Codes, Conventions and Patterns in Short Films by Rudi

Codes, Conventions and Patterns in Short Films by Rudi

Short Film- A film that is not long enough to be considered a full-length feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as an original motion picture with a running time of 40 minutes or less.

OPENINGS

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.