The Conventions of a Short FilmJaymelousie Hudspith

Characters

Due to the length of a short film there is not enough time to create a deep backstory or history for each of the characters. Therefore, in order to avoid this we limit a short story to two or three main characters at most and in turn allowing the audience to create bonds with the few characters.

Plot Twist

As a general rule, short films almost always contain a plot twist to their storyline in order to make the story more interesting in a short time period, since they are generally not long enough to create san in depth plot that interests the audience without a plot twist of some kind.

Budget

Short films predominantly have low budgets, this can be due to having an independent director without studio funding; or in small cases they are an amateur film production. In order to keep the film budget low they will typically choose as few locations as possible, and keeping the cast as few as possible too. In many cases the actors will work for free to gain publicity and because it is a passion of theirs.

Length

Short films are named due to their unusually short length, typically lasting a maximum of 35 minutes. Usually a short film will be approximately 5-10 in order to live up to their names and not become a feature length title.

Situation

A short film will generally take on a everyday scenario that most people can relate to, accept they add a plot twist to turn the story around and to keep the audience interested.