resource for shot length

[Joseph Paul Magliano]

Dear All,

I have agreed to mentor a high school student who is taking an advanced placement psychology course.  As part of this course, he needs to do a capstone research project.

He came up with an interesting thesis to explore. Specifically, the adoption of intensified continuity editing (and a decrease in shot length) was related to movie success.  He wants to correlate the average shot length of action movies during a to be determined time period with various measures of the movies' success.

I have communicated that there is no available database that would allow him to get average shot lengths for movies.  However, I thought I'd ask the forum if this assessment of a practical barrier to his idea is accurate.

best

Joe

[Tim Smith (Other)]

Hi Joe, 

The best resource for average shot lengths is still the cinemetrics website (https://cinemetrics.uchicago.edu). You'll find a database there as well as tools for coding shots in new videos.

But be aware of the debates on the website about inaccuracies in measuring ASL.

Best of luck with the project.

Tim

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From: 'Joseph Paul Magliano' via SCSMI Forum <fo...@scsmi-online.org>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2023 2:14 pm
To: fo...@scsmi-online.org <fo...@scsmi-online.org>
Subject: [SCSMI] resource for shot length

 

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[Joseph Paul Magliano]

Hey Tim,

Thanks for the quick response!

best,

Joe

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From: Tim Smith (Other) <tj.s...@bbk.ac.uk>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2023 9:21 AM
To: Joseph Paul Magliano <jmag...@gsu.edu>; fo...@scsmi-online.org <fo...@scsmi-online.org>
Subject: Re: resource for shot length

 

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[David Vanden Bossche]

You can also consult Barry Salt's Film Style and Technology (London, Starwood) It has ASLs for many titles from the 20s to 80s.

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Van: 'Joseph Paul Magliano' via SCSMI Forum <fo...@scsmi-online.org>
Verzonden: maandag 13 november 2023 15:14
Aan: fo...@scsmi-online.org <fo...@scsmi-online.org>
Onderwerp: [SCSMI] resource for shot length

 

[Jaime López]

Hi,

Álso, here are the links to some studies by James Cutting on the evolution of shot length, that might also be useful

Data From a Century of Cinema Reveals How Movies Have Evolved

Data From a Century of Cinema Reveals How Movies Have Evolved Condé Nast James Cutting, a psychologist at Cornell University has been studying the evolution of cinema over the past cent...

http://cutting.psych.cornell.edu/pubs/cutting&candanProj15.pdf

Figure 2. Graph depicting decrease in mean shot length across years.

Figure 2. Graph depicting decrease in mean shot length across years. Download scientific diagram | Graph depicting decrease in mean shot length across years. from publication: Shot...

Figure 2. Average shot lengths (in seconds) increased with the advent...

Figure 2. Average shot lengths (in seconds) increased with the advent... Download scientific diagram | Average shot lengths (in seconds) increased with the advent of sound films in the ...

[Ralph Vituccio]

I use this super cut in my editing lecture. to highlight current trends.

Furious Film Editing:  https://vimeo.com/151838996

Ralph Vituccio
Teaching Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
412-260-8868
www.etc.cmu.edu
www.shipbreakersthefilm.com

https://www.ralphvituccio.com

[Yuri Tsivian]

To add to Tim's point:

1. The tool Cinemetrics offers its users to establish average shot lengths of a film is currently under reconstruction and will be newly available around December 1 or earlier. Follow the News tab to see when.

2. I suggest your student starts with Measurement Theory section (the same website, a separate tab), to get a sense of prior scholarship.

3. Consult also the Barry Salt's database hosted by Cinemetrics (yet another tab).

Good luck, Yuri Tsivian 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 13, 2023, at 09:38, David Vanden Bossche <davidd...@hotmail.com> wrote: