Compare / Same director Seven Samurai vs Yojimbo Shot length, color & pacing compared
Both films are directed by Akira Kurosawa, 7 years apart. Seven Samurai averages 8.9 seconds per shot, while Yojimbo holds each shot 56% longer, at 13.9 seconds.
Each stripe is the average color of a slice of the film, from the first frame (left) to the last (right).
By the numbers Metric Seven Samurai Yojimbo Average shot length 8.9s 13.9s Total shots 1,398 478 Cuts per minute 6.8 4.3 Runtime analyzed 207 min 111 min Close-ups or tighter 36% 49% Setup: avg shot 8.4s 15.2s Middle act: avg shot 10.4s 13.6s Final act: avg shot 7.2s 13.2s
Shot scale mix
What the data shows 01 Seven Samurai has 1,398 shots (6.8 cuts a minute); Yojimbo has 478 (4.3 a minute). 02 Yojimbo frames faces more tightly: 49% of its shots are close-ups or tighter, against 36% for Seven Samurai. 03 Seven Samurai relies most on the long shot; Yojimbo on the medium close-up. 04 Seven Samurai is the brighter film overall: its average frame brightness is 63% higher than Yojimbo's. 05 Seven Samurai cuts fastest in its final act (7.2s per shot) and slowest in its middle act (10.4s). 06 Yojimbo keeps a steady rhythm across all three acts (15.2s, 13.6s, 13.2s per shot).