Short Films Research: Purpose

The purposes of a short film:
There are many different purposes as to why short films are being produced, however there are three main purposes: they can be for education, for promotion or for experimentation.

A short film can be used to give the audience of a mainstream film insight into the story line, if proven sucsessful it can opne oppertunities for directors and become a feature length film. An example of this is 'Alive in Joburg' a short film by Neil Blomkamp PUT LINK HERE. It was entered into film festivals and acted as a sort of 'pilot' for Blomkamp to be commissioned by major film studios to make the full length films 'Halo' and, in particular, 'District 9'.

Short films promote directors therefore enabling them to become well known and perhaps persue a career in film direction if they are sucesful enough to be commissioned for bigger film projects. Short films are often circulated at film festivals or increasingly these days, distributed via video sharing sites such as youtube/facebook/Bebo.

Through experimenting with producing short films, amature film makers are allowing themselves to improve their abilities in film making, it helps to develop thier skills in editing, producing and directing. As a result they are gaining experience through learning from mistakes when editing etc.

Through experimentation, the makers of a short film can promote themselves as well as educate themselves and others, all the while they provide entertainment. The typical circular or three part narrative that a short film can consist of, often leaves the audience with a new equilibrium in which can lead to much debate and discussion. As a result, short films succeed in their purpose; to stimulate discussion. Short films are constructed to present the viewer with an equilibrium, a disequilibrium, recognition (included in what as known as the five part structure) a new equilibruim and possibly a resolution (also part of the five part structure.) Therefore the film will consits of events that may not always be resolved, resulting in the film becoming a somewhat controversial discussion topic for the class room. In doing so, short films are fulfilling their purpose of being educational.

Short films differ massively from mainstream film because thery are cheap and easily made. while a mainstream film could take a long period of time to produce and would have mass amounts of money spent on it, a short film would be cheap and easy to produce. A mainstream film typically consists of well established celebrities and hollywood stars, a short film is a budgeted clip which sole purpose is to raise awareness about a certain issue/ generate a situation to the audience in which they can learn from. Mainstream film is broadcaseted worldwide and in cinema whereas short films are genreally used for young film makers to get their films into film festivals. Contemporary isses such as knife crime, bullying/ peer pressure may be typical themes that run through short films in which are shown in schools today as they are topical and relavant issues for students to discuss in citezenship.
The purpose of a short film can differ depending on the audience it is aimed at. When short films are aimed at teenagers aged 12 to 18, it is generally made to stimulate discussion about issues or to portray moral values that the students can then identify. However if the target audience is that of an older age group, the short films purpose is perhaps to leave the viewer' wanting more.'
Essentially they are made to entertain, short films are cheap and easy to make and easier to get into film festivals for student film makers.