The Economy of Short Film

Last night, I met with six of our program's faculty to converse about filmmaking in general, and specifically, short filmmaking. As I listened to the members of the group that included working screenwriters, a film historian, an editor, an assistant director, a director and producer, discuss what made the short film a unique and often particularly challenging genre, the word, "economy" came to mind. That is, the short film requires an economy of words, of shots, of locations, of cuts, and also, in part because of this, the short film also becomes an economic vehicle for the emerging or independent filmmaker.

Thomas Jefferson declared, "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." Indeed, the short film's screenwriter must heed this advice. Each page of a screenplay translates to about a minute of film. Furthermore, the attention to time is not the sole responsibility of the screenwriter, but also of the director, the cameraman, and the editor. Not only should each word of dialogue be pertinent, but so too should each second of each shot. Superfluity cannot be afforded.

And, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences classifies the short subject as any film lasting fewer than forty minutes, most strive to make shorts that are half or even a quarter that length. Spielzeuglad (Toyland), which won an Oscar in 2009 for best Live Action Short Film was just fourteen minutes. Cutlass, Kate Hudson's short that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival was sixteen minutes. Bob Giraldi's Second Guessing Grandma has a running time of just under ten minutes.

This is especially true today, as the short film has transitioned from elite arthouse fare, whose main method of distribution was through small festivals, to populist entertainment that can be created by anyone with video capability, and is distributed on the internet. In fact, although short film festivals, and categories for shorts in mainstream film festivals are more popular than ever, it is YouTube, the iPhone, PDAs, and PSPs that have made the genre distinctly relevent. These small screens are an ideal viewing place for small films: a viewer can watch a short on his morning commute, or while waiting in line for a coffee. He can easily show it to friends-- there is a sense of immediacy to the short film. Furthermore, as we become increasingly pressed for time and saturated with media, a fifteen, or ten, or five-minute narrative is the limit for many people's meaningful consumption.

Indeed, in an era where every resource, including materials, energy, conversation, time, and money, is valuable, shorter is better.