The document summarizes the history of short films from their earliest inception to modern times. It begins by noting that all early films in the late 19th century were short, often depicting everyday scenes, celebrities, or travel. As technology advanced in the early 1900s, films grew longer and more complex, incorporating multiple shots and basic narratives. Through the 20th century, short films decreased in popularity for commercial cinemas but remained an art form for experimental filmmakers. More recent decades saw a resurgence of short films due to affordable video equipment and new distribution platforms like the internet and YouTube.

1. History of short
films.
Hamzah Ehsan

2. – In the beginning, all films were short. The earliest cinema audiences may not
have been particularly aware of this as they marvelled at seconds-long scenes
of circus performers, exotic cities, scantily clad ladies and people going about
their daily business. For them, the novelty and the thrill of witnessing man’s
latest technological triumph was paramount. But as the 20th century dawned,
films began to get longer.

3. Early films
– The very first films were presented to the public in 1894 through
Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, a peepshow-like device for
individual viewing. These, and the projected films that succeeded
them, were often one-shot “actuality” or “interest” films depicting
celebrities, royal processions, travelogues, current affairs and
scenes from everyday life. The best-known film from this time is
perhaps the Lumière brothers’ Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895),
which supposedly had audiences fleeing in terror as a celluloid
locomotive hurtled towards them.

4. Early films
– But in the early 1900s, improvements in recording and editing technology
allowed film-makers to produce longer, multi-shot films. Some of the most
memorable longer short films from the pre-features era include Georges
Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon (1902) – in which a group of astronomers build an
improbable space ship and encounter some acrobatic moon men – and Edwin S
Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903), often celebrated as the first Western.

5. Early films
– In the first decade of 1900s with audience demand and film studio competition, film maker started
making even longer multi-reel films which signaled the birth of first feature film.
– Features were regarded as more respectable art form than short films. The length and narrative
complexity allowed them to be compared to theater and opera.
DW Griffith’s controversial Ku
Klux epic The Birth of a Nation
(1915) is considered as the
first feature film.
George Loane Tucker’s controversial
Traffic in Souls (1913), dealt with
white slavery and prostitution.

6. Early films
– Since then short films were shown along side news-reel and sometimes live
acts.
– During WWII, short films became a government tool for war propaganda.
– British short films during WWII proved to be very popular but there were also
concerns that the cinema would gain reputation as ‘interfering marm’.

7. Early films
– By the end of the 60s short films were completely absent of commercial
cinemas programs. Only short cartoons continued to be shown at the start of
PG films at the late 80s.

8. – As the short film became less favorite with commercial cinema, their popularity
was constantly present within visual artists. Since early 20s Surrealist artists
such as Salvador Dali and later Andy Warhol experimented with medium.
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí
Un Chien Andalou (1929) Vinyl (1965) black and white experimental film by
Andy Warhol.

9. Development
– The 90s are considered as a landmark decade for short film making thanks to the affordable
video recording equipment. These technological advances led to an upsurge in independent
film making, especially short films which are regarded as cheaper and less demanding than
feature films.
– Shorts have always been treated as something of a poor cousin two features, but short film
festivals and companies around the world have encouraged people to find innovative and new
ways of making short film.
– The biggest new demand for short film comes from the internet because people are
interested in bite size peaces of information. This ‘bite-sizeness’ of shorts makes them
ideally suited to the internet, where users demand short, sharp bursts of entertainment that
they can consume on the fly at work, at home, or increasingly, on their mobile phones.
– YouTube is the most popular viewing platform for shorts online and it is popular alternative for
short film makers who can not afford to distribute their films on DVD.