minutes. Too short and it feels like an out of place commercial and too long it starts to drag. Videos that are longer than three minutes, unless they are some type of short film will almost indefinitely cause me to want to poke my eyes out….they’re just that painful for some reason.  Common knowledge has it that since most videos on YouTube are less than 3 minutes that it is best to follow the pack.

Last year I was visiting an organization that had developed a stunning video to raise money for their organization.  The story was compelling, the shots were compelling, only problem is that the video they created was about seven minutes.  I told them the video was great but that our church and many others would never play it in our services simply because it was too long.

We know its possible to tell incredible stories in thirty seconds because advertisers do this very well and often.  I’m always amazed at well I can remember a commercial and how poorly I can remember a sermon.

I think one myth we have to grapple with is that if we say more the impact will be more powerful.  This is not always the case and in fact having fewer words is often the ingredients to making it stick.

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