What is a short film?

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered as a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits"

But what is a feature film? A feature film is a film that is long enough to be screened in a cinema.

A short film normally is around five minutes long, which explains the "short" part. People that strongly have a passion towards the art of film making would appreciate short film due to way in which a short film is presented. The clever thing about a short film would be how well it engages its audience. A short film must engage the audience in very little time due to the story being very short.
A feature film has plenty of time to allow the audience to slowly engage into the film and gain understanding of the story, however in a short film the story is very short so it is vital that you engage the audience straight away.

The key thing about a short film is to make it interesting for the audience. A key feature is to make the audience wonder from the start what it is about. The more curious the audience are about the story the better the start of the film will be.

One thing that an audience can engage very well to would be scenarios that they can relate to. Like a feature film a real location should be chosen. You should not think that because a short film is a lot cheaper than a feature film you do not have to have a real location, because in fact the location is very important. If your short film is based on a real life scenario, the location must be parallel to the story line. For example, if your short film was about Teen-age life, you would not make the location an old peoples home.

A short film must be appealing to the audience, high definition is key when producing a short film due to it being easy on the eye for the audience. If the short film is happy, bight colors should be chosen to go with the story, if the story is sad then dark, gloomy colors should be chosen.

Characters? The actors in short film should be realistically the same level of acting as a feature film, if not better. The better the acting and the better the actor suits the role, the more engaged the audience will be whilst watching the short film.

The shorter the film the better. Mainly due to the shorter the film the cheaper it will be to produce. Key thing to remember is do not drag out scenes like a feature film would. Sometimes in a feature film the audience could get bored of a scene that drags out. If you have a scene that drags out in a short film that is only a little part of the story, you could lose the engagement of the audience.

The more unique the short film the better. If the audience see a story that can be related to one that is already produced, they could lose interest in the film. However, is they see a whole new story line,
first times for people are when they are the most engaged so bare that in mind. rea

Finally, always try to tell a compelling story when creating a short film. A story that will make the audience think is always great because when the audience thinks about a certain scene they will always wonder whats coming next.