What is a short film? Purposes and Themes.

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". Budget wise, short films are on the opposite scale to feature length films, for example, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1 & 2 together cost £250 million pounds whereas due to its length, a feature film usually has a low budget, and can often be self funded or sponsored.

A short film will always have a particular purpose, whether that be to educate, entertain, to promote ones self or to enter it into a  local, national or international film festival. Alongside purpose comes themes and genres. Short films can target much more controversial and specific themes compared to a feature length film. For example, it would be hard to create a chick flick with a running time of 5 minutes that would cover a full story, however, a short film could cover a genre or specific topic that would be hard to drag on for a 2 hour film, like in the film "Sold" which revolves around teleshopping. 

An example of a short film created for educational purposes is "Famous Last Words", directed by Avril Evans. The purpose of this film is to educate the public on Muslims and to rid the religion of the stereotypes created after the 7/7 bombings in London. This is achieved by following a young Muslim girls journey on public transport, the film is purposely subjective which allows stereotypes to be broken down. The theme of this short film is stereotypes, but also hope. Hope that one day, everyone will be perceived as equal.

Disney Pixar creates many short films purely for entertainment purposes, it is not needed for self promotion as they are already one of the most established film animation companies in the world. When buying a feature length DVD of a Disney Pixar movie, a Disney Pixar Short is usually on the disk as well. The short films can be spin off of other Disney Pixar films, or simply a whole new idea added on for enjoyment purposes. The themes of these short films are usually light hearted.

"Sold", the film I mentioned earlier was created for self promotion whilst the director, Nadia Attia was busy completing a degree in short films. It was made to test out ideas, as well as get her name out there in the film industry. The themes of this short film touched on the disenfranchised youth, connoted by the lazy manner of the young man in the film, with no job or ladle. It also represents the lack of community in this day and age, it shows neighbours not opening doors when others knock, and only having brief, awkward conversations. Finally, the film also focuses on the consumer bases society that we now live in. These days you can buy everything online or via teleshopping and the film is showing how this may be effecting are willingness to leave the house and get a job and how it may be corrupting out social skills.

Short films don't usually have a beginning, middle and an end as there is simply not enough time. Short films can be left unresolved to create dramatic effect.