Camera Shot Length in TV Commercials and Their Memorability and Persuasiveness

James MacLachlan and Michael Logan

Suggests that many TV commercials contain too many short camera shots, which are not easily assimilated, and that persuasion and recall are suffering as a result.

Camera Shot Length in TV Commercials and their Memorability and Persuasiveness

James MacLachlan and Michael Logan

The speed with which viewers of TV commercials are bombarded with new camera shots has been increasing. In 1991 the average camera shot was on the screen for less than two seconds, only about half as long as in the early 1980s. Are the camera shots coming at viewers faster than they can assimilate them?

To put this possibility in context, this article will examine conventional wisdom from the film-making industry concerning appropriate shot lengths. Shot length is the time a camera...

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