From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A feature film is a
(also called a movie or motion picture) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole film to fill a program. The notion of how long this should be has varied according to time and place. According to the , , and , a feature film runs for 40 minutes or longer, while the
states that it is 80 minutes or longer.
The majority of feature films are between 70 and 210 minutes long.
(1897, America) is considered the first feature documentary (It runs at 1 hour and 40 minutes).
(at around 60 min) is considered to be the first dramatic feature film, and was released in Australia in 1906. The first feature-length
which was released in 1909. Other early feature films include
(1912), and
The , the , and the
all define a feature as a film with a running time of 2400 seconds (i.e. 40 minutes) or longer. The
in France defines it as a 35 mm film longer than 1,600 metres (5,200 ft), which is exactly 58 minutes and 29 seconds for sound films, and the
gives a minimum running time of at least 80 minutes. Today, feature films average with
typically shorter.
Actor playing the Australian
(1906), the world's first dramatic, feature length film.
The term feature film came into use to refer to the main film to be presented in a cinema, and the one which was promoted or advertised. The term was used to distinguish the main film from the short films (referred to as shorts) typically presented before the main film, such as , ,
and live-action comedies and documentaries. These types of short films would precede the featured presentation - the film given the most
and running multiple . There was no sudden jump in the running times of films to the present-day definitions of feature- the "featured" film on a film program in the early 1910s gradually expanded from two to three to four reels.
Early proto-features had been produced in America and France, but were released in individual (short film) scenes, leaving the exhibitor the option of playing them alone, an incomplete combination of some, or running them all together as a short film series. The American company
released a
(Titled: ) in January 1903 in 31 parts, totaling about 60 minutes. The French company
released a different Passion Play, , in May 1903 in 32 parts running about 44 minutes. There were also full-length records of boxing matches, such as
(1899), and
(1899). In 1900 the documentary film, , was made that was over 1 hour in length on the training techniques of the British soldier.
Defined by length, the first dramatic feature film was the
70-minute film
(1906). Similarly, the first European feature was the 90-minute film
(France, 1907), although that was an unmodified re Europe's first feature adapted directly for the screen, , came from France in 1909. The first Russian feature was
in 1911. Early Italian features were
(1913), and
(1914). The first UK features were the documentary
(1912), filmed in
(1912). The first American features were a different production of
(1912), and
(1912), the latter starring actor . The first
was Japan's The Life Story of Tasuke Shiobara (1912), the first
(1913), the first South American feature was Brazil's O Crime dos Banhados (1913), and the first African feature was South Africa's Die Voortrekkers (1916). 1913 also saw China's first feature film, Zhang Shichuan's Nan Fu Nan Qi.
By 1915 over 600 features were produced annually in the United States. The most prolific year of U.S. feature production was 1921, with 682 the lowest number of releases was in 1963, with 213. Between 1922 and 1970, the U.S. and
alternated as leaders in the quantity of feature film production. Since 1971, the country with the highest feature output has been , which produces a thousand films in more than twelve
each year.
. Australian Screen.
(archived September 6, 2008)
The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures
Denis Gifford,
(archived December 29, 2009)
. Slashfilm 2014.
Passion Play" (1903), in: The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures [online database].
, The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907, p. 197???200.
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 9. .
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 13. .
Charles Urban, A Yank in Britain: The Lost Memoirs of Charles Urban, Film Pioneer, The Projection Box, 1999, p. 79. .
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 10. .
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 10???14. .
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 12. .
American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures [online database].
Patrick Robertson, Film Facts, New York: Billboard Books, 2001, p. 15.
Nelmes, Jill (2003), "10", An introduction to film studies (3 ed.), , p. 360,  }