Preliminary Research - What is a Short Film?

A short film has a variety of factors that classify a product under this category. One of the most important and recognisable traits of a short film is the fact that the narrative is used to convey an important theme or message to the audience. An example of this is the short film "The Black Hole" in which the theme of greed is portrayed and the negative connotations that can occur by it being present are shown. Short films encourage those in the process of them to convey creativity instead of using the conventions used by full length feature films. Short films have the ability to use a variety of contexts and idea's in them, no matter how unusual or imaginative. Visual imagery is a strong feature of a short film, again linking back to the theme of creativity.

They help to tell stories and are often produced by individual groups instead of professionals. They tend to have only a small variety of locations and do not have an extremely vast budget. The focus of the film is often one or two characters and long introductions to their lives and situations are not normally a given. The length of these films often varies, and can be as short as one minute long and as long as thirty minutes. Short films also have the ability to convey a narrative by image and locations instead of the story being conveyed step by step. They often tell stories and contain strong morals but are often used to "push boundaries" and to convey ideas and concepts that are not often portrayed in mainstream cinema. Short Films are to focus upon the imagery, creativity and theme of the film and to convey this to the audience.