normal conventions of a short film

1. CONVENTIONS OF A
SHORT FILM
Maisie Bloor

2. Characters
In a short film the conventions of the characters tend to
stick to two or three main characters. As a short film is in
it’s name ‘short’ these films don’t have time to create deep
backstories or history’s for the characters. This means that
the character numbers are kept low in short films, allowing
the viewer to relate to the characters in the small amount of
time.

3. Twist
In a short film there is nearly always a ‘Twist’. The main
reason for this is to make the film more interesting as they
are so short. If a short film doesn’t have a Twist of some
kind the storyline would simply be uninteresting. An
example of this is a short film called The Black Hole. The
twist in this is about a Black Hole with unique powers.

4. Budget
Short films usually have a low budget. This is because of
the fact that the directors behind the short films are
independent with no backing in terms of funding. The
budget is kept down by sticking to one or two locations and
only using one of two actors.

5. Length
As it says in the title these are ‘short’ films that means they
have to be short. These are usually around 5-10 minutes in
length. If the movies go past the 10 minute mark then it
wouldn’t be classed as a short film it would be named a
feature length.

6. Situation
Short films typically take an everyday situation that people
can relate to and then flip it on its head. This makes the
viewer relate to the short film but at the same time intrigues
the viewer.

7. Todorov’s theory
Tzventan Todorov- Todorov’s theory has three main parts
which says that a text begins with an equilibrium. At some
point it must have a disruption to the equilibrium. Then it
must end with a new equilibrium by solving the disruption.
He also says that there are five stages to show how the
narrative progresses. The equilibrium, disruption,
recognition, repair and new equilibrium.