The History & Evolution of Short Films

A film is defined as a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images.

A short film is defined by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits”

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) - Martin Scorcese

Cinema began with short films, sometimes running only a minute or less. It was not until the 1910s that films started to get longer than about ten minutes. The first set of films was presented in 1894 and it was through Thomas Edison's device called a kinetoscope. It was made for individual viewing only.

Comedy short films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D. W. Griffith's 1915 The Birth of a Nation. By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature, short comedy, 4–10-minute cartoon, travelogue, and newsreel.

In the United States, short films were generally termed short subjects from the 1920s into the 1970s when confined to two 35 mm reels or less, and featurettes for a film of three or four reels. "Short" was an abbreviation for either term.

Short comedies were especially common and typically came in a serial or series (such as the Our Gang movies, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character).

With the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead; most studios cancelled their live-action series in 1956. Only The Three Stooges continued making two-reel comedies; their last was released in 1959.

Short films have since become a medium for student, independent and specialty work.

TODAY

Short films generally rely on local, national or international film festival exhibitions to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet. Certain websites which encourage the submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo, have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like Omeleto, FILMSshort, Short of the Week, Short Films Matter, Short Central and some apps showcase curated shorts.

They are usually made by independent filmmakers with either a low budget or no budget at all and are usually funded by one or more film grants, nonprofit organizations, sponsors, or personal funds.

Short films are generally used for industry experience and as a platform to showcase talent to secure funding for future projects from private investors, a production company, or film studios. They can also be released with feature films, and can also be included as bonus features on some home video releases.