Short films and new filmmakers

Why are short films a good thing for new filmmakers:
I think that because short films are more accessible for anyone to make, it would be easier for new filmmakers to stand out and to experiment before moving on to making big feature films. Furthermore, short film budgets are much smaller as there is simple editing involved with not many special effects, whereas with big blockbuster movies the budgets are much larger, ones that only an experienced and well-known filmmaker would be able to get. It also helps that the length of the film is short so it doesn't add too many complications - its a good way for new filmmakers to practice, gain more experience and to become more confident in filmmaking before becoming serious with making more time-consuming feature films.

Definition of a Short Film

What is a short film?
I think that any motion film that is about 40 minutes or less - so not long enough for a feature film - can be classified as a short film. The rest of the features that define a film, such as special effects, actors/ actresses, music etc. are not really as a bi importance to the definition of a short film, the main difference to compare a feature film and a short film is purely its length. Obviously,the budget is also important as no short film will be able to compete with the large budgets that blockbuster films bring to the film industry, but it is not as a big identifier like the length of the film.

Response to Coursework

For my Film Studies A-level coursework, we had the decision to either write a screenplay for a documentary, or to actually film your own documentary. Personally I liked the idea of have a choice, but at the moment I haven't yet decided which one I will do.
It was interesting that the type of film that was chosen to do was a documentary because if it was up to me, a documentary would probably be my last option, only because I am was not very familiar with them until we were doing it in Film Studies. However, I think that this is a good thing due to the fact I will learn new skills and knowledge from the coursework.

Discovering a short film

I found this horror short film called 'Don't Look Away' which was a finalist in the Annual Cinema Los Angeles Film Festival, 2018.

It's not exactly an inspiring short film, being only 9 minutes long, but I liked it because it was intriguing and it has a storyline that could be expanded into a full length film. I came across it when I was just looking through YouTube, so its a good short film just to entertain you during your spare time.

First Post

Hey, this is my first blog post on my Film Studies A-level coursework.


I will be blogging about my progress of a short film that I either will be filming or writing a screenplay of. It will contain my opinion and feedback on certain short films I will watch throughout the process, as well as any work that I have done to go towards my final outcome.