Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck - Wired How-To Wiki: In film and TV, shots can be less than a second long, but you’ll rarely see one running longer than 30 seconds. But because cameras now record hours on a tiny chip we tend to let them run. This makes for deadly dull video. Instead, shoot just until we get the point: “Mom blows out the candles” is a 10 second shot. Once the candles are out, CUT. Shoot in shots and your video will instantly look better.