Great Ideas For A Successful Short Film

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Short films are an incredibly diverse art form that have seen a massive explosion in popularity over the last few decades. With improved digital technology, more affordable camera equipment and easier ways to promote your own work; there’s never been a better time to make a short film!

You can make a short film about anything that inspires you or might bring a new perspective to your audience. You can create a short film on a very low budget that still has a powerful impact on the viewer if you have a great script and use the equipment you have available in a smart way.

How long should a short film be?

A short film can be almost any length but as a general rule of thumb it should be no shorter than 15-20 seconds and not much longer than 45 minutes. If you’re just starting out then it can be tempting to be over ambitious however keeping your film short, simple and to the point will give you the best results and let you focus on the film’s quality rather than the length of the project. In some cases, particularly if your budget is tight, then keeping the film shorter will avoid it looking amateurish and low budget.

In most film festivals short films are between 5-10 minutes. This gives you plenty of time to set the scene, build up the characters and plot of the story and the end with an impactful conclusion.

Short Film Ideas.

When you’re planning to create a short film there are so many potential ideas that you could pursue that it can be difficult to even know where to start! When you’re trying to decide on the topic of your film you should start with some broad brainstorming exercises.

Try Some Brainstorming!

• Start with the ending. If you have a great idea for a powerful ending for your film then you can work backwards with the script to create a build up that makes your ending as memorable as possible.

• Work in a group and throw out any ideas that come to you. Write them all down on a few pieces of paper and then take it in turns to suggest ways to bring each idea to life. For some of the ideas you’ll find that your creative juices are flowing and you’re getting some great inspirations. For other things that you’ve written down you may draw a complete blank in which case you can scratch them off the list.

10 Short Film Ideas to Get Your Creativity Flowing.

• Take inspiration from your favorite movie or book. You can get fantastic ideas from other people’s work without copying or plagiarizing them.

• Base your film on a real life story or events that happened in your own life or the lives of people you know and then put them on the silver screen! Short documentary films are extremely popular online and regularly do well in film festivals. The possibilities are endless and so you’ll want to tell a story that has a personal meaning to you to get the best finished results.

• The hero’s journey. This is one of the oldest plot techniques on Earth and tracks the arc of a hero as they develop as a character or face difficult challenges. This is a universal plot that has great appeal and is a broad category to work within.

• A road trip short film is a good topic to start planning a project around. You could choose to focus on the individuals on the road trip while filming the landscape unfold around them. The landscapes and scenery can be used to express the inner emotional states of the characters in the film.

• Have you ever wanted to make a horror film? Short films are a great medium for creating amazing horror films that can be made on a very low budget. An infamous example of a low budget horror movie that enjoyed massive success is the Blair Witch Project and despite its financial limitations the plot and clever camera work made it feel like a professional Blockbuster.

• Coming of age stories give you the opportunity to explore the emotional and psychological hurdles that people overcome as they grow up or go through in their own personal development.

• A short film is often used to express a dystopian science fiction concept and if this is a genre that you’re interested in then you should certainly consider trying it for yourself. You’ll need a strong plot with a surprising twist to get the best results with your audience.

• Surrealistic abstract art house films work well in shorter formats. You can take inspiration from past masters such as Salvador Dali who made several bizarre short films that are still top of many surrealist enthusiasts’ film lists!

• Urban exploration is a new and growing genre of film making. If it’s safe to do so you can explore the hidden, forgotten and run down places in your city to find locations where an unusual short film could be made. The 2000 film Dark Days, produced and filmed by Marc Singer, explores the lives of the homeless community living beneath the streets of New York in amongst the subway tunnels and went on to become a cult classic!

• Comedy is one of the best genres to work in when you are creating a short film. Comedy films are famously low budget because it’s the plot and the characters that will carry it for you. You can shoot a comedy film with your friends almost anywhere you have access to, all you need is an imaginative script!

Silent Short Films vs Short Films with Narration and other Audio?

When you’re deciding on the type of short film you are going to make you need to think about the audio. Do you want to create a silent film or one with narration, characters talking or a musical soundtrack?

Certain genres are more suited to silent films. Artistic, minimalist or surrealist short films can often work better if they are silent. Other genres, such as science fiction, documentary and plot based dramas will require narration or speech throughout to carry the plot.

How to Promote a Short Film?

Once you have made your short film you will need to find ways to promote it so that your work can have the biggest possible audience and garner the widest public exposure.

If you’re willing and able to spend some serious money you can take on the services of a film agency to promote your film to their contacts and networks. This will not be cheap and if you want to work to a smaller budget then there are many ways that you can promote your own work.

Promoting a Short Film on a Budget.

If you are proactive and willing to go it alone then there are a few things you need to get done before you can start promoting your film. One of the first things that you need to do once you have created a short film is to create a platform where you can begin to promote it. There are two main ways that you can do this without spending a great deal of money while still being able to reach a huge potential audience.

• Create a Website: Building a dedicated website for your short film will make it seem more professional and can be used to promote your work on other platforms. Your website can also be used to let your audience know where they can see it and about any future projects you have in the pipeline. You can build a mailing list with your website as well as sell tickets for your film’s screenings.

• Social Media: In the modern world the power of social media cannot be underestimated and if you are promoting your short film you will not want to miss out on the reach and opportunities that it affords. When you’re using social media to promote your film you should make a dedicated page or group where you can post updates and much more to draw interested fans to your work. Once you have a profile on social media you can target specific demographics and rapidly build up awareness for your work.

5 Ways That You can Promote Your Short Film.

• Create a short trailer: Once your short film is made then you’ll want to put together a trailer that will capture the interest of audiences. This can be used like a flyer on social media to promote upcoming screenings and help to drive ticket sales. When you’re making a trailer you want to keep it very short, between 20 seconds and a minute at most making sure to include cliff hangers and suspenseful moments that will make people want to see more.

• Apply to Film Festivals: One way to supercharge your film career is to get accepted into a film festival. Film festivals attract people who are passionate about film but they also bring the attention of industry professionals and people who might be able to take your film to the next level! You’ll also get some priceless feedback after your screening.

• Submit Your Work to Film Websites: There are plenty of websites that focus on film and if you want to grow your audience you could consider submitting your work to them. If the website owners like your work they may well write up an article about the film and show it on their site. This method can really help to put your name on the map and drive more traffic to your other work.

• Put on a Private Screening: You can screen your film anywhere you like! You could rent a unique venue and screen your film for a small, ticket paying audience. You can make the event more special with canopies of tasty snacks, free drinks and a talk about your film at the end. This will create a wonderful experience for your audience and let you tell them more about the process, your creative vision and even the obstacles that you had to overcome to make your film a reality.

• Press Release: Write up a press release for your film that gives people an idea of what it’s about, why they should watch it and where it will be screened. A press release should be fairly short and to the point but cover all the main information. Once you have written your press release you can send it to your local newspapers, national press and even TV channels that might be interested. They will then promote your work for you!

Short Films are an Excellent Way to Promote Yourself and Your Unique Talents.

Making a short film is a fantastic experience that allows you to express your creative vision in a tightly condensed format. Short films are extremely popular on the internet and at film festivals which means that you can get a big audience for your work. This will not only be a satisfying conclusion to all the effort that you put into making the film but it will also make people aware of other projects and work you are involved in.

Have you ever created a short film?

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