Though I wrote a short during my first module, I haven’t reflected much upon my own feelings towards short filmmaking . Personally, I’m a huge fan of stories told in a sharp, snappy way. While some struggle to get invested in a film told in under 30 minutes, preferring long form storytelling, I personally think short films require writers to be clever and efficient. Not a second can be wasted, and every moment must be mined for comedy/tragedy/scares/weirdness.
Often allowing for more experimentation and creativity than features, short films can be whatever the creator wants them to be. One of my favourite shorts, Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road, is a darkly funny monologue filmed in one take, while Simon Ellis’ Talking Lies mixes audio drama and animation in its depiction of a frantic man’s phone conversations. Many of these shorts follow three act structure and fit with genre conventions we see in feature films, but with a shorter runtime and less commercial pressure, writers have much more freedom to try new things.
Many feel that films are less emotionally effective with less time to play with. However, short films can be incredibly direct and precise, knowing exactly how to affect you and get their point across. My favourite short film is Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow, a 16-minute animation about a young girl’s meeting with a future clone of herself. While it’s hilarious and beautifully animated, World of Tomorrow also tackles big philosophical ideas about happiness and what it means to be human. Despite its short runtime, the film is incredibly moving and insightful about human existence. Just because a film is short doesn’t mean it has to be unambitious or small. Whether it’s 90 minutes or 9 minutes, great writing is great writing, and you shouldn’t be afraid to think big.
–Harry Ford
Harry Ford - Comedian 