Video - Long Film Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

A live-action film of up to thirty minutes, made start to finish by one entrant and rated by a panel on story, structure, direction, camera, editing and sound.

Video - Long Film is the longest film class in the Multimedia division: one entrant submits a finished live-action film running up to thirty minutes. At that length the film is no longer a single scene or a neat idea; it needs several sequences, a shift in direction halfway through and an ending that has been earned.

Nothing is performed live. The film is made in advance and handed in as a finished file, which the panel watches on a screen with the sound up. Because half an hour is a real test of patience, judges see quickly whether the entrant can plan, keep a story moving and hold a consistent look from the first minute to the last.

On eTalenter the item is carried by the international teen talent template, in the Multimedia category, as an individual item for ages 13 to 19, open to both genders, in English. The template sets a thirty-minute ceiling and a rating out of 10 as the score label, with a maximum score of 5 recorded for the group. It sits at the top of the three film lengths, after the two-minute clips and the fifteen-minute short film.

Organisers add the class when they want to give serious young film-makers room to attempt something ambitious. It costs the venue nothing beyond a screen and speakers, and because entries can be watched in advance, the event day does not need a thirty-minute slot for every entrant.

Where Video - Long Film is run

On eTalenter this item is carried by one template, the international teen talent template, where it is the last of the three video lengths, alongside the animated classes, photography, computer graphics, multimedia presentation and website design. Long-form film categories also turn up in school media festivals and youth film events, but this page records only the template that carries the item, so organisers should check their own notice for file format, delivery and judging headings.

• United States
• Worldwide

Key facts

• Individual item: one entrant is rated for the whole film
• Maximum running time is thirty minutes, set in the template
• Rating out of 10 score label; maximum score of 5 recorded for the group
• Ages 13 to 19, open to both genders, English language
• The longest of the three video classes: Short Clips (2 minutes), Short Film (15 minutes), Long Film (30 minutes)
• Submitted as a finished file and watched by the panel, not performed live

On eTalenter, Video - Long Film is filed under Multimedia and typically scored with Rating out of 10. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Video - Long Film is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 5, commonly time-limited to around 30 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Video - Long Film

What a Video - Long Film panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Story structure: a setup, a development that changes the situation and an ending that resolves it, sustained across up to thirty minutes
• Pacing: scenes that earn their length, with no long stretches where nothing changes
• Direction: a steady tone, believable performances and a consistent visual style from start to finish
• Camera work: steady, well-lit and well-framed shots with enough variety to keep a long film watchable
• Editing: clean cuts, sensible transitions and a rhythm that varies between quiet and busy scenes
• Sound: clear dialogue throughout, music kept below speech and no sudden changes in volume between scenes
• Time discipline: a final cut, credits included, that finishes inside the thirty-minute ceiling

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Video - Long Film under Scoring Setup, or start from the judging and scoring software guide.

How to prepare for Video - Long Film

How entrants and their teachers usually get Video - Long Film right on the day:

• Start with a one-page outline of the whole story and split it into sequences before writing any scenes
• Plan a shoot you can finish: few locations, a small cast and scenes you can light and record cleanly
• Break the schedule into weeks, with filming finished early enough to leave real time for editing
• Record dialogue close to the microphone and capture a minute of room tone at each location for the edit
• Cut a rough assembly early and check its running time against thirty minutes, trimming scenes rather than rushing the end
• Hold a test screening with someone who has not seen the film and note every point where attention drifts
• Keep one look across the film, using the same colour and sound levels in every scene
• Back the final file up on a second device and export in a common format at the size the notice asks for

Frequently asked questions

Is Video - Long Film judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

How long can a Video - Long Film entry be?

The teen template sets a thirty-minute maximum. The shorter classes are two minutes for clips and fifteen minutes for the short film, each a separate item.

Should I enter the Short Film or the Long Film class?

Choose by the story, not the ambition. If it fits a clear arc in fifteen minutes, the short film class suits it; the long class is for stories that need several sequences to land.

Is it a team item?

No. In the teen template it is an individual item, so one entrant is rated for the film. Check your own notice for rules on friends appearing on camera or helping.

Does the film have to be exactly thirty minutes?

No. Thirty minutes is the ceiling, not a target. A tighter film that finishes under the limit usually plays better than a stretched one.

Want the full judging picture? Read the judging and scoring software guide, or browse every multimedia competition item.

Try Video - Long Film in eTalenter

See every ready-made template that runs Video - Long Film, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.

See where Video - Long Film is used