The document discusses the time constraints and structure of a short film that is 3 minutes or less. It recommends dividing the film into 3 sections - an introduction from 15-40 seconds, a climax or central part of 1 minute 10 seconds, and an ending or resolution of 1 minute. These time allotments are approximate. The opening 10 seconds are critical to engage the audience quickly. Effective use of sound, visuals like camera angles, and showing rather than telling through actions are important to communicate emotion within the limited time frame of a short film.

1. Duration
The duration of the filmcan be a maximum of three minutes. This is a very limited time
frame to tell an entire story, although it can be done. After looking at the timing of several
short films online, we have noted when the introduction usually stops, how long the climax
of the story is and when a problem is resolved, I have noticed that within a three minute
time frame, the storyline is broken done into three sections…
- A beginning
- A middle ( The climax)
- And end (The resolution)
Each section is roughly a minute long, so it is distributed evenly. Although some short films
have a much shorter introduction varying between 15-35 seconds, this allows more time
for the climax of the film and resolution. I think this is a more sensible option, as this allows
us to almost go straight into the depth of the film, as three minutes is an incredibly short
time frame to fit the high volume of shots we want to include, therefore the quicker the
introduction, the more time we have available to go into the depth of the film.
We have decided as a team that the duration should be as follows:
The introduction: Any time between 15-40 seconds*
Climax (Central part of the film): 1.10 ( 70 seconds)*
The end (Resolution): 1.00 (60 seconds) *
 *Please note that all these times are approximate**.
 This leaves 10 seconds which we will use for credits at the end, although if any
section fails to meet the timing guidelines we have set ourselves, there may be
another section which exceeds our guideline, so we can assign the time over to
another section.
Although real emotion can be created in just a few minutes, it is still a limited time slot to
do so. We must ensure we use microaspects effectively. Such as the use of sound, not only
the score, but diegetic, non-diegetic and ambient sound equally have the power to create
the desired emotion and response from our audience. This is essential within our film
making process
We must ‘show’ not tell, as filmis a visual medium ,therefore showing emotion through
body language and the camera angles are more important than words, as words take up
time. For example, you could have a 10 second shot of someone shouting at a child,
although you could have a two second shot being a low angle one, where the child is made

2. to look intimidated. This would still create the same emotion and have the same impact on
the audience, although you have saved yourself 8 seconds.
Furthermore the opening of our film is extremely important, you must make an impression
in the first ten seconds, as would be depicted in the first ten pages of a book, you are still
telling a story, purely on a much smaller scale, the time scale has been dramatically reduced.
It is important that we write a detailed script for our first ten seconds, then reduce the
‘lines’ into actions and shots, rather than words. This way we will be visually communicating
with the audience and the use of silence sustains an audience for the first ten seconds, once
we have got their attention we can drop the tense approach and we will have an attentive
audience for the entire duration of our film.