Short films are defined as films that are not feature length, with the Academy considering a short film to be 40 minutes or less including credits. They are typically used by independent filmmakers with small budgets to showcase their talent and attract potential investors or studios. During the early 20th century, short comedies were commonly shown before feature films to entertain audiences. As double features became popular in the 1930s, two-reel shorts declined. Modern studios like Pixar still screen shorts before features. Dedicated short film festivals have helped popularize the format internationally, with some events focusing on very short films under 3 or 1 minutes.

1. MatthewHawes
Short Film Research
A shortfilmcan be definedasanyfilmthatisnot longenoughto be consideredafeature lengthfilm.
Definitionfound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_film (16/09/2015)
The Academyof Motion Picture Artsand Scienceshasprovidedtheirowndefinition;anoriginal
motionpicture thathas a runningtime of 40 minutesorless,includingall credits.Also,the term
featurette wasoriginallyusedtodescribeafilmlongerthan ashort, butshorterthan a feature.
Anotherterm,whichisbecomingmore andmore rare,is shortsubject.Thisindustrytermcarriesthe
assumptionthatthe filmisplayedaspart of a feature lengthfilm, productioncompaniessuchas
Pixarstill dothis today.
One of the firstknownshortfilmswasmade in
1902 and wastitled,‘A Tripto the Moon.’
Short filmsare usuallyscreenedatlocal,national
or international festivals.Theyare alsousually
made by independentfilmmakerswithlittle tono
budgetwhatsoever. Theyare usuallyusedby
filmmakerstobroadcasttheirtalentona smaller
level,whilstattractinginvestorsorfilmstudiosto
gainfundingforlargerprojects.
Duringthe earlydays of short films,manycomedy
shortswere producedinlarge numbers,suchasCharlie Chaplin’sLittleTrampcharacter.Duringthe
same era, a purchasedticketwouldallow youtoview afeature film, severalsupportingworks,a
short comedy,a5-10 minute comedyshortanda newsreel.
Duringthe Great Depression,studiosbeganassemblingprogramchoicesof theirownandallowing
little choice tothe cinemaowner.The packagescentredona mainand supportingfeature,acartoon
and notmuch else.Asthe popularityfordouble featuresraised,2-reelshortswentintodecline.An
example of thiswouldbe Laurel andHardy’s Hal Roach, whichlaunchedthe pairintofeature length
films.
Movingintothe modernera,studiossuchas PixarandDreamWorksstill screenashort before a
feature film.Shortsare alsousuallyairedasa fillerwhenafeature filmdoesn’tfitwithinthe
broadcast schedule.The firstTV channel solelydedicatedtoshortfilmswaslaunchedNovember26
2008 and iscalledShortsTV.
Tropfestclaimstobe the world'slargestshortfilmfestival.Tropfestsnow take place inAustralia,
Arabia,the US and elsewhere.Originatingin1993, Tropfestisoftencreditedasbeing partially
responsible forthe recentpopularityof shortfilmsinternationally.
Short shortsare sometimesclassedinacategoryof theirown. The International Festival of Very
Shorts,basedinParis,regularlyshowshortfilmslessthan3minutesinlength.Filminute,whichisan
international filmfestival,onlyshowshortsthatare one minute or lessinlength.

2. MatthewHawes