2. Characters
Characters in short films are an obvious convention of
short films, within a short film it is regular to have a focus
on two-three main characters at most, some even only
contain one. This is in order to maintain relative depth to
their personalities in the small amount of time they are
able to be developed, this usually doesn’t include giving
a character history (like what you might see in a feature-
length film) but rather giving an example of their
personalities or lifestyles in order for the audience to
sympathise.
An example of a film I watched in which the characters
we’re developed in an interesting manor was ‘Strangers’
(2004, Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv). In this film, the two
main established characters are binary opposites; a
Jewish man and a Israeli man, the narrative progresses to
a point in which, although they are innate enemies, they
have to ‘put aside their differences’ in order to escape
from a group of skinheads. Though we only see the
characters for a limited amount of time, it remains clear
what kind of people they are.
3. Twist
Short films often contain a twist so to make a lasting
impression on the viewer, the majority of them do this
as it maintains interest in the film while also giving the
producers an important narrative device. This can be
done in a variety of different ways be it in the narrative,
where maybe someone abruptly dies or perhaps in the
genre, where a film we might have previously thought
was a horror could turn to be a comedy (like ‘December’,
2010, Andreas Pasvantis)
An example of another film in which used a genre twist is
‘Sight’ (2012, Eran May-raz) which begins relatively like a
sci-fi romantic drama, in which the audience believe is
intelligent yet innocent, the ending twist however is a
dark turn, and as the main characters motives become
more clear the film suddenly resembles more of a thriller
than romance. This twist is effective as it builds on the
complexity of the narrative, as through doing this the
producers have presented a comment of how they
believe what direction the progression of technology will
take humanity.
4. Situation
The situation in which a short film takes place is key in the
enjoyment of a film, in order for the audience to stay
connected they have to be intrigued towards the progression.
One particular film in which the ‘situation’ has been developed
in a manor which implores the viewer to continue watching is
‘The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient
Weapon’ (2009, Richard Gale). In this film the enjoyment of
the audience rests purely on the comedic value of the
ridiculousness the main character finds himself within, as an
‘ancient evil’ (a key feature in a variety of famed action films
like the Indiana jones and transformers franchise, among
others) chooses a regular man as a target for beating to death,
with a spoon. As it takes the route indicating an regular
comedy turned action/horror epic and the audience are
consistently left asking themselves why this is even happening.
