Short Film-
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short filmas "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".
Codes and Conventions-
Characters- A short film typically has 2 or 3 main characters. Not only does this help to not complicate the film by keeping it short, it also keeps the cost of the film down to a minimum as many short film directors are independent film makers and don't normally have a substantial financial backing.
Twist- Short films often have a twist to the storyline. This is the director's way of making the film as interesting as possible in the short amount of time that he/she has. For example, Uncanny Valley is about virtual reality and how people want it to be 'more realistic' but it later turns out that it has been real-life all along. This would help capture the viewer's attention and makes for a good cliff-hanger to end the short film on.
Budget- A short film will almost always have a lower budget that a feature length movie. Many short films are made by independent film companies that don't typically have sufficient financial backing. Although this may be the case in many instances, this doesn't mean it is the case all the time. Many short films have more than enough money behind them an benefit from great special effects and editing software e.g. 'Uncanny Valley' had several characters, great special effects and was very well edited, suggesting it had a large budget. Whereas 'So you've grown attached' only had 1 or 2 main character and basic special effects, suggesting its budget was not as substantial.
Twist- Short films often have a twist to the storyline. This is the director's way of making the film as interesting as possible in the short amount of time that he/she has. For example, Uncanny Valley is about virtual reality and how people want it to be 'more realistic' but it later turns out that it has been real-life all along. This would help capture the viewer's attention and makes for a good cliff-hanger to end the short film on.
Budget- A short film will almost always have a lower budget that a feature length movie. Many short films are made by independent film companies that don't typically have sufficient financial backing. Although this may be the case in many instances, this doesn't mean it is the case all the time. Many short films have more than enough money behind them an benefit from great special effects and editing software e.g. 'Uncanny Valley' had several characters, great special effects and was very well edited, suggesting it had a large budget. Whereas 'So you've grown attached' only had 1 or 2 main character and basic special effects, suggesting its budget was not as substantial.
Uncanny Valley- This is a short film directed by Federico Heller that tells a futuristic story of homeless virtual reality junkies that live in the slums of the future. Their craving for realistic violence on the web leads an expert player to discover that the line between games and reality is much thinner than originally thought.
Although this story is somewhat farfetched, it is filmed in such a way that it is still able to capture the attention of the viewer. The movie cuts between interviews with the gamers and clips of them playing the game, joined by a sound bridge of the narration. This allows the viewers to hear the story from the gamers' perspectives as well as allowing them to see what they are taking about first-hand, giving the viewers a better understanding of the story.
Characters- When it comes to characters, Uncanny Valley doesn't really follow the codes and conventions of a short film. A typical short film is said to contain few characters in order to make the film as cost effective as possible. Uncanny Valley has quite a large number of characters and extras, which would normally make the cost quite high. A short movie may use actors that are willing to work for little to no pay.
Length- Uncanny Valley has a length of about 8 minutes, complying with the convention of length.
A combination of close-up and mid shots are used to create the feeling of a personal interview. This engages the viewer in he movie and invites them to focus more closely on what is being said.
The movie begins with a close-up of a woman's face. She looks distressed and confused and seems to be looking at something or someone. This gives the beginning of the film mystery and makes the audience immediately begin to ask questions.
This shot then fades seems to become distorted and pixelated before fading to black.The pixilation of this clip suggests an evolvement of computers in some form or another, introducing the viewer to the idea of technologies such as virtual reality right from the beginning.
The shot the woman then fades to black and the titles appear, allowing us to see the movie name.
A male voice is then heard which bridges to the next scene.
After the credits we then see a tracking shot of a man as he walks down a large hallway lit by candles. There are then multiple shots of the man as he walks due to the fast paced editing. This allows us to see all of the surrounding area.
There is then an interview scene with the man from the previous scene. This consists of him talking to what looks like the person behind the camera. He continues to talk about virtual reality (similar to the title scene).
It then cuts between the interview scene and the hallway scene repeatedly and we see the man caught up in a slow-motion explosion which causes him to go flying through the sky. A graphic match is the used as the scene changes to the man levitating in mid-air in slow-motion with a small metal devise on his nose.
The man seems to be in a sleep-like state for a brief period before he
regains consciousness and wakes up. He can then be seen removing a ring from is nose.
Horror - by Rudi Magill
After watching a few short films, I have realised that some of them follow similar patterns and structures, for example, the first pattern I picked up on is that many of these short films get straight in to point and are filmed in a way that it seems mid scene. I also grasped a firm impression on the character quicker than I would in a full-length film, as a full-length has more time to build up a character progressively. Short films tend to begin with a title straight away within the first 15 seconds where as most films' titles' are shown after the opening scene, or ending. This reinforces my point how short films get straight to the point. Here is examples of a few short films I watched which began with the title.
A Short Film I watched called 'Where You Are' by Graham Parkes begins with the title then a mother and son in mid conversation. With no narration or build up we are put straight into the scene, firstly hearing a part of their conversation which is the main theme of the short film. This scene is continued at the end of the Short Film
This pattern continues. When I watched 'Stryka' by Emily Carmichael, the opening scene for this shows 3 people sitting where one begins to laugh, again we are shot in to the middle of a scene where we don't know what happened but we're in the moment. The ending of Stryka is a continuation of the opening also.
CHARACTERS
Short films tend to have a small variety of main characters. The fact that these films are what they are (short), means that there isn't enough time to delve in to more that 2 or 3 characters. If there were more than 3 characters, it wouldn't allow the viewer to relate to all of the characters in the short amount of time that is a short film. Short films usually tend to have one main protagonist throughout the film. For Example, "Lonely Planet" by Alex Burunova only has 2 main characters in the short film, with the girl being the main.
LENGTH
Anything over 40 minutes would be considered a feature film. Short films usually last 5-10 minutes, but can be longer.
"Lonely Planet" - 24 minutes
"Killer" - 20 minutes
"Where You Are" - 13 minutes
BUDGET
Most short films would tend to have a low budget, reason being that most short film makers are independent. Many actors in short films are amateur actors, so they wouldn't be expecting a high payment. As well as having to pay the actors, directors and producers also need to get payed, this 'Budget Breakdown' shows the actors, producers and directors being payed hourly for a relatively cheap price in comparison to full feature films. The Breakdown also shows the costs of props, equipment and location rental. There are a lot of factors involved in creating a short film, but a lot less than a full feature film. The grand total shown for this certain film was £571.50, which is quite cheap compared to full feature films.
TWIST
Short films tend to have a twist or at least an element of the film that is completely extraordinary. The endings of short films are usually clever and leave a message to the viewer. In the short film 'Black Hole', the main protagonist gets more than he bargained for and this was conveyed in a very smart way, with a message telling the audience that being greedy is immoral.
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