2. Length
• Short Films are typically „Short‟ and
usually have a max length of 35 Minutes.
They are typically around 5–15 Minutes in
Length. If these „Short Films‟ were any
longer they wouldn‟t be classed as „Short‟;
and would be named Feature Length.
Examples:
•Connected-Short Film /7:30 Minute
•Luv Deluxe-Short Film/ 5:21 Minute
•Heartwork–Short Film/ 9:26Minute
3. Characters
• Characters is an Obvious Convention as
„Short films‟ tend to stick to 2 or 3 main
characters.
• Being „short‟, short films don‟t have time to
create a long enough attachment to the
audience, therefore character numbers are
kept low in Short Films to allow the viewer
to relate to the characters in the small
amount of time.
For example in the short film
SIGNS there is only 2 main
characters we can relate to
4. Twist
• Short Films nearly always contain a
„Twist‟, the reason for twisting the
storyline is to make the short film more
enticing to the audience.
• Without a Twist in a Short Film the
storyline would simply be uninteresting
and would not attract the audience
For Example, The Black Hole is
a Short Film About a normal
night at the Office, however
the twist is about a Black Hole
with Unique Powers
5. Budget
• Short Films typically have a low budget. This is
based on the fact that most Short Film
Directors are independent without the
sufficient backing in terms of funding. They
keep their budget down by sticking to one or
two locations and only using one or two actors.
• Having such a short film allows costs to be
little to nothing in some departments as some
actors will work for free if they really like the
storyline.
For Example, The Black Hole is a
Short Film based in an Office with
only one Actor/Character; meaning
small budget.
6. Situation
•Short Films usually take an everyday
situation that we can all relate to and then
flip it on its head in some way. This allows
the viewer to relate to the Short Film, but
at the same time intriguing the viewer.
For Example, The Black Hole is a
Short Film Based in a Normal Office
Environment, But Special Powers are
revealed by a „Black Hole‟.
7. Uses of Short Films
• It is often argued that short films aren‟t
used to be sold to the general public, but
more to show the talents of the director
who made the short film
• Another use of short films is to propose a
movie idea to prospective movie
companies for them to finance
For example the short film
“Mortal Kombat Rebirth” was
used to show movie producers
that they should finance a
feature length film version
8. Todorov
•Todorov‟s Theory of Equilibrium is
typically applied to Short Films.
•Equilibrium–Everything is Normal
•Disequilibrium–A Problem Occurs.
•New Equilibrium–Problem is Solved,
Everything is back to normal; However a
change is Noticeable.
