THE SHORT FILM INDUSTRY

The short film industry is almost completely an online industry, apart from film festivals. Short films are often used as a gateway by amateur filmmakers to try to become well known and recognised for their talent. Short films offer this since they can be produced on such a small budget, in a short space of time, and with few people needed.

Short films are mostly distributed online on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo where distribution is free and films can be widely viewed. More serious amateur filmmakers submit their short films to film festivals ranging from Cannes Film Festival to just short film festivals such as the London Short Film Festival. Through festivals filmmakers hope to be scouted for their talent. Online distribution is often used by students who are constantly making multiple short films that are very rough, however students who are serious about working their way into the film industry try to get many view and lots of subscribers to their channel, so they can become more and more well known.

The narrative of short films is very different to that of a feature film. For example due to the limited screen time short films are pushed to tell as much of the story in other ways than dialogue. In terms of style and content, short films are also much more seen as an art form than feature length films. A short film can be of any style whatsoever, ranging from documentary to animation to advertising.

Short films are often shown in cinemas right before the showing of a feature film, and this is due to them being a perfect way of filling time in a 2 hour time slot per film. Because of this many people who view short films are not there for the purpose of seeing that short film, but there to see another film altogether. Only since 1932 has there been award categories only for short films.

There are companies that market and produce short films such as Future Shorts or Atom Films, however it is rare that a short film is made for the purpose of making money, and this is simply because it is very difficult to do just that. There isn't a large enough market for short films that they can be widely distributed to an audience who is willing to pay to see them.

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BEAR (2011)

A VICE short film

Directed by Nash Edgerton

Produced by Lauren Edwards & John Polson

Written by Nash Edgerton & David Michod

Cast - Nash Edgerton, Teresa Palmer & Warwick Thornton

A fairly high budget short film and included the use of special effects. Used professional actors including Nash Edgerton, the director and writer. Also makes use of multiple locations and some quite large and expensive props, such as the bear costume.

Distributed by Vice, a company that fund and distribute short films (mostly documentaries) from all over the world which are then mainly viewed using YouTube.

AN ORDINARY DAY (2010)

A self-funded short film about life for ordinary people and what it really means, made by a student and distributed just over Youtube.

The short is a drama that through the use of a voiceover discusses how mundane ordinary people's lives can be, however what it is in our lives that creates memories and moments. The narrative is clever as it has so many options open to it in terms of what to include and develop in the film.

The way the film is constructed works well in that the footage is quite repetitive however the audience is not bored by it because of the narrative and other aspects of the film such as sound. However because (especially at the start) there film was almost repeating itself, this would have meant that the film would have been easy and very cheap to produce.

Overall I really liked this short film as it had such a surprisingly powerful narrative which was very well carried by the voiceover. I felt for a student film this was impressive as it seemed as if it was easy to produce but still had a quality to it due to the narrative.

THE PLAN (2008)

An award winning dramatic short film about a man who goes to Vegas and loses all his money in search of starting over in life. The short is 100% written and produced by Matthew Kalish, an independent filmmaker. The short film seem to be mid-budget (which would still be very small for a short film). The film has been distributed simply on Youtube and on Matthew Kalish's website as it was not intended to make any money.

The story is told in black and white, although it is unclear as to why, however this decision does allow for some even more striking wide shots. Overall The Plan has a very simple narrative that at points I felt wasn't quite enough as the film became a bit slow at times. However what the producer of this film did well was allow for locations to be reused, and for some parts of the narrative to not have to be shown (e.g. the casino scene).

I feel what let this short film down most was the narrative as it simply wasn't strong enough, however in terms of the way it was produced, a short film such as this would be plausible to make as a student with limited resources.

POINT OF VIEW (2010)

This short film is produced, shot and edited by Doug Smith who is a film student. It is self-funded and doesn't cost much as it uses cameras he owns and doesn't use any extra props.

The film is a sort of 'day in the life' type film which is shot only using POV shots. It is extremely simple as there is no dialogue, one soundtrack and only 2 actors at most. The narrative is not interesting as there aren't any events that take place, however this was not the aim of the film. The audience is involved very directly in this short due to the use of the POV shots, this is a powerful way of filming however it isn't used to be powerful in this case as it is more of an experimental film.

I liked this short film however when making a short film I would like to have a clearer narrative so that the film can follow more of a story. However this short has shown me that using different methods of camera work definitely makes the film more interesting for the audience to watch.