How are short films consumed?

Short films only have a few select outputs unlike feature length films which are on show in cinema's all over the world for several weeks after their release date. The best way to be able to consume short film is either on specialist websites, such as the bbc film network, or at film festivals, such as New York Short Film Festival. At the New York festival many international films are shown which do not exceed 30 minutes and are in digital format for the screening. There are many short film festivals over the world such as in Sweden, Brussells, New Zealand and Australia.

short film research

During one of our lessons we were showed the bbc film network, a network which showcases new british filmmaking and the majority of these clips are shorts which have been useful as a starting point for my short film ideas. One of my favourite shorts on this site is 'The Crusader'. I felt that the mockumentary style of this piece made it seem that much more realistic, therefore it made it have a lot more comic value than if it was just a straight forward narrative of the character's life. As the main idea of this short is based on a widely known character in today's culture, Batman, it is a short in which we can watch and feel slightly related to as the audience will be able to understand what the character is talking about whereas this would have been difficult if it was based on an obscure comic book character that only comic buffs would recognise meaning that this short then appeals to a much wider audience base.





Another short on the sight that I found pretty amusing is 'Black Hole'. With the main character being a typical office worker, it leads the audience to feel pretty related to him as most people will have been in the situation where they've been at work or school, its getting to the end of the day and they're feeling pretty tired and fed up. This then makes the audience connect well with the character in the short space of the film as its a character that can be fitted to most people. This short also leads itself in to the audience sitting back and thinking what they would do in this situation and how or if they would abuse the black hole in the short. Which in turn makes it an appealing short that makes the audience feel involved in what is happening.






After watching these two videos, it has led me to want to try and do a comedic style short film for my coursework as it appears that short films often lend themselves to comdey. This genre seems to fit to short films so easily as to create emotions towards a character in such a short time is difficult, but to be able to laugh at them can happen pretty instantly.

how to tell a story in a few minutes

So one of the main difficulties of creating a short film is being able to put across an entire storyline in 5 minutes or less. This is clearly going to be tough as it means that things like mise en scene are going to be crucial as I'm going to have to focus a lot on putting the story across without dialogue but with actions and settings. The hardest part will be to create a character that can relate to the audience as if there is no empathy towards the character then the viewer will not really feel anything towards the piece and like the short film. Short Films use the same structure and story telling techniques as longer films, the difference is that turning points (the direction of the film takes a sudden turn) and elements such as rising and falling action are quicker. You also have to be certain your idea is worth doing, as you only have a certain amount of limited time to draw people into it, so it needs to be spot on, and worth sharing with other people. Dialogue is also a major factor in short films, as this can take up a considerable amount of time, so being selective with shots and speech parts is important if you don't want your film to drag on. I will need to take all this in to consideration when creating my short film and try to make it as exciting and engaging as possible.

but what is a short film?

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: 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 or less, including all credits. Short films are by no means considered mainstream, due to the opportunity which is provided to explore unusual plots, characters etc. They're contemporary non-commercial motion pictures that are substantially shorter than the average commercial feature film. This fact gives you far more freedom on how to structure a short film. You have no restrictions, and so the possibilitiies are endless.

Film Posters

For our first lesson of the term, we were shown some film posters and asked to analysis them. We were given these two posters for the Batman film, The Dark Knight. The first poster only shows the character of the 'The Joker' with the red lips being the part that stands out which could reflect that these could be important in the film as they are then again repeated in the second poster on the lips of the batman. Also in the second poster, we are shown the batman made up of joker cardsand surrounded by them which also suggests that the joker is a crucial character in this film as he is what batman is made up of.







The lights in the background help give a feeling and shows the setting of where the action may happen. The fire at the bottom of the poster gives a representation of hell due to the stereotypical image people portrait hell to look like, the fire overlapping the main image of the female. Representing her future. The poster creates a representation of the film being enjoyable but not scary. This is signified by the animated flames, hands and the background which is very cartoon like. The claws are dragging the girl down, and controlling her which anchors the title ( DRAG me to hell). The writing is a classic feature to film posters it’s a very strong convention it gives you a storyline and gets the audience involved.

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