An Exciting &
Original Idea
A Strong Script
High Production Values
Make It Short
Strong Beginning
Avoid Repetition & Punchline Twists
Exciting New Techniques & Style
There are no hard and fast rules as to
what makes a good short; as with features, different audiences love different
films and an award-winner in one viewer's eyes will be a dull cliché in
another's. Obviously there is an element of subjectivity to any short film
programme as different exhibitors will set their own criteria as to what they
think makes a good short, which they feel their audience will enjoy. Whilst
this can be frustrating for filmmakers it isn't necessarily a bad thing, as,
what one exhibitor rejects another will love and promote – so it is important
not to get disheartened by rejection. In many ways it is an exciting time to be
making shorts in the UK as there are wealth of different festivals, screening
organisations, websites and content providers looking for short films to
exhibit. Our advice would be to submit your film to as many places as possible
However, having said that, here are a
few basic tips for what exhibitors might look for in a good short film
An Exciting &
Original Idea
Original ideas are not
easy to come-by but a good way of avoiding clichéd ideas is to watch lots of
other short films, look out for any trends and stay clear of them for
places to watch shorts). Even if your idea isn't completely original try to
look at the subject matter from a different angle or using a different
style/technique. If you're struggling for ideas, you could try to find
inspiration in your experiences or those of the people that you meet or through
the stories that you read in newspapers, magazines and online.
A Strong Script
A good script is key to
narrative-based short films and in many ways it's harder to write a short than
a feature because you need to condense your story and develop your characters
in a very short space of time. All too often films are let down by weak,
overwritten or underdeveloped scripts. Before investing money, time and effort
into shooting your film, it's a good idea to test your script out on friends
and strangers (as friends might fear offending you) and get as much feedback as
you can. See ourFilmmaking Guide: Writing a
Script for more advice
& ourRelated Links: Writing for scriptwriting
organisations, resources and communities. If you write and direct your own
films, it's a good idea to consider where your strengths lie. It's great if you
can do both but if you think you're stronger at direction/animation then why
not consider collaborating with a talented scriptwriter and see what results
come of it?
The reason that
this must be exciting is so that people do not become bored of watching
the short film and it must be an original idea otherwise people will feel
as if they have watched it before so then they will lose interest and they
will not want to watch it.
There should be a strong script so that people are able to understand what they are watching. Also so that they want to watch more of the film. When there is a boring script people tend to become distracted and lose interest in what they are watching so the reason that these four things are very important in a short film.
No comments:
Post a Comment