History of Short Films

1. Short films are important in cinema history and that is where the directors would start of their careers.

2. Short films predate feature length production and have been the form of choice for films as diverse as cartoons for example.

3. Short films are difficult to summarise due to diversity and the variation in length but there is still common ground. Traits of short films include the drive to be succinct, the opportunity for technical and formal innovation and the potential to influence and revitalise the mainstream industry.

4. Feature length production developed as the cinema industry established such as the spread of venues.

5. As cinema films develop, they become feature roles and supporting items. They have a long life by sponsoring film making. Information films, cine magazines with blockbusters (short films) are pretty much adverts in comparison.

6. The television and internet mean short films are more mainstream but still not that mainstream, however there is some examples that exclude this such as 'Wallace and Gromit'.

7. Short films are more popular on the internet but must work hard to be seen any other way besides distractions. They thrive through advertising, pop videos and electronic media.

8. Unpopularity is misleading in short films although it is in comparison popular in the film industry especially as it is considered training for the producers and directors.

9. In their drive for clarity and brevity, short films also try to use admired structured skills.

10. Short films have less pressure on their production due to them having less consequences, particularly money and careers. This could be due to them being so short that not much is going on in the scenes, usually something basic with amateur actors (this links to it not affecting their career as there are not as many views) thus the reason on it being cheaper than an hour and a half rom-com. If this rom-com is a failure from it not making a lot of money for the box office, it is a disaster, yet if the short film is a failure it doesnt affect the box office as much thus meaning that the producers can be more creative. They are considered as a more democratic form and the UK has a strong reputation for caring for these makers.

11. Filmmakers have been in constant training and short films are usually the products that first emerge but other (amateur) filmmakers have had the opportunity to experiment.

12. Short films have the opportunity to be new and creative, to challenge the norm of society. However they are usually unsuccessful, they dont find new ways to produce short films but follow what the audience want.

13. Short films develop new talent but there is a loss of creativity as they (short films) are used more as calling cards displaying skills.

14. In the digital age, the ease of creativity in films has led to a high number of low quality films as the producers have lost the ability to challenge typical conventions of modern films.

15. Contemporary film making in short films help to resist generalisation through the diversity of short forms, despite offering potential for innovation they are restricted by sponsors, funding and commissioning bodies.

16. Filmmaking can be read as an index of British film culture.