In the
American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a
full-length feature, but longer than a
short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.
Medium-length films
A featurette is a film usually of three to four
reels in length, or about 22–43 minutes in running time, thus longer than a two-reel
short subject
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
but shorter than a
feature film. Hence, it is a "small feature" (the ending "
-ette
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formatio ...
" is a common
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
derived from
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
), and in fact featurettes were sometimes called "streamlined features". Featurette was commonly used from before the start of the
sound era into the 1960s, when films of such length as the
Hal Roach's Streamliners—and several
French films of that length—ceased being made, or were made as experimental or art films and subsumed under the more general rubric of
short film. Some featurettes are still being produced, notably the action comedy ''
Kung Fury'', which runs only 31 minutes.
Companion films
After the advent of
DVD technology, the term also gained the meaning of "a brief
documentary film covering one or more aspects of the film creation process".
"Featurette"
Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 2012-07-11. In DVD features descriptions, the term "featurette" usually refers to "behind-the-scenes"–type bonus material such as documentaries on special effects, set design, or cast and crew interviews.
See also
* Short film
* Feature length
References
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