Introduction to Short Film

A short film is classified as any film under 30 minutes.  Some of the films that I will be analysing on my blog are micro-shorts (short films under 10 minutes). A short film, as described by professionals, is made to:

"Spare economic narratives, interesting storytelling, well structured work which draws in the audience quickly" - Catherine Des Forges

Alternatively, it could be considered as "Long films that end earlier. A good idea succintly told, less is more" - Gareth Evans.

Unlike feature length films, the plot in micro-shorts may not be explained at all in the story and they are often  abstract in narrative/structure and shots.  Micro-shorts are often screened at arthouse cinemas, and feature before a full feature-length film.  Short films are indie films and are shown online and at film festivals.  However, they differ to feature-length indie films and mainstream films in that no money is put in to distribution. 

Short films and mainstream are compared in the table below:

Feature Length Films	Short Films
Over an hour  Massive Budget (lots of cast/crew, production budget off the scale and a terrific amount of marketing) Linear narrative and structure Genre specific -  Mainstream Worldwide appeal Narrative pans out across an hour Complicated story Emphasis on making money and entertainment (studio produced, business)	Under 30 minutes Limited/no budget (not so much marketing, seen online, at film festivals and progressively, before mainstream films) Abstract narrative/structure Cross genre Screened before a feature length film Indie Niche audience Narrative explained in 5 minutes Simple story Emphasis on sending a message or getting noticed (amateur, novice produced and for aspiring Directors)

Here is an example of a short film, 'Day and Night' made by Pixar and screened before 'Toy Story 3'.