Exhibition

The various ways of presenting and exhibiting short films is just as diverse as that of movies and music videos.

Film festivals are one of the more obvious places to view a series of short films. A film festival is usual an annual event that showcases various films that usually follow the theme of the evening. For instance it may be a robot theme, and therefore the organisers will choose some of the best robot related films to show. These films can be recent releases, old favourites, or even international films. The festival can even be dedicated to a particular actor or director, it's completely up to the organisers of the event. But it is at film festivals where award winning short films are likely to be showcased and first officially shown to the public or attendees.

Another way of presenting short films or a series of short films is via DVD. Animation companies that produce the short films are likely to release a DVD collection of their films so they are available for buying and owning. Animation companies like Pixar have done this on numerous occasions, releasing their official 'Pixar Short Film Collection' DVD. Collaborative DVD's are also created, such as Batman: Gotham Knight, and The animatrix. This is where various animation companies produce a short film based on the same character or story idea, and each animation studio have their own take on how the characters and setting are presented, usually using their own particular style.

Another way short films can be showcased within DVD's is in the extras or the special features. Normally trailers for related features are put here, but it is also common for short films that relate to the main feature to be displayed here. For instance, The film '9' is due to be released in cinema's soon, based on the short film by Shane Acker, but when the film is released on DVD, it is likely that the original short film will be in the special features or extras for anyone to watch that may not have seen the original story.



Due to the expanding technologies of the world of today it is possible to gain popularity through the Internet. Anyone is able to create websites and show their own work to the entire world. Thanks to websites like Youtube, Vimeo and Megavideo, it is even possible for people with no knowledge of creating websites to upload their own videos they have created. This makes the Internet the easiest place to find and view short films. Many Oscar award winning short films by students from various universities around the world can be found by searching on Youtube alone. And using searcgh engines like Google you can easily locate various producers of short films and other works, amateur or professional to delve into.

Open Research

As I plan on producing a short animated film, I will be directing all my open research at animation, animation studios and various techniques used in animation for short films.


Essentially, and most commonly, a short film follows a very loose path that includes lots of enigmas leaving the story very open ended. This approach tends to work best as it requires no final outcome, and no introductions of time, location or character need to be included.

Another approach for short films, most commonly related to that of Pixar's animated short films, is that of comedy. Presenting a quick, comedic sketch visually, allows for everyone to enjoy the film and immediately be pleased. These allow for a quick fix of entertainment, but can soon become old and loose their touch, which is why it's important for the studio to keep producing new sketches.



Short films can also have that sympathetic factor. Like the film 'kiwi' by Pixar. The film starts with you thinking, 'aww, what a cute little bird', then you wonder what it's doing, nailing long logs into a cliff, must be something cool because the little bird is so cute. Then you see it's a tree. Curiosity rises. Then he jumps and pops his little wings out, the camera turns and you can see that he has simulated flying by falling, just so he can feel like a real bird and you get another 'awwwwww!' from the audience, then the tear of joy runs down his face and that's it, everyone is immediately in love with kiwi. It becomes a massive hit because it's nostalgic, the bird is cute, and it makes some people laugh.

Different short films can also collaborate to tell a story or a number of different stories, as long as they are all based around the same idea. Take the 'Animatrix' for example. Lots of short films, each no longer than 10 minutes long, created by various different animation studios, to tell their side of the matrix story. The thing that makes the 'Animatrix' a good focal point of research for short animated films, is you can see the many different approaches that can be taken just to present a story based on the same idea. You can see a number of different animation styles, from clean lined styled animation in 'Beyond', to the more sketchy loose semi-real look of 'Kid's Story'.
This form of collaboration of short films is also apparent in 'Batman: Gotham Knight', where once again, the different studios each produce a short film based upon a similar idea, in this sense, Batman. And much like 'Animatrix', each short film has it's own style of animation, usually related to the animation studio that created it.



Around the world short films or 'shorts' are expected to be very different durations. In Europe, a short film is expected to be anything from 1-15 minutes, and the story usually involves a plot twist or is dedicated to showcasing visuals and or appearance. whereas in America, a short film is usually expected to be no longer than 50 minutes, and typically revolves around one character and the events the befall upon him/her. An example of a longer 50 minute short film could be 'Dead Leaves', an animated short film from japanese animation studio Production I.G. and directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, also known as 'Mr Toonz'. The story is centered around the two main characters, Retro, who for some reason has a TV for a head, and Pandy, and their escape from the DL (dead leaves) prison facility. The film is one of my all time favourites, and it's made by one of my favourite animation studios. Although focusing on the characters as expected from a longer duration short film, Dead Leaves also is a visually stunning piece of animation that break the boundaries between real and surreal.




Short films have so many conventions, it all depends on the creators wants and needs. The plot can be entirely open ended, usually used for short films of a duration of around 1-10 minutes, or it can be a short story that follows a character as he/she is making there way through a series of events, or meeting a character. Aesthetically, short films have no conventions at all. Short films are a good way to showcase a style or idea without having to spend years on it to get it finished (unless of course you want to).

Genre Comparative Study

Upon watching these two short films, you realise, much like many of the short films you'll find, they are computer generated. Both short films are very similar to that of the Pixar animated shorts, both aesthetically and plot wise.
Oktapodi uses love as the plot developer. the two small octopus are shown as being in love in the very first shot of the film. Then instantly the female is snatched up and taken by a squid butcher of some sort, and thus the whole thing kicks off and the male tries to save his love. The whole film is very funny and portrayed beautifully. The scenes within the van, and driving down the streets include some well composed shots and you really feel like your part of the action, which works very well with the pace and in maintaining interest, not that it's not interesting already. The character designs for the film are also very beautiful, the squids look like squids while retaining a comical and cute feel to them, and the antagonist is tall and skinny, like a tower, seemingly representing a colossus to the little squid, and thus is obviously a threat to them.
My favourite shot of the whole film is the shot when the butcher first notices the male squid at the van window, and the squids brain is waving in the wind. There's a suttle perspective to this shot that makes the squid seem so small and insignificant, and therefore making us feel for him and makes us want him to prevail in his task. Then of course he gets punched in the face, which just makes me laugh so much.
The palette used for this film is also well selected. The soft tones of the town make us aware that it's there, but doesn't distract us from the action. While the bright pastel colours of the squid let us know that they are important and keeps our eyes on them at all times.

Although details in Kiwi are much simpler than in Oktapodi, they really help to bring out the softer side of us all and then hit us with its incredibly tear jerking storyline. Basically Kiwi cannot fly, they are an exstinct bird and this is a film to show possible why. This particular Kiwi spends his life nailing trees to the side of a mountain only to later jump off the mountain in an attempt to simulate flying, even though he will inevitably die when he hits the floor.
Kiwi works so well as a short film as it hits us all in the heart and we really sympathise with him/her. It opens with a close up of the floor and kiwi's feet come in dragging something, this opening is much like the opening to Oktapodi, getting straight to the point and introducing the main characters involved. All of the shots composed in this short film are well placed. enough is shown to see what Kiwi is currently doing, but the whole picture is not shown until the end, and therefore nothing is given away. Throughout the entire film you begin to ask questions, what is Kiwi doing? why is he/she doing that? where did that hammer and nails come from? all these questions help maintain our interest throughout the film. And because Kiwi is so cute, we are interested in what he's doing and why he's doing it, everyone has a soft spot for cuteness, and this short film really takes advantage of that. Our emotions upon seeing what Kiwi has been working on, and seeing the amount of trees he's actually nailed to this mountain, are heightened by the music. When he jumps off the cliff, goggles on, and pops his little arms out and starts flapping them, the music kicks in. A soft lullaby score that once again hits us in the soft spot. Everything comes together, questions are answered, the music is there, and everyone watching cannot hold it in any longer, Kiwi cries and and the audience join in to, whether it be physically or mentally, everyone cries. The huge and well constructed build up has the same result for everyone, and that's why Kiwi is such a well done short film.
Both aesthetically and constructively, Kiwi and Oktapodi have so many similarities, but their differences are what make them truely unique and stand out.

Initial Short Film Analysis

'Tir Nan Og' is a short animated film by Fursy Teyssier as an end studies project. Prior to watching the short film I expected lots of long shots showing off the environment or specific areas of interest. I also expected that the meaning behind the story was not entirely obvious, and everyone that watches it would come up with their own outcome or conclusion. Another generic convention I expected to see within the short film was that it would either have no music, or be very reliant upon music and sound to maintain a nice pace and sense of anticipation or wonder. Short films also tend to not introduce characters with dialogue, unless this is needed to forward the narrative, and instead you accept the characters you see as being the main protagonist/s.
Upon watching the short film, the mysterious storyline convention became apparent, we don't know where we are, who these two people we are seeing are, and why they are playing a piano out in the desert, as it would seem. The strong enigma based story lines behind short films work really well, as it has no need for reason and the audience just accept what it is they are seeing. Also, although the creator of the short film may have an answer to the happenings of the story, the audience will probably come up with a thousand more possible outcomes and answers, and this key factor is what makes a short film watch able.
The plot of 'Tir Nan Og' is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack. My expectations were not challenged here, and the soundtrack did a great job of helping the story along and adding atmosphere and mystery. This is something a lot of short films do, especially animated ones, as the addition of music adds depth to the visuals.
The main characters within the story although important, were not named, this would be because within a short story, its the visuals and events that tell the story and less the characters. This short film, in particular, does this very well, The audience follows the little girl in the story, who is seemingly as puzzled as the audience, and the film works well as the audience can relate to the girl and uncover the mystery together. This relationship then ends when the masked man reveals himself and the camera cuts to a long shot of the cliff so the audience don't get to see who it is and possibly get some questions answered, but instead is left hanging. This then, opens up even more questions and anxieties, leaving the audience in the perfect state of curiosity.

Change In Breif

I have decided to change my brief from music videos to short films, in particular, animated short films. This is because it is an area of more interest to me, as animation and comics etc, are something i would like to look into for a future occupation, and i would like to use this oppurtunity to create a short animation that i could later use as evidence of my capabilities in my own personal portfolio.