What is a Short Film?

 According to the Oscars, a short film is any film that is under 40 minutes in length including credits, however I believe that this may in fact be too long for such a project. 

Short films typically constitute of a short, punchy narrative, following a small cast of characters, who are usually portrayed by amateur actors who may not be getting paid. 

However, in contrast to the mainstream, high-budget, and formulaic feature-length films (that don't currently exist due to an unknown virus of unknown origin), short films can be much more experimental, tackling concepts in a bizarre, expressionistic manner, further allowing for show-don't-tell to apply in an incredible meaningful and poignant way.

These short films can also be made by anyone for any purpose, though the outreach of short projects is substantially limited as the people who are most likely to watch them are film fanatics. This also means that short films are usually uploaded to streaming sites (such as YouTube), or in rare cases, being shown as short film festivals, or maybe even uploaded to streaming services (such as HBO max, Netflix, etc.).

This results in my definition of a short film: A film around 10 minutes in length (though it can be longer or shorter), featuring a small cast of characters who traverse a tightly wound plot, exploring simple ideas in an experimental manner that challenges the various conventions of mainstream films.

Due to the nature of short films as I have explored above, I see this project as an opportunity to challenge some of these conventions, specifically regarding a character arc, as I believe that it is more than possible to deliver a concise, character driven plot that explores the protagonist in great detail.

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