What is a Short Film?

A short film can be defined as something different for every person, but are generally the same. It is a film that tells an important narrative that possibly has a deep meaning or message.It is a film that does not need to follow any set codes or conventions, and is free to have more challenging themes which has a running time of less than 30 minutes. A short film is very different to a feature length film for many different reasons. Firstly, the budget is usually very small and is either self-funded

or funded by a council, for example Cubs by Tom Harper is funded by the UK film council. Also, the actors used in these short films are generally untrained, and will often come from a local drama club, where the age is approximately 16-25. There will not be any A-list actors in a short film, unless the director knew an actor very well. Furthermore, these short films are rarely profit orientated, so the distribution techniques are very different to those for a feature length film. Short films are generally shown on internet sites, such as YouTube and BBC Film Network. These films are also shown on either specialist or public service TV Channels; however, short films are rarely watched on TV because they are on at such a late time. Lastly, quite a lot of short films are shown at film festivals for self promotion.