Compare / Same director The Maltese Falcon vs The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Shot length, color & pacing compared
Both films are directed by John Huston, 7 years apart. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre averages 8.3 seconds per shot, while The Maltese Falcon holds each shot 41% longer, at 11.6 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 The Maltese Falcon The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Average shot length 11.6s 8.3s Total shots 519 916 Cuts per minute 5.2 7.3 Runtime analyzed 101 min 126 min Close-ups or tighter 65% 56% Setup: avg shot 11.7s 8.7s Middle act: avg shot 12.1s 7.7s Final act: avg shot 10.3s 9.1s
Shot scale mix
What the data shows 01 The Maltese Falcon has 519 shots (5.2 cuts a minute); The Treasure of the Sierra Madre has 916 (7.3 a minute). 02 The Maltese Falcon frames faces more tightly: 65% of its shots are close-ups or tighter, against 56% for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. 03 The most common framing in both is the medium close-up. 04 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is the brighter film overall: its average frame brightness is 42% higher than The Maltese Falcon's. 05 The Maltese Falcon keeps a steady rhythm across all three acts (11.7s, 12.1s, 10.3s per shot). 06 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre keeps a steady rhythm across all three acts (8.7s, 7.7s, 9.1s per shot).