1. Is it correct that the time starts when you gain control of the character and ends when the final boss starts exploding / going down?

2. Calculating load times, does that include all the frames where a grey block is visible, including opening and closing animations of the blocks, or only when the full screen is grey blocks?

Thank you!

1. Yes
2. Yes to removing the opening/closing animations from the time, although technically I guess its not loading time, thats just how I did it.

Final clarification question although I think I know the answer: You don't remove the grey blocks on a death right? They do count as both: time with loads and time without loads. is that correct?

Right