HISTORY OF SHORT FILMS

Short films first started in the 1910’s in the United States and where shot animated or live in action. In the beginning, all films were short which has a clear beginning, middle and end and it usually less than 40 minutes, But as the 20th century dawned, films began to get longer.

 In the 1995 short films became very popular due to Charlie Chaplin who stated to make short comedy films. In the early years of film production, all films were short and features length production developed as the cinema industry became established, with purpose built venues and complete film programmes. Emerging from the music hall tradition, the pre-1920s silent era programme was full of short items, from newsreels to adventure serials, comedy to natural history, cine-magazines to dramas. But as the silent era progressed, the major studios increasingly favored feature production.

The cinema programme changed accordingly, relegating shorter films to the status of supporting items in the programme. Many short films are made to make people laugh or get a serious message across. However nowadays in the 20^th centry short films are not as popular as they was before and are usually shown in film festivals and the internet as they are usually low budget films made by independent directors.

7 key rules for writing a short film

-The shorter the better to keep the audience engaged

-Make it Visual so it is appealing and attracting

-Tell a story, so must include a beginning, middle and end and have a clear structure.

-Engage the reader so they don’t get bored

-Beware of clichés
-Keep the practicalities of writing in mind
  
These key rules are helpful and useful to me as I will consider all these aspects of what makes a good short film and apply to when I create my own short film. The research also helped me understand how even though in the 20th century short films are not common as they was before and many short films was made to portray a message or made for comedy. This means that when making my own film I will try and grab the audience attention by leaving a message to the film.

Sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7593291/The-long-history-of-short-films.html

http://www.slideshare.net/mo_1995_21/what-is-a-short-film-and-brief-history- This source may not be as reliable as it was done by a student on Slideshare and the student formed the presentation from the information they gathered so all of it may not be reliable.

Examples of short films in the 20th century!