A Comprehensive Study Guide on Short Films
Short Film Definitions and Perceptions
Responses from Waikato Polytechnic Students in Hamilton, New Zealand, define short film as:
An idea lasting 2-15 minutes.
A simple, self-contained story with minimal character development and few characters.
A concise communication of ideas with no unnecessary information.
Similar to a short story, sometimes with a surprise ending.
An intense piece dealing directly with one idea.
An expression of an idea on a shorter scale, often abstract and complete in itself.
Issues of Quality and Value
The central question is: what makes one short film better than another? A secondary question arises: why are short films made at all? Addressing short film as a cultural practice shifts the focus.
Perspectives from Professionals
Stephen McGlashan notes the diversity of short film definitions.
Professionals often define short film in relation to feature films.
Newcomers or those with experimental interests focus on the short film's function.
Students emphasize the concise expression of ideas.
Mainstream individuals define short film by what it lacks, while others see it as a unique practice.
Film Commission's Agenda
The Film Commission aims to:
Encourage short film production as independent entities.
Develop creative talent for feature filmmaking.
Attitudes toward short film vary between viewing it as a distinct form and a stepping stone.
What constitutes a "good" short film differs based on its role.
Short Film as Apprenticeship
Cooper and Dancyger state the commercial viability of short films is limited, serving mainly as an apprenticeship phase in countries with public subsidies.
Directors' Aspirations
Directors who made Film Commission-financed short films aspire to make feature films.
Short film is often a transitional stage to feature films.
Creative Talent Development
Catherine Fitzgerald explains short film develops creative talent through:
Professional environment experience.
Attracting international interest.
Christina Milligan notes short films serve as a "calling-card" to display artistic, technical, and storytelling skills.
Pressures on Filmmakers
Filmmakers may feel pressures to create certain types of short films that go beyond telling stories.
Judging Short Films
Short films can be judged on:
Narrative texts, aesthetic structures, motifs, themes, images, and ideologies.
Effectiveness in securing future funding for features.
Extra-textual pressures shape short films.
Collaborative Practice
Filmmaking involves relationships between:
Producers, directors, actors, and crew.
Politicians, funders, processors, agents, marketers, distributors, festival organizers, programme managers, accountants, students, audiences, critics, and academics.
Analysing these relationships reveals how short films are shaped and valued.
Contexts and Processes
Relationships operate within contexts influencing decisions.
Formal and Informal Relations
Relationships are determined by structural, discursive, economic, and personal alliances.
Formal alignments are dictated by rules, such as the relationship between a producer and the Short Film Fund.
Informal relations aim to expedite formal relationships through cultural kudos, media exposure, and networking.
Short Film as Currency
Short film practices are part of complex cultural relationships; the short film is always evolving.
Short film acts as a form of currency in an economy of exchange, influencing the types of films made and their valuation.
Strategic Alignments
Many short films are not simply for public viewing but are an investment to establish strategic alignments.
Successful alignments lead to legitimization, shaping discourses and structures in film culture.
Short Films as Calling-Cards
Short films are often used by directors to showcase their abilities, resulting in a spectacle of style and high production values.
This is a future-oriented strategy.
Gregor Nicholas's short film enhanced his ability to make a feature film.
Impact on Crew Members
Simon Raby suggests that the experience may not be positive for crew members.
Short film making allows fledgling crew to gain experience, but industry professionals often work for reduced rates as a form of philanthropy.
Currency Exchange
Crew members hope directors will take them to bigger projects, but first-time directors may abandon them.
Budgeting Issues
Careful attention to budgeting is needed, but short film offers no financial reward, so producers aim to create impressive calling cards.
Valuable Experience
Andrew Bancroft expresses reservations about the merits of his short film experience.
Skills learned in short film may not fully translate to feature film making, as short film is more visual than dramatic.
Production Values vs. Experience
Bruce Sheridan questions the value of films with high production values that lack adequate feature film experience.
Overseas distributors prefer directors with television experience over short film makers due to concerns about lack of experience.
Short films can be "good" for directors but not necessarily for crew or future feature film experience.
Perspectives on "Good" Short Films
Perspectives on what makes a short film "good" depend on individual roles and contexts.
Influences on Short Film
Economic and political forces (funding regimes, commercial opportunities) and grassroots efforts (teaching, networking, experiments) shape short films.
Future of Short Film
Digital technologies and the Internet offer new formats, audiences, and narrative possibilities.
Conclusion
Everyone is implicated in the value of short fiction films.
Inclusive research, audience engagement, and critical analysis are needed.
Academics should contribute to shaping films through research on policies, financing, production, and marketing.
Collaboration is key.
You Should Watch Short Film Forever by Dean Buckley
The Nature of Short Films
Short films lack a significant constituency in popular culture, making it difficult to discuss them without extensive explanations.
A common view of short films is that they are either Very Important Movies About Very Important Issues or pretentious film school nonsense.
Accessibility and Production
Short films are highly accessible due to low production barriers: a camera, editing software, and time.
Most phones have powerful cameras, and free editing software is widely available.
Challenges and Reputation
Despite the ease of production, the glut of bad short films has tainted the medium's reputation.
Commercial Interests
Unlike novels, short films lack significant commercial backing and formal distribution infrastructure.
Guides and Distribution
Finding quality short films relies on critics and enthusiasts, but access is limited due to distribution challenges.
Watching short films often depends on free uploads of varying quality.
Why Short Films Are Loved
Short films are loved because they are films, excelling at:
Compression and crystallizing feelings.
Focusing on basic craft and details.
Tracing feelings without strict narrative.
Passion for Movies
The true reason for loving short films is a deep passion for movies, encompassing diverse stories, perspectives, and experiences.
A Call to Inclusivity
Excluding short films from one's film diet seems absurd, as the magic of cinema doesn't fade with shorter lengths.
Featured Short Films
Steamboat Willie (1928)
A classic and humorous film that represents the birth of cinema, filled with whimsical gags.
Regen (1929)
A "city symphony" that portrays Amsterdam through the arrival and departure of rainfall, creating a soothing visual experience.
It's a Bird (1930)
A comedy starring Charley Bowers as a scrapyard worker who captures a metal-eating bird made with impressive claymation effects.
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (1936)
A Fleischer Studios short known for its classic humor and richly textured, colorful model sets.
An Optical Poem (1938)
An abstract animation by Oskar Fischinger that visualizes music with brightly colored paper cut-outs, creating a lively explosion of light.
The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
UPA short film adapted from Poe, depicting the killer’s descent into madness through visual inner monologues and gothic style.
Emotion (1966)
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s film about young schoolfriends, featuring frenetic editing, bilingual narrations, and surreal elements, including a vampire.
The Glass Harmonica (1968)
Russian animation about an oppressed town and an inventor with a glass harmonica, censored for its anticapitalist and anti-censorship themes.
Jabberwocky (1971)
Jan Švankmajer's stop-motion film set to Lewis Carroll's verse, featuring living objects in a wild and rebellious atmosphere.
The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa (1977)
Caroline Leaf’s adaptation of Kafka’s story, animated with sand on glass, creating fluid and dreamlike visuals.
The Case of the Spiral Staircase (1981)
Abstract animation that deconstructs traditional rules to play with perceptions through the motion of a woman walking down spiral stairs.
Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions (1991)
Henry Selick’s surreal animated short about a man teleported into a 2-D world to save Polaroid locals from flying scissors.
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience (2019)
The Lonely Island’s parody of visual albums, focused on disgraced baseball players José Canseco and Mark McGwire.
What Did Jack Do? (2020)
David Lynch’s short film featuring a detective interrogating a monkey, blending noir tribute with surreal and sweet elements.
What’s at Stake in the Takeover of Cahiers du Cinéma By Richard Brody
Overview of Cahiers du Cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is a French monthly magazine founded in 1951 that has been a crucial part of film history.
It introduced the concept of the "auteur", recognized Hollywood filmmakers as artists, and launched the French New Wave.
The magazine was sold to a consortium of French businesspeople and firms, including movie producers, leading to the resignation of its editorial staff.
The staff cited conflicts of interest due to the presence of producers among the owners and disagreements over political articles.
Content and Style of Cahiers
Cahiers balances French cinema and world cinema, the art and economy of filmmaking, politics of images, and prominent and hidden histories of cinema.
It is known for its advocacy and polemics, maintained through high-quality writing and reporting.
The magazine often operates against the mainstream of French cinema, which has caused tension with the new owners.
Concerns of the New Owners
The new owners plan to shift the magazine's direction, aiming to regain its "standing" with a new layout and heavier stock.
They intend to reconnect with the magazine’s tradition of openness, debate, and partnerships and consider collaborations with the Cannes festival and cinema institutions.
The new owners want Cahiers to recover its central place in French auteur cinema, inviting French directors to write for and be featured in the magazine.
Critique of the New Direction
This plan could turn Cahiers into a promotional magazine for the artistic mainstream of French cinema, betraying its past.
Historical Context
Cahiers was founded under the guidance of André Bazin and was energized by a new spirit in French cinema.
Éric Rohmer brought in young critics like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Jacques Rivette.
Truffaut’s essay, "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," critiqued the French movie industry and promoted the auteur’s cinema.
Truffaut denounced the “tradition of quality” and envisioned no “peaceful coexistence” of that cinema and the “auteur’s cinema.”
Truffaut's article made him famous and led to his hiring by Arts Spectacles, where he continued his critiques.
The rise of the New Wave established an alternative canon, including Hollywood directors like Hitchcock and Hawks.
Paradox of the New Wave
The rise of the New Wave led to a new orthodoxy, with the government fostering successors to these directors.
Many successors were slotted into prevailing production systems, affecting their work.
The channeling of aspirants through La Fémis has further contributed to this crisis.
The new owners of Cahiers may be hoping to boost this new officialdom.
Past Conflicts and Changes
Cahiers has experienced conflicts, changes in ownership, and shifts in editorial points of view.
Truffaut’s financial investment in the magazine led to conflicts of interest and personal acrimony.
The founding financier, Léonide Keigel, was a film distributor but a small player in the business.
Current Concerns
The new management includes powerful players in the film business, giving the takeover a hostile air.
The legacy of Cahiers is complex, and the new owners’ plans clash with its traditions and ideals.
Partnerships with the Cannes festival and film schools would betray past and present critiques.
Delorme expressed that the mere presence of producers compromises reviews, risking favoritism or settling of scores.
The original legacy of Cahiers, blending Bazin's theoretical approach with Truffaut's critical gesture, is threatened.
Conclusion
The changes at Cahiers threaten an entire emotional world and a dynamic experience of movies.