A cut that trims a scene to a crisp ten seconds can make that moment feel razor‑sharp, almost like a bullet shot straight into the eye—pure impact, no wasted breath. But if you let it breathe for thirty seconds, you give the audience time to smell the dust, hear the distant siren, feel the weight of a character’s internal monologue. For me, the “optimal” length isn’t a fixed number; it’s whatever feels like the right echo of the scene’s soul. A critical moment should linger just long enough for the audience to taste the tension, then snap back into the narrative like a heartbeat that’s both steady and punchy. So if the director’s commentary says a twenty‑second take is “just enough,” that’s golden. If the cut feels like a missed beat, push it back out. In short, trust the emotion, not the timer.