Film Festivals and Short Film

There are hundreds of film festivals globally each year which are either aimed specifically at short film or have categories for shorts. These are mainly where short films are now showcased, and where young directors go to get recognised.

The Raindance festival, which is held at different times around the world shows, is specifically aimed at celebrating and showcasing short films. With categories such as "best international short" and "best documentary short" the Raindance festival features short films from all around the world and has categories to showcase pretty much all film genres, including animation and documentary categories.

Other world recognised film festivals such as Sundance and Cannes, which are famous for showcasing feature length films, also now have special categories for shorts. For example the short film 'Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, won the Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

It is important for aspiring directors, such as Cretton, to get their shorts into such festivals as there is the potential to be scouted by studios, who sometimes fund potential future directors to create more films.

Video Activism

Many pressure groups such as Green-peace and Amnesty International commission short films to gather evidence that supports their cause and at the same time create powerful videos that they hope will shock the population and gain their support.

Greenpeace are an organisation funded by donations from the public. Some of the money that they receive they use to create documentary films which they hope will inspire more people to donate and/ or act on an issue that they are trying to the raise the profile of. The following short film is and example of a video commissioned by Greenpeace about the government spending what they claim to be vast amounts money on unnecessary military defense projects.

Trident: In The Firing Line from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

Short Film and Politics

Many journalists and aspiring filmmakers have made political short films to highlight usually controversial news stories that are not shown in the mainstream, usually for their own personally motives or to gain recognition as a filmmaker or journalist.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have both inspired many humans rights groups and anti-war campaigners to create short films as video activism, but there are also documentary filmmakers such as...

Martin Scorsese made an experimental, surrealist short film whilst he was at film school in 1967, which was supposedly created to criticize the American War in Vietnam. The pointlessness of the act featured in the film reflects the supposed pointlessness of the war in Vietnam. Also the fact that the protagonist is 'self-harming' also reflects the pointless damage that America were inflicting upon themselves during the Vietnam war.

Avant-Garde

Avant-Garde is experimental art-house cinema that utilizes short film as a media with which they can be experimental and push the boundaries of normal film.

The first real Avant-Garde experimental film movement occurred in the 1920's in Europe as film and cinema was becoming established and becoming available to a wider audience, rather than just the upper-class. The movement was mainly initialised by surrealists such as Salvador Dali, who looked to film as the perfect medium to experiment with their art.

Salvador Dali's and Luis Bunuel's avant-garde film 'Un Chien Andalou' was one of the first ever avant-garde films, released in 1929. Due to the films experimental nature, it shows how Avant-Garde films can and have pushed the boundaries of normal film.

Avant-Garde is produced by artists and is often exhibited in art gallery's as a piece of art. Many art galleries now have cinema type rooms which literally play Avant-Garde work on loop for audiences to come and view as any other kind of work. The art can then be distributed with modern medias such as DVD and on the internet as a download.

Strangers by Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv

Length: 7:11

2004

Strangers is an example of a short film thriller with elements of social realism. It is an example of how short films work with a very simple concept, in this case two strangers, one Jewish, one Arab, working together despite their own racial differences to escape from a gang of skinheads and racial hatred.

The Life and Death of a Pumpkin by Aaron Yonda

Length: 4:56

This short film is a Low Budget amateur production that has become popular online with over 1,900,000 views on youtube alone.

The film also won the Best Concept award and Best Short Film award at the Chicago Horror Film Festival in 2006. This is an example of how a short made on a limited budget, by amateurs, can get recognition through entering a film festival.

The short is intended as a comedy by conveying a pumpkins point of view during halloween. This is a good example of how a short film can have interesting and creative concepts that are very rarely reproduced in feature length films.

This is also an example of how the production, exhibition and distribution of short films have changed overtime as this short was made my an amateur on a budget and yet has still gained recognition through being exhibited and distributed online and being available to a huge audience. The short is now listed on short film websites and portals, some of which scour the internet for short films such as this to showcase them.

Signs by Patrick Hughes

Length: 12:13

Signs is an award winning romantic short film made by Patrick Hughes.

The film only has two characters and is unique because it has no dialogue throughout from the main characters and all the conversation is done through signs. The music within the short is very effective as it follows the mood of the main character.

History of Short Films

The first ever film made was a short made in 1895. Workers Leaving the Factory by the Lumiere Brothers was a short film around 39 seconds in length. However it was not classed as a short film at the time as the genre of short films was not established until after the introduction of feature length films in the early 20th century. The first films were short because of technological restrictions.

"The Classical Narrative"(90 minute films), were introduced by the cinema's to increase profits, meant that there was no longer time for shorts alongside feature length films and shorts were subsequently axed from cinemas.

As mainstream cinema and the classical narrative came into effect and short film was pushed aside by the mainstream, short film became a niche cinema and found a new home as a new medium for artists in experimental artistic movements such as Avant-Garde cinema.

For the Birds by Pixar

Length: 3:24

Animated short comedy which was included as a DVD extra with some Pixar films. This is typical of short films, as they are not released in standard cinemas and are often only seen at film festivals or on the internet.

For the Birds is a good example of how a short film can appeal to a wide audience due to the simplicity of the narrative.

Codes and Conventions of Short Films

- A short film is classified as any film under 50 minutes.

- Short films often only have one or two characters as there is not enough time to portray any others.

- A short film could be any genre, including a documentary.

- Short films are often more experimental as there is less financial risk when compared to feature length film.

- Short films are often produced by aspiring directors to make a name for themselves and as a way into the film industry. However some big name directors will still occasionally produce shorts when they want to experiment with new ideas or characters for example.

- Can often feature well known actors and actresses from feature length films as the experimental nature of shorts can attract them.

- Low financial risk due to lower cost to produce.

10 Minutes by Ahmed Imamovic

Length: 9:15

Good example of a simple concept working effectively within a short film. Only two main characters. Majority of the film is shot in one long tracking shot which gives the short film its distinct style. High production value with good quality special effects. Music is used subtly throughout which is in contrast with the action and violence being portrayed. The nature of the tracking shot is similar to the opening scene of 'Saving Private Ryan' where the cameras reacts to the environment around it and acts almost as if it was a real person. This creates the point of view sensation and engages the audience.

Bibliography Post

Wikipedia. (2010). 10 Minutes. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Minutes. Last accessed 5 February 2010.

Kamau, R. (2007). A Brief History of Short Films. Available: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199025/a_brief_history_of_short_films.html . Last accessed 1 February 2010.

Signs. (2008). Signs. Available: http://www.facebook.com/SignsShortFilm . Last accessed 1 February 2010.

UK FIlm Council. (2009). Short Films. Available: http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/shortfilms . Last accessed 5 February 2010.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/autofrontpage

http://www.lotteryfunding.org.uk/uk/uk-film-council

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10893&gclid=CML9nt7D258CFdoB4wodpCS8Fg

http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/

http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/

http://www.futureshorts.com/htmlViewer.php?id=12