Basic Information for a Short Film

What You Need to Know about A Short Film:

Characters:

• Short Films tend to stick to 3-4 main characters, this is because being 'short', short films dont have time to create deep back story or history for characters, therefore character numbers must be kept low to allow the viewer to relate to the characters in the small amount of time.

Length Of time:

• The max length for a short film is 35minutes, the typical time is between 5-10 minutes, if tihey were any longer they wouldnt be classed as short.

Twist:

• Short films nearly always contain a twist, thie reason for twistiing the storyline is to make the short film more interesting as they are short, without one the short film would be uninteresting.

Budget:

• Short Films typically have a low budget. This is based on the fact that most Short Film directors are independent without the sufficient backing in terms of funding. They keep there budget down by sticking to one or two locations and only using 1-4 actors. having such a Short Film allows costs to be little to nothing in some departments as some actors will work for free if they really like the storyline.

Situation:

• Short Films usually take an everyday situation that we can all relate to and then flip it on its head in some way.This allows the viewer to relate to the Short Film, but at the same time intriguing the viewer

TODOROV:

• Tordorov's theory of equilibrium is typically applied to Short Films.
• Equilibrium- Everything is normal
• Disequilibrium- A problem occurs
• New Equilibrium- Problem is solved, Everything is back to normal; However a change is noticeable