Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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Do you prefer to watch short 30 second clips during tv commercials or do you prefer to settle down to 30 minute 'marathons'?
Do you prefer a 4 minute short while waiting for a bus or 10 minutes while on the bus? what is the right length brick film for you?
For me, I'm unlikely to watch anything longer than 5 minutes unless it's from an animator I know does good flicks. for me, five minutes of less.
You?
I don't watch movies on my phone, and am not into 'most' 30 second to one minute shorts, I want whatever I'm watching to be worth my time, worth pausing my music and worth watching full screened. I tend to prefer 5-10 minute films, a lot of the longer films often have lower production quality and I often am not in the mood for a 30 min+ film. 5-10 minutes is long enough to have a plot or mood or charicters or some combination of those things, the ultra shorts tend to be one off jokes.
I think Sloth said it just perfectly. When people sit down for 30 minutes to watch a show, they usually are eating, or watching their favorite show, not a brickfilm. I'd say 3-7 minutes would be good, because the time "10 minutes" seens long for most people, and 2 seems too short, so keep it in between to get the most viewers (or at least that's how I see it). 
Because I usually sit down to watch brickfilms on my large flat-screen tv, I prefer them to be long enough to warrant wasting my time. 
Seriously, though, I usually like watching brickfilms before and after a feature film, in a sort of "double-feature" gauntlet type experience. Thus, I usually "put on" Beast, Grace (10 minute brickfilms each) or America Outlawed, and Pirates (30 minute brickfilms each) as buffers to something like The Rocketeer. I could still do this with 3 to 5 minute brickfilms, but, I'd just need to layer more onto the setlist.
To clarify, this isn't the only way that I ever watch brickfilms, but, it is probably the majority of how I watch them throughout the week. (I love watching movies, and, try for one every weekday night if possible)
Though, I agree with Sloth on some brickfilms that are longer having lower production qualities. (Apart from Doug Vandegrift's two excellent films in this category) If I have to watch "crap" brickfilms, I'd prefer for them to be shorter, like under 3 minutes, rather than to watch something drag on for upwards of 10 minutes...
Honestly, I don't care how long a brickfilm is....long or short.
As long as it has a decent story that I can relate to, I'll watch it.
Even if it's a one joke film...if it's well written, clever, makes me laugh, or catches me off guard...I'll watch it.
On the subject of lenth, when I do watch a 30 second brickfilm which is followed by 20-30 seconds of credits it really kills the enjoyment for me, if you ABSOLUTELY need credits it should be about 5 seconds long, and for anything else try to still keep it under 30 seconds.
There is no "perfect" brickfilm length. That should be solely based on the story, the pacing, and what it's trying to accomplish.
That being said, 5-10 minutes is my favorite.
Why? It's short enough to sit down and watch without having to watch the clock or make time for it, yet long enough to tell a complete story. It doesn't drag on, but still has the liberty to proceed a slightly slower pace if need be.
There are plenty of good films shorter than that, but those are usually light, single punch-line comedies that don't carry any real impact. They can be fun, but aren't as memorable. Longer films can tell great stories, but usually the technical values suffer and if it's long enough, it begins to drag. But if the story calls for, and the quality high enough to support, a 30-45 minute film, I love it. Henri and Edmond is one example of doing everything right in a longer film.
That being said, a film should not try to stretch/compress to fit a certain time length. Each film is a unique piece of art that has special qualities that must be perfectly paced and timed. But like Sloth said, credits should be much shorter than the actually film, or else the whole experience is spoiled. (Like short Star Wars films, complete with a super-long opening crawl.)
There is no "perfect" brickfilm length. That should be solely based on the story, the pacing, and what it's trying to accomplish.
Came here to say exactly this, I don't mind the length as long as it's well paced.
The length of the very finest brickfilms is not measured in mere minutes or hours. It's measured in days.
The length of the very finest brickfilms is not measured in mere minutes or hours. It's measured in days.
Are you sure it's ok to tell people about Unrenewable 2 when you've only finished 54 hours?
The best length for a brickfilm is the amount of time it takes to best tell your story.
Seems people enjoy 5+ min flicks where that is an option. Given my longest flick is about 3 minutes, this will set me a nice challenge. Now - to find a worthy script that is 5+ minutes long.
TogFox, have you checked any of my scripts? I have a few in the 8 min range. Send me a forum email otherwise... or maybe you've read them and found them unworthy!
I know this is a bump but I wanted to say thanks for your feedback last year. I said I'd make a 5+ movie and I did. I just released Mariana - 7.5 mins. It tested be, and I enjoyed it. Thanks for the push! 
It was great working with you on Mariana.
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