A Little Bit About Short Film

The term ‘short film’ was coined in the beginning of cinema (1910s) and in fact all early film experimentations can be considered shorts. Also considered, as shorts in its early days were, newsreels, cartoons, even human interest and concert films. A short film describes a film that is less than 50 minutes in length and a micro short is 5 less minutes short. In the late 50s and 60s however, short film disappeared because of inflation and the cost of the film outweighed the results. Today there are many different types of shorts that fall under many different genres, including animated, documentary, experimental and musical. However, it is also important to note that short films cannot necessarily be put into a genre, which makes them artistic in their own right, as they do not have to conform to any rules or boundaries.

There are many differences between mainstream films and shorts. Here is a list of just a few:

• Mainstream films are well publicised and have major distribution unlike shorts
• Short films have few characters and less members in a production team
•  In a mainstream film, the narrative is more complicated and conforms to conventional story-telling methods compared to shorts, which adopt unconventional methods.
•  Short films directors cannot afford the high-tech seamless editing that mainstream films use, which give them a gritty realistic look.
• Lastly, mainstreams usually employ the talents of famous actors and actresses with high production budgets, whereas in short films the actors could be the directors themselves and their family or friends.

 Making a short film is a way for upcoming directors, such as Shane Meadows to get their works noticed by the industry by entering into film festivals, such as the one-minute international film festival, Filminute. Another platform for short films are through websites such as YouTube, BritFilms and BBC Film Network, which showcase a wide range of artists and gain popularity through hits. Sometimes short films are used as a filler in broadcasting or cinema. For example if a feature-length film finishes earlier than the schedule allows. Below is the first short film considered to be distributed on the Internet for a wide audience in; released in 2000 it is called 405.