Conventions of form & genre

By Jack Campbell

Short films tend to only have a maximum of

three main characters. This is because the short length of the film means there is limited time to create deep backstories and develop narrative so by having less characters this means the audience can relate to them more as it is easier to follow.

Characters

An example of this is the 1956 short ‘The Red Balloon’. This film has just two main characters called Pascal and Little Girl who are enthralled by a magical red balloon which takes them through a tour of Paris.

Short films are nearly almost always low

budget, perhaps with the exception of the Pixar shorts such as Luxo Jr. Most short films are low budget as they are produced by independent directors with no funding and are used as an artistic expression rather than for commercial success. In addition, directors use less actors and few locations to keep costs down. Nowadays YouTube and cheap recording equipment mean short films can be produced for even less.

Low budget

An example of a short that is low budget is Irish sci-fi ‘Ninety Seconds’ The film received rave reviews despite having a limited budget.

The defining feature of short films are their length. This means they have less time to develop a narrative so are generally more quirky and artistic than traditional feature films.

Length

the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".

Examples of short film length-

Out of my intention (2008)- 24 minsRunaway (2010)- 35 minsThe Boxer (2012)- 7 minsShooter (2000)- 14 minsRemembrance (2001)- 19 minsBusy Bodies (1933)- 19 minsShivering Shakespeare (1930)- 20 mins

Short films nearly always have a twist. This is

done so the short films appear interesting as otherwise the narrative may be boring and uninteresting due to the length of the film.

Twist

An example of this is the short film “The Black Hole” in which a man finds a piece of paper with a black hole on which unbeknownst to him has magical powers.

Short films tend to take an everyday situation

such as an office (The Black Hole), school or home and flip it to create an interesting narrative. This takes something everyone can relate to and makes it something we can’t relate to which keeps us interested.

Situation

Todorov’s theory of Equilibrium is usually applied to short films.

Equilibrium- Everything is normal Disequilibrium- A problem breaks this

equilibrium New Equilibrium- Solved, but everything has

changed.

Todorov