Director: Martin Scorsese

Traditionally film makers have made their way into the business and Hollywood using short films as a sort of calling card. When they are picked up, the larger studios usually approach them. Below I am going to analyse one of Martin Scorsese's short films from when he attended college and have a look at how it got him started.

Director Martin Scorsese got into Hollywood creating short film. He attended the New York University's Film School and created a number of short films. One of these films being "The Big Shave". Scorsese went on to create many blockbuster films from his work with short films, proving that the Hollywood scouting system works.

"The Big Shave" was originally made for a class called Sight & Sound Film that Scorsese attended. The film has a clinical feel to it and has been interpreted as a metaphor for the Vietnam War.

The film is a classic student film, it was cheap to make but it looks incredible. Scorsese knew exactly what he wanted from the film and it really shows. The use of only one scene is quite typical of a student film as it did not demand a large crew of people to move equipment and meant that cost wasn't an object. The film uses a wide range of camera shots and angles to demonstrate and exaggerate the strange behavior the man is displaying.

Admittedly one might start watching this thinking it will be awful as the title doesn't suggest much and the first few scenes, though interesting, don't at all hint at what is to come. The footage becomes quite gruesome about half way through and cover the bathroom in blood red stains, against the clinical white colour this stands out a lot. It could be implying some kind of attack on the mass murdering of Vietnamese soldiers through the use of Agent Orange.

Bibligraphy:
1. Martin Scorsese. (1967). The Big Shave. Available: http://www.youtube.com/v/83i8G6o0quc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0. Last accessed 29th January 2010.
2. Joseph D. Guernsey. (N/A). Plot Summary For "The Big Shave". Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061402/plotsummary. Last accessed 29th January 2010.

The History of Short Films Continued

In 1895 when the first short film was publicly exhibited, "La Sortie de l'Usine", it was short due to technical restrictions, but as technology improved, films tended to get longer and longer. This is when Hollywood came about.

Hollywood was pretty much the death of short film. Short film was eclipsed by the dominant mode of film production "the classical narrative". This is a standard 90 minute or feature length film. Cinema exhibitors required films to be about 90-100 minutes for the most profitable day as they could have a 2 hour turnover of films. This was another factor in the death of short film in the 30's. From about 1930 onwards the production of short film was very marginal.

Currently however Hollywood needs short films in order to be successful. Now that the Hollywood system is extinct, Hollywood uses short films as a cut price lab for experimentation and innovation. Short films are used as calling cards for new and aspiring directors, actors and pretty much anyone that is part of the crew of a film set.

Short films became a way to take risks without any financial worries. Hollywood developed a system whereby they scout for new directors etc at short film festivals and the likes.

Experimental Avant-Garde Auteurs found a home in art for their short films as they simply did not have the money to compete with Hollywood. Avant-Garde experimental films were usually short films as they were relatively cheap to create.

Bibliography:
1: N/A. (2010). Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers_Leaving_the_Lumière_Factory. Last accessed 29th January 2010.

The History of Short Films

Short film has the revolutionised the film industry in many ways over the years. With each new advancement in film there has usually been a short film that sparked it all off.

Early short films such as "La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon" were not considered short films at the time. As there was nothing of feature film length at the current time. It wasn't until 1910 when films began to get longer that the term "short subjects" was coined. A short subject was simply the term used for a short film at the time, it wasn't until 1980 that the term "short film" was used.

The themes of these early shorts consisted mostly of comedy but the occasional film would have another topic of current interest. These became quite popular amongst audiences because one could go to the cinema and see three or four films rather than just the one. The short films were shown after the feature at the cinema. It was important at the time because there wasn't many other forms of entertainment.

During the 1930's the movie studios jumped onto the short film bandwagon and eventually forced most of the independent short film production companies out of business. It wasn't until the Supreme Court of the United States declared block-booking to be illegal that the movie studios lost interest in short films. Block-booking is when a big movie studio forces a smaller production company to sell their shorts and then they turn these into feature length films.

With the invention of television and the new mass audience that it brought, short films were shown on the TV channels. Unfortunately by the end of the 1960's, short films were pretty much unheard of. However in the 1980's the short film was reinvented. The themes began to get very gritty and the purpose was no longer commercial success but it was more about the content and conveying a message.

Catherine Des Forges - "Spare economic narratives, interesting storytelling, well structured work which draws in the audience quickly"

Catherine is stating here that without the pressure and risk of losing a lot of money, a film maker can be left to make exactly what he/she wants to. With this creative freedom, good cinema is made.

Gareth Evans - "Short films are long films that end earlier. A good idea, succinctly told, less is more"

Gareth is stating that feature films have a lot of unnecessary padding and if you have a good idea then you can convey is successfully in little time.

Bibliography:

1. Rocky Kamau. (2007). A Brief History of Short Films. Available: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199025/a_brief_history_of_short_films.html?cat=15. Last accessed 15 Jan 2010.

2. N/A. (2010). Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers_Leaving_the_Lumière_Factory. Last accessed 29th January 2010.

Codes and Conventions

A short film is defined by it's length. The are no set codes and conventions because of many reasons. One reason being that a short film can be of any genre or type, there are codes and conventions of these genres and types but not of a short film itself.

Short films are a medium for innovation and experimentation, right from the dawn of cinema short film has pioneered the way to new concepts and ideas in film. The very first piece of film was a short film, "La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon" by the Lumiere Brothers.

As stated above the only thing that defines a short film is its length. A short film can be anything from a documentary to a music video to an animation. It can be black and white or it could experiment with colour. It can be footage of absolutely anything as long as it is under 50 minutes in length.

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