The document traces the history of short films from their origins in the late 19th century to the present day. It discusses how early short films were typically one shot actuality films shown in peepshow devices (paragraph 1). The first more traditional film for mass viewing was produced in 1895 (paragraph 2). In the early 1900s, improvements in technology led to longer multi-shot films becoming popular (paragraph 3). Throughout the 20th century, short films were used for propaganda, children's programming, surrealist art, and music videos, though feature films dominated commercial cinemas (paragraphs 4-9). The development of affordable recording equipment and online platforms helped renew interest in short films from the 1990s onward.

1. History of short films
By Ana Vasilescu
A2 Media Studies

2. The first film
● Films - or moving image image technology- became a form of art at the end of the 19th century, the length was
much shorter than today's films or their highly developed technology
● The first ever short film was shown in 1894 by Thomas Edison using his Kinetoscope, this was a peepshow-like
device for individual viewing. These showed one shot “actuality” or “interest” films portrayed celebrities,
ceremonial processions, traver, current affairs of everyday footage
A year later, in 1895 the
Lumieres Brothers created a
more traditional form of film that
was open for mass viewing. The
film was called the arrival of a
train at la ciotat, it did not receive
the best critiques due to the
audience saying that it felt as
though the train was coming
towards them and they would flee
in terror

3. Early 1900’s
● In the early 1900s the improvements in recording and editing technologies led to producers making longer,
multi shot films
● The most famous films were “A Trip To The Moon”(1902) and “The Great Train Robbery”(1903)
● “A Trip To The Moon” was created by
George Melise, the film featured a
group of astronomers building an
improbable spaceship and encounter
acrobatic moon men
● A year later Edwin S Porter released
“The Great Train Robbery”, this film
was celebrated as the first western

4. The 1910’s
● The 1910s were the ice-breaking years of the film industry, there was higher audience demanding and
studio competition began to rise, making film lengths longer and multi reel films, this was the beginning of
feature films
● As lengths got longer and narratives more complex this allured the audience more to feature films rather
than short film and even the theatre and the opera
● DW griffith’s controversial Ku Klux epic “The
British of a Nation” (1915) is considered as
the first feature film
● George Loane Trucker’s controversial Traffic
in Souls (1913), dealt with the topic of white
slavery and prostitution

5. The Second World War
● During the Second World War,
short films were used by the
government as war propaganda
● Short films began to be shown
alongside news-reels and
sometimes live acts
● British short films during the
WWII became very popular
however, there was concerns
that the cinema would gain
reputation as “interfering marm”

6. The 50s and 60s
● The awkward contrast between escapism of
hollywood features and the informative
nature of many shorts was essential in the
creation of the repertoire in cinema s
throughout the fifties and sixties
● As the popularity of films rose the finance
and organization departments were
overwhelmed by the fact that many times
cinemas would cram too many films in a
short period of time
● Feature films began to dominate the
commercial outlets therefore, the short film
industry was minimized to children
programmers such as cartoons until the
1980s

7. Short Films
As short films became less favourite with commercial cinema, their popularity was constantly present within
visual artists
Since the early 20s surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali and later Andy Warhol experimented with medium
Luis Bunel and Salvador Dali Un Chien
Andalou (1929)
Vinyl (1965) black and white
experimental film by Andy Warhol

8. The 1980’s - The MTV Era
● In the 1980s there was a big boom of interest in the music
video industry and became a new branch of the film industry.
Due to the minimal length of 3-5 minutes it was perfect for
short film creators
● With the creation of music videos there was much less liberty
since the creators were restrained to the music being the
primary source
● “With music video, the narrative follows the rhythm of the
song so there's much less freedom. I was always very careful
not to impose my need to make a movie of to the video” Tim
pope (directed videos for the cure. The bangles and neil
young)
The first music video was shown on
MTV in the United States

9. The 1990s: The Renewal of Short Films
● The Nineties were a prominent decade for the short film-makers thanks to the introduction of the
affordable - and later digital - recording equipment, which was lightweight and easy to use
● The lead to a rise in independent film making especially short films due to cheapness and the lower
demand of features films
● There were more and more short film festivals and companies were encouraging people to find innovative
and new ways of making short film
“I Do Air”(2010) by Bafta Winner Martine
Amarti Started her career with short
films in the 1990s

10. The New Online Age of Shorts
● Since the creation of video broadcasting platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, short films have taken a rapid
rise in popularity on the internet
● Due to the freedom of expression and various levels of picture quality that the internet offers it has become a
perfect source for short film makers since due to the “bte sizeness” of short film it perfectly accommodates
the standards of the internet
“Tuck Me In”(2014) by Ignacio F. Rodo
Won the Filminute 2014 winner
The 2013 Academy Award Nominated film by PES.
'Fresh Guacamole' is the shortest film ever nominated
for an Oscar. It's also the most viewed Oscar short of all