Short Film Audience

Short Film doesn't have a target audience as a whole, as it depends on the actual length, the genre, the director and themes. Generally, institutionally wise many short films have a target audience of big time producers and directors as they want those directors to like the short film in order to get the short film director recognised.

Though obvious, dedicated fans of short film are also a target audience as they would be more likely to keep updated with film festivals (before the existence of the Internet where the majority of people watch short movies from) therefore they are targeted as important audience. However, with the new technology of the Internet short films were suddenly opened up to a much wider audience as it decreased distribution price and increased the amount of people the films were available to through sites such as YouTube.com.

Continuing on with the new technology aiding the widening of Short Film audience there are a few reasons/factors that play a part in it. Firstly, as mentioned before the distribution prices allow directors of the films to distribute their films on a more global scale rather than a local limited scale such as film festivals etc. It allows audiences to access and view the short films and opens them up to audiences who were not even the initial target audience but still enjoy it and may share it through social networking sites allowing directors to be better recognised.

After viewing a few short films the target audiences were not as easily recognised as through mainstream films as there is a shorter space to work with. For example, the short film "Double Take" by Toa Stappard was targeted at mainly youths/young adults in Britain which is recognised by the main character being a young adult Brit who was unemployed and living alone: something that most of Britain can relate to.

The Short Film "Veronique" by Patrik Bergh is about a school boy's journey to school for a certain amount of days and the way that a "romance" can form but the youth is emphasized by the "love" fading away speedily. The target audience for this short film seems to be British teenagers as they can relate however it can also be targeted at the older generation in Britain as it is a feel-good film which could bring back childhood memories for the older generation.

BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) certificates have an affect on potential audiences for short films for many reasons. Firstly, due to the fact that a short film at present are viewed on the Internet majorly, it means that they are not advised to have a certification of 18 as it would limit the amount of audience available to view them as Internet sites such as YouTube have safety features which means there has to be proof of age in order to follow legal rights. However the same way people who are not legally allowed to view such films may find a way when it is over the Internet therefore it is not recommended or safe to have such a certificate./Another way the BBFC affects potential audiences for short films is by choosing the correct certification for the genre in order to bring in more audiences e.g. if the director wants to make a thriller/action short film, have a U certification would undermine it and therefore put off potential audiences as they would feel there clearly isn't enough content that would entertain them. Therfore when it comes to my group aiming for a certain certification we have to smart in order for it to not push away our target audience and if anything bring a wider audience in such as having a 12 or 15 certification to hook a young audience as well as young adults as they are the ones who my group and I would mostly relate to therefore would be able to create a more effective and successful short film.