Question:
Just curious to see how long it takes everyone to finish an averaged sized project. Let's say for example, a 5-15 minute short film.

So, how long does it take from start to finish for you to finish a project?

Choices:
2-4 weeks
1-2 months
3-6 months
4-8 months
9 months or more

 

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mark Denega,

My two most recent projects took 3+ years and 2 weeks, respectively. The average is 18.25 months, so I voted with the last option

Wow, 3 years? What was the total running time on the finished product?

My first film (15 min TRT) took about 2 months to complete, and my second (8 min TRT), which I think is considerably better took, took only 2 1/2 weeks.

actually all my projects(all 4, ranging from 3 minutes to a couple 20 min. ones) have been shot in less than a day and then maybe a few days of editing, of coarse they all suck so if i were to take my time on one(like i plan on) it would probably take longer.

My latest film was 6 minutes long, though I just did the director's cut, and made it 4 & 1/2 minutes.
It took 8 months to make.

If I take the time to plan everything properly....about two weeks for a half hour movie.....I don't get the whole 9 months to make a movie routine....

The only feature (75 mins long) that I've worked on took three years to make. My latest project (a 99-minute documentary) took about 7 months.

quote:

Wow, 3 years? What was the total running time on the finished product?

2:40 and then cut down to 2 hours. 12 hours of raw footage!

WOW. I hope the final cut came out to be worth 3 years of work.

12 hours of raw footage is a lot

Worth three years of work? Yes.

Any good? Not really...

Yea, but you probably learned a ton doing it. You now have experienced the process of creating a feature length film, something I can't say about myself.

Me and my twin brothers short film "Chiaroscuro" on this site http://www.studentfilms.com/film/get.do?id=690 took a day to shoot and about 50 hours to edit. But...that's not counting the rest of it we shot (it would make the running time of the film 25 minutes if added in) that's why I call the short the "Un-finished" version, because it really isn’t finished. My camera broke during shooting and during the time it took to get fixed (3 months) our main actor moved back to California. So when you see it you'll notice it makes no sense.

Another film I'm doing has been taking months and months to finish. Primarily because everyone in the film lives in a different part of the state and it's a mockumentary, so the script changes all the time, thus locations change and finding new locations and actors takes time.

I'd like to add that a great and wonderful friend of mine (Trent Johnson) who plays in the film died a week ago so that's put a hold on the production. Here is a link to the trailer, it's really low res and I made it 4 months ago since then we've shot about five hours of additinal footage: http://www.ibrecky.com/bloodoween/trailer.html Trent is the guy with the beard and glasses in the preview. There is so many things I could say about him, but I'll just say he was an amazing person, he was very talented and he'll be greatly missed.

Anyway, the length of time really depends on you, there's Pre-Production, production and then Post-Production that you have to take into account. But a good UPM and line producer always gets your actual production going smoothly. But if you're making your own film, just be really organized have it completely planned out and know exactly what you are doing.

Anyway I'm rambling, thanks for listening.

Nate Fackrell

This message has been edited. Last edited by: suspectx,

So sorry for the loss Nate :-(.

My movie was for an 8th grade senior project type thing, so it took pretty much the whole school year until May, but that was with me working on other stuff too.

quote:

So sorry for the loss Nate :-(.

Second that. That is really sad.

As for the time it takes to make something, generally speaking it's always longer than I hope, because other commitments tend to get in the way. (School, I'm looking at you)

Hey Nate, I watched the trailer to your mockumentary, and I can honestly say that it's the first time I've seen a trailer on this site that made me really want to actually watch the entire finished product. Keep us posted on that, and great work!

Thanks for the comments JW, and thanks for your thoughts AdamK & The Company. Yeah the Mockumentary should be finished by July, I'll be submitting it to as many comedy film festivals as possible. The run time should be about 40 minutes. I think it’ll be pretty entertaining...I hope!