How long is an epic?

How long is an epic? - Black and White Bird on Water

My dictionary had the following definitions for the word "epic":

epic: telling a story about a hero or about exciting events or adventures

and

epic: a long book, movie, etc., that usually tells a story about exciting events or adventures

I wanted to know, in practice, how many hours long does a movie have to be in order to be called an epic? Is there a set of time periods corresponding to the length of an epic movie? Or are there any other criteria involved in defining such a movie?



Best Answer

Source Wiki:

Many writers may refer to any film that is "long" (over two hours) as an epic.

But mainly epic came from poetic genre

Source Wiki:

When described as "epic" because of content, an epic movie is often set during a time of war or other societal crisis, while usually covering a longer span of time sometimes throughout entire generations coming and passing away, in terms of both the events depicted and the running time of the film. Such films usually have a historical setting, although fantasy or science fiction settings have become common in recent decades. The central conflict of the film is usually seen as having far-reaching effects, often changing the course of history. The main characters' actions are often central to the resolution of the societal conflict.

In its classification of films by genre, the American Film Institute limits the genre to historical films such as Ben-Hur. However, film scholars such as Constantine Santas are willing to extend the label to science-fiction films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars.[2] Nickolas Haydock suggests that "Surely one of the hardest film genres to define is that of the "epic" film, encompassing such examples as Ben-Hur, Gone with the Wind....and more recently, 300 and the Star Wars films...none of these comes from literary epics per se, and there is little that links them with one another. Among those who espouse film genre studies, epic is one of the most despised and ignored genres"[3] Finally, although the American Movie Channel formally defines epic films as historical films, they nonetheless state the epic film may be combined with the genre of science-fiction and cite Star Wars as an example.[4]

Stylistically, films classed as epic usually employ spectacular settings and specially designed costumes, often accompanied by a sweeping musical score, and an ensemble cast of bankable stars. Epics are usually among the most expensive of films to produce. They often use on-location filming, authentic period costumes, and action scenes on a massive scale. Biographical films may be less lavish versions of this genre.

Many writers may refer to any film that is "long" (over two hours) as an epic, making the definition epic a matter of dispute, and raise questions as to whether it is a "genre" at all. As Roger Ebert put it, in his "Great Movies" article on Lawrence of Arabia:[5]

The word epic in recent years has become synonymous with big budget B picture. What you realize watching Lawrence of Arabia is that the word epic refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision. Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God didn't cost as much as the catering in Pearl Harbor, but it is an epic, and Pearl Harbor is not.

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How big an epic should be?

An epic is a story that is larger than 8 story points.

How long do epics have to be?

An epic takes longer to deliver than a user story, but make sure that it doesn't take too long either. As a rule of thumb, two weeks is considered a good amount of time for epics.

Can an epic be short?

An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into a number of smaller stories, or sometimes called \u201cIssues\u201d in Jira.

Is epic bigger than story?

Stories, also called \u201cuser stories,\u201d are short requirements or requests written from the perspective of an end user. Epics are large bodies of work that can be broken down into a number of smaller tasks (called stories).



📚 How long is an epic? [Storytelling podcast] #1




More answers regarding how long is an epic?

Answer 2

Epics are often defined not in terms of length, but in terms of plot - an epic typically is about an Epic Hero that encounters adversity and must overcome it. In this sense, a lot of works in many different media are considered epics - works all the way from Gilgamesh to Beowulf to Star Wars have been considered epics.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Mikhail Nilov, Nout Gons, Pixabay, Anna Shevchuk