Why Write a Short Film
by Kim H Peres
Many writers overlook short form material, concentrating on full-length works such as novels, films, and plays. Though longer works can seem more fulfilling and more in demand than shorter pieces, there are some great reasons to put effort into short writings. A short film especially holds a lot of value for a writer in that it could be produced more easily, possibly by the writer. With internet video distribution so ubiquitous and its focus on short form content, it is much easier to get people to watch such videos.
Aside from opportunities to get short films seen online, there are some valid creative reasons to pursue writing them.
Cut Story Material
Inevitably in the writing of a feature film there will be moments that are great but do not fit the story perfectly and are omitted. These could be things that coincide with character and would be believable but slow the pace of the film or do not fit in with the theme. Instead of tossing these ideas altogether, make them stand on their own. Use these story pieces and create a few more and write a self-contained short film that could be enjoyed with or without having seen the film the pieces come from.
Inspired By A Feature
A feature film script never covers everything you want to say about a character, situation, or world. That way lies over-long films or those watered down with too many themes. A lean film script can be a natural jumping off point for more, smaller stories set in the same world. You could expand upon the least of the characters and the slightest of suggestion. Where ever there is a time jump or summary of events, there is opportunity to write those events in detail that are not right for the movie but are still valuable story material.
Too Small To Become A Feature
Some writers try to work with every idea that comes to them just as they have developed other successful ideas. If they have too strict a view of how they want to write, they may find themselves putting square pegs in round holes. Two ideas can be equally great but not equally in need of a feature film for expression. Some ideas are not big enough to warrant making into a film, but would make a really good short film. If an idea does not evoke subsequent or previous scenes it does not mean it is a bad idea, just that it may be a small idea.
Possible Scene From A Feature
Writing a full-length feature script is a lot of work and you might not be sure you or others like the ideas that much. Instead of writing out an outline for a whole movie for a character or setting you may not be too excited about, write a single short film consisting of one or a few scenes and see what the reaction is. This short may become a part of a script you eventually write or might be the evidence you needed to prove you do not want to follow through and spend time on this thing you do not feel passionate about.
It is easy to get lost in thinking about making a career and find yourself doing stuff you do not like in a form you think you should be working in. Many consider smaller or shorter as amateur territory, so you might not have given it much thought. You may have heard that short film scripts do not sell like features and that publishers do not want books of less than 200 pages. Though it may not be immediately apparent, writing small can lead to something bigger, make a bigger thing better, or just be a worthwhile piece in itself.
Have you ever stopped yourself from working on a smaller piece? What made you quit?
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Stefan Rhys - Aug 3rd, 2009 @ 02:53 pm
I think these are all valuable reasons to write a short film. I'd add the chance it gives a writer to get better at their craft. It's the difference between writing an poem vs. a haiku. You have fewer opportunities in the limited amount of syllables to write a great haiku, than you do in a poem that goes on for multiple stanzas. It's one reason I liken screenwriting to haiku writing, in terms of the amount of words you have to accomplish the same feat of "greatness".
However, the bigger challenge these days is getting the short film made. It's true that you can write a piece that a group of friends can get together and shoot with an inexpensive camera, cut it with FCP, and get it put up on YouTube, but on the other hand the opportunity in this market to shoot something that represents you as a filmmaker is increasingly difficult.
If you put together the shoestring budget short film, that you are expecting to get you recognized as a filmmaker, you're likely to get lost amongst the shuffle everybody else on YouTube. And how many of those films that do get noticed are worth festival contention?
The problem is that even features and documentaries are having problems getting made due to the lack of finances. All sorts of professionals in the industry are without work, and when in the past a working professional might have been willing to do goodwill "free work" when they were working, you are far less likely to get that today.
If you want to make a feature quality short film, it takes more and more money to do so, especially if you want it to be seen. Marketing and festival entry fees are neither cheap, nor free.
I myself have been sitting on a script that has been ready for a couple of years now, but once the economy tanked, truth be told, I set it aside. I hope there will come a day again, when the opportunity is there to do it.
I certainly don't disagree with the sentiments of writing a powerful short film, and the chance that it gives a writer to improve their craft as a writer. But in this time when money is a tight as it is, and the independent film community is struggling like it is, the pragmatic side of me says that writing a great feature screenplay that can be sold or produced is the way to go. The fact of the matter is it is all a crap shoot, and writing a great feature has just slightly better odds.
Lets hope the odds get better for all of us.
Kim H Peres (post author) - Aug 7th, 2009 @ 08:03 pm
Stefan, you make some excellent points in regards to the limits of a single short film career or marketing wise. In a lot of ways short filmmaking has become more an academic exercise than a way to get work as a feature director: a single short film would get lost on youtube, no doubt.
A series of related short films might be a way to cut through the clutter. Which in a way is all a feature film is, but we call the those related shorts "scenes".
Anonymous - Mar 26th, 2011 @ 04:40 pm
It looks probably easier to begin with than writing a full length film.