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.