Article 1: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7593291/The-long-history-of-short-films.html
This article from The Telegraph shows how short films have come about and developed over the past few years. During early film making all films were short. The short films that developed where "one-shot 'actuality' or 'interest' film depicting celebrities, royal processions, travelogues, current affairs and scenes from everyday life". From this I can evaluate that audiences preferred films about everyday life. This is mainly because audiences are able to connect and build a bond with the film as it will be about something they have experienced or seen happen.
However these 'shorts' didn't last long. "In the early 1900s, improvements in recording and editing technology allowed film-makers to produce longer, multi-shot films". Technology developed meaning that it was easier to produce longer, better, multi-shot films. This will benefit us when we come to create our films because we will have the equipment and facillities to experiment with the camera and filming techniques.
Although using the school equipment, it is expected that it will be off a poor standard to that off the equipment used by actual production companies.
In the article Chris Hilton is mentioned. He is a general manager at the Odeon and says that he "began working in cinemas in 1966 and recalls the unpopularity of some of these documentary shorts 'In the Sixties, you would still occasionally get short films in the programme, things like the Rank Organisation's Look at Life series (which depicted scenes of 'Swinging Britain'). But most of these were pretty boring and the audience used to use them as an excuse to pop to the loo or get some more popcorn"'.
From this we can seen that the short film documentaries were unpopular and audiences like films were they can escape from reality and embody them self in a new experience. However they also like films to have believable aspects that they can relate to.
This means that I will base my short film on issues and everyday life problems that the audience are able to relate to but also have parts which help the audience to escape reality.
I Found this article very useful and i felt i had achieved the required knowledge to make a short film of a high standard.
Who are the target audience for the short films I have watched
Most of the short films I have watched are set in a teenage school environment and often tackle issues that this age group face, these include violence and bullying. There was not many however that tackle more personal subjects such as mental and health diseases.
The majority of the audience watching these films are around the same age as the characters shown on screen.
How is a short film distributed:
A short can be distributed in a number of ways, the first way being to take your film onto the "circuit", the circuit being taking it to film festivals, screenings, etc. The second way is to try and get an agent to aid in the distribution, this could mean your film ends up on television. Another technique would be to try and get your film on DVD and sell it to shops or on markets. This however can be very expensive and you will need to be able to produce a lot of copies to effectively sell your product. The final way being to put your film on the internet and hope that is found by the right people, this in turn could allow it to go viral.
Film Festivals
Film Festivals target sophisticated audiences who seek out short films that are unlike any other, it is also a way to see award winning short films and if providing a film gives you a chance of winning one yourself.
Film festivals are also a good way of distributing your film because producers, distributors and company representatives of major film industry companies.
However you need to be aware when distributing your film because some festivals only accept feature films or are genre pacific. Film festival can also be difficult to find because many target certain categories, some target comedy films whereas others only target shorts.
When entering your short film into a festival there are also awards to be one, an Oscar, Jamieson European Short Film Award, BAFTA, Scottish BAFTA, Scottish BAFTA New Talent Awards and a Jim Poole Award.
Online Downloads and Streaming
Digital Distribution is very appealing to short filmmakers as you are able to digitise your film, upload it to various websites. This gives the chance of your film going global. In some cases filmmakers will be able to make money from this method of distribution if the film has distributing rights or is brought by a major company.
Sales Agents/International Distributors
Sales Agents, either a company or an individual are in an agreement with you, your short film will be attempted to be sold to the widest audience possible via the use of there contacts in the industry.
Conclusion:
It seems the easiest way to distribute my film would be to put it on the internet and hope it gets watched by the right people. But potentially the most effective if successful is to sen your film to a Film Festival such as the LSSF or the ASSF. Contacting distributors would be useful but they are unlikely to listen to me as this will be my first short film.
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