Part 1
Make notes on:
Why people go to the trouble of making short films in the first place.
On the one hand, there's a tradition of artistic film-makers who see the short as an art form in its own right - from Derek Jarman and Peter Greenaway to Isaac Julien and Andrew Kötting. These practitioners are mostly from the avant-garde and belong to a history of experiment that had its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s with the likes of Stan Brakhage and Andy Warhol, became moribund in the 1990s, but is now revived in the art world. On the other hand, the film industry and the media see shorts mostly as personal ads for would-be feature film-makers, an information flow to watch warily in case a director of stand-out talent - a Lynne Ramsay or an Asif Kapadia - should show up.
The situation with short filmmaking when shorts were still being shot on celluloid.
Until the recent emergence of DV it was difficult for someone who'd never made a film to secure public funding. "The situation in the late 1990s was that there were limited opportunities for a small clique of people to get healthy funding for their shorts but there was very little investment in the discovery of new talent," says Caroline Cooper Charles, short-film consultant for the UK Film Council. Meanwhile, budgets for 35mm celluloid shorts had crept upwards: films made under Film4's Short and Curlies strand regularly cost between £60,000 and £90,000 and the £90,000 budget for Tinge Krishnan's BAFTA-winning Shadowscan (2001) was a peak for the bfi's New Directors scheme. These costs were difficult to justify for films seen by only a handful of people when a fraction of the investment could be funnelled into supporting many more emerging film-makers working with digital equipment.
The impact that DV technology has had on the short film.
It was this belief that prompted the UK Film Council to launch a three-year scheme to support digital short films in August 2001, pledging £1.5 million to produce 100 films each year as part of its Digital Shorts initiative. Funds were to be matched by regional partners, each film was to be shot solely on digital for less than £10,000, and each film had to be less than ten minutes long. The scheme got a mixed response, to say the least: "We were angrily told that it was impossible to make a decent film for less than £10,000, and that forcing people to shoot on digital was too restrictive," says Cooper Charles.
And indeed the jury is still out on whether collecting lots of angles on scenes in a lightweight digital camera - as if it were a visual notebook - and then condensing them into a ten-minute film can be a serious bridge to full-size cinema. Asif Kapadia, who made a number of shorts including the acclaimed The Sheep Thief at the Royal College of Art before making his first feature The Warrior in 2001, warns against unequivocally welcoming digital's putative flexibility. "When you're a film student you're very aware of how much film costs, so you're not going to start shooting until you know exactly what you want. There's a danger with digital that you don't make any real decisions until you're on set, and then you assume any problems can be sorted in post-production."
But this freedom can also be liberating: "The most successful digital shorts are those that work with the format rather than pretending to be shooting 16mm on the cheap," says Soledad Gatti-Pascual of London-based production company The Bureau, which helps run the UKFC's Cinema Extreme scheme (the next tier up from Digital Shorts, making shorts of varying length with experienced directors). A good example of using the medium to advantage are the shorts of Nottingham-based director Simon Ellis, whose elliptical murder story What about the Bodies uses digital to evoke an appropriately hallucinatory atmosphere. "I've learned how to make DV look less like DV, but that doesn't mean emulating celluloid," says Ellis.
Whatever digital's detractors and supporters might argue, it is indisputable that the medium has allowed more shorts to be made. The availability of cheap equipment, from cameras to desktop editing suites, has democratised film-making so it's quite feasible to shoot a no-budget short with a basic DV camera, edit the film at home on a computer editing package and then present it to one of the short-film schemes as a calling-card to secure funding for a more ambitious work or to distribute it via the web.
The distribution and exhibition possibilities for short films made in the UK.
Several cinemas across the UK manage to host monthly shorts events. The Cameo in Edinburgh runs The Blue Room in conjunction with Mediabase, a similar organisation to the now-defunct Filmmakers Co-operative which loans equipment to independent film-makers. Cinema Extreme regularly invites established directors to talk at screenings of their own early shorts at London's Curzon Soho. Underground events include Exploding Cinema's screenings of unfunded films in squats, church halls, disused factories and anywhere else it can find a venue.
Touring showcases and DVD compilations have also taken off. The UKFC's 'Big Stories/Small Flashes' took nine films made under the Digital Shorts scheme to 30 cinemas around the UK in 2003, including the BAFTA-nominated Bouncer by Michael Baig-Clifford, featuring Ray Winstone, and 5 Ways John Wayne Didn't Die by Martin Wallace, featuring Jarvis Cocker and Ricky Tomlinson. The compilation was also made available on DVD. Meanwhile Onedotzero, which promotes new computer-generated shorts and the use of new technology in film, takes its annual festival on tour and is about to distribute its third DVD of shorts. London-based short-film producer Luke Morris last year put together a collection called Cinema 16 that included the 21-year-old Ridley Scott's Boy and Bicycle, Christopher Nolan's Doodlebug, Lynne Ramsay's Gasman, Asif Kapadia's The Sheep Thief and Morris' own nouvelle vague parody Je t'aime John Wayne. The DVD has sold more than 5,000 copies in the UK in less than 12 months, which is more than a typical foreign-language feature would be expected to sell over the same period. "When you think of the number of young short-film-makers working today, there's a captive audience who want to analyse these films," says Morris.
Regarded as the future for shorts in the late-1990s boom years, web-streaming is still developing, but where there were once countless sites, there has been consolidation. Most sites weren't making enough money and several good ones have disappeared, including Hypnotic, Always Independent and The Bit Screen. Others, like Ifilm, have begun offering film-makers the option of paying to upload their films for a three- or six-month period if their short isn't selected for free exhibition.
Web-streaming gives film-makers the potential to reach a far larger global audience over an extended lifespan and technical advances are making poor image quality less of a concern. Atom Films currently offers a High Definition (HD) programme where broadband users can download free Maven software that allows films to be viewed full screen, at what Atom claims to be near-DVD quality.
The limitations of the format (what, according to some, can’t shorts achieve that features can?).
Such restrictions aren't helpful to would-be feature film-makers. "The problem with most three-minute shorts is they're little more than a witty idea with a sting in its tail. Some short-film-makers aren't learning to develop characterisation, and so financiers aren't convinced they can make features," says Kapadia. "The British film industry should be doing more to help those who have made successful shorts but are struggling to make their first feature."
The conclusion reached by the writer about the situation of short film in the UK at the time of the article’s publication.
There's no question, then, that this is a bonanza time for short films, and there's a sense that the fug of a whinging culture has been blown away by the stark fact that there are now virtually no obstacles to making your first moving-image work. That the UKFC has been sharp enough to use the cheapness of DV to help empower hundreds of would-be film-makers can only be a good thing, though it does have its drawbacks. Caroline Cooper Charles admits to having to read around 1,000 scripts a year for the various regional and national elements of the Digital Shorts scheme, the average quality of which cannot be high.
The UKFC carries through government policy to empower Britain's regions and nations, which means the responsibility for nurturing talent and experiment lies with film commissioners on arts boards across the country - a welcome resistance to a London-centric industry. Each region has its own way of developing its strengths and it is to be hoped that evidence of real talent meets with proper championing to move people on to the next stage. It has to be said, though, that the UK has found it hard to discover great auteurs in recent years. But then, maybe that's not the job of government agencies. Talent will out is the theory, and hundreds of films the practice.
How up-to-date you think the article is (providing reasons).
The article was written in May 2004 so, obviously, a lot has changed since then. More websites have been made with opportunities for filmmakers to distribute their films, such as YouTube that was created in 2005. There have been more technological advances since then, with high definition cameras and Blu-ray discs becoming increasingly popular and easier to get a hold of.
Catch 22
The article explains the paradoxes well, as it describes how short films help to get new filmmakers noticed and also how there are less distribution options for short films. The article then goes on to answer the paradox by saying that the internet is a good way to distribute short films and get them noticed, and also that there are compilation DVDs of shorts as well as different film festivals that show shorts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_subject
This explains that short films are a good way for filmmakers to start out and that it is difficult for short films to get noticed. The article then explains that there are festivals that show shorts and also talks about Pixar and Warner Bros which make their own short films and put them as extras on DVDs of their feature films.
http://www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/NewsViews/tabid/60/entryid/3518/Cannes-Short-Film-Corner-Takes-the-Long-View-on-Short-Films.aspx
This article talks less about the paradox of short films and more about Cannes festival and the journey from Cannes festival to distributing it to other festivals, making future projects and getting producers and institutions interested in your short film.
Part 2
What is the UK Film Council doing to support short filmmakers and short film making?
The UK Film Council (UKFC) develops new filmmakers, supports a range of short films and they aim to introduce different UK audiences to a diverse and vibrant film culture. The UKFC has set up many distribution schemes to introduce short films to a wider audience. They are mostly for filmmakers who want to go on to make feature films.
Cinema Extreme is funded by the UKFC and Film4; it was created in 2002 and is a short film funding awards scheme. Its aim is to develop filmmakers who have a “distinctive directorial voice and cinematic flair”. Andrea Arnold, who is known for ‘Red Road’, ‘Wasp’ and ‘Fish Tank’, was a part of this scheme. This shows that short film makers can go on to make feature films, with the right support.
The Innovation Fund, which launches in autumn 2010, is being set up to ensure the UKFC can support digital opportunities across the UK by using new ways of getting films to audiences, investing in business models, distribution, research and development and market intelligence.
Digital Shorts and Digital Shorts Plus is a part of the UKFC’s New Cinema Fund. Digital Shorts and Digital Shorts Plus help filmmakers make innovative shorts using digital technology. Digital Shorts Plus is for directors who have already made a Digital Short and who want to move up to the next level in their filmmaking. Digital Shorts films run up to 10 minutes and can receive up to £12,000 budget whilst Digital Short Plus films can be budgeted up to £18,000.
UKFC funds other institutes such as the British Film Institute (BFI). The BFI widens audiences, starts debates about film and gives information about cinema heritage. It supports filmmaking by allowing a wide range of people to understand the processes directors, producers and writers go through to reach their finished product. The Film Fund also funds films which appear unmarketable. They focus on creative excellence and aspiring directors, producers and writers.
What are the nine Regional Screen Agencies (RSAs) that Film Council funding is delivered through?
EM Media
Film London
Northern Film and Media
North West Vision and Media
Screen East
Screen South
Screen West Midlands
Screen Yorkshire
South West Screen
As a short filmmaker, what funds could you yourself apply for?
I would apply for the Digital Short scheme as it seems the most accessible to me as a filmmaker and allows my creativity to shine.
Part 3
Outside of the UK Film Council, are there any other schemes that exist to help fund short films?
The British Council
BBC New Music Shorts
The Satyajit Ray Foundation
First Light Movies
The Wellcome Trust
Film4 – Get Your Short Film Distributed
Channel 4: 4Talent
Part 4
How do the festivals market and promote themselves?
Depending on the target audience, the festivals market and promote themselves in different ways. If the festivals are aimed at students, then they will, most likely, use social networking sites, like Facebook and Myspace, to advertise their festival. Newspapers and magazines are also good ways of advertising film festivals. Magazines like Sight and Sound are perfect for the promotion of film festivals as filmmakers and film students are more than likely to read it.
Why is it important to be screened at one?
Film festivals are the best way to get noticed as a filmmaker as many important professional film people would be there. It also allows for audience feedback of the films and allows the filmmakers to develop their skills.
Who attends them?
Agencies, celebrities, critics, directors, film professionals, journalists, the press and people who are passionate about film.
How are they supported?
They are supported by sponsors and also the money they charge for entrants etc.
What have you noticed about the structure/style of the site?
They are all easily accessible and easy to navigate around the sites. They are all appealing to the eye and are up-to-date not only in the sense that they seem to be active and regularly updated, but also in the sense that the graphics are impressive and appealing.
What are the other key national festivals for short films?
The BBC British Short Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival
The Times BFI London Film Festival
What are the key international festivals for short films?
The Cannes Film Festival
The Cleveland International Short Film Festival
Cyprus International Short Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival
L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival
London Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
The National Screen Institute
The Over the Fence Short Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
Strawberry Shorts
Find out about any national or international student film festivals.
Campus MovieFest
Cinequest Film Festival
City University Film Festival
Fresh Film Festival
Ivy Film Festival
Sacramento Film and Music Festival
The Shortie Awards
Titular Head
Part 5
What sorts of films are exhibited at these sites?
The types of films on these sites vary on which site you are on. The site www.virginmediashorts.co.uk is set up as a competition, there are various genres of short films on this site, but they are all around the same length and are all rated U/PG. The popular site www.youtube.com has an extremely wide range of videos on offer. Most of the videos are more recreational than professional, the site is more open to the public and it is not as much of a professional filmmaking career-building opportunity as other sites are. The site http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/ allows you to submit your own short, but, unlike YouTube, it has to be judged and might not be put online. Sites like www.vimeo.com and http://www.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/index have a wide range of professional films and allow you to upload your own films straight away. www.atom.com shows only comedy films. It has a vast variety of comedy and is a good site, but doesn’t show anything other than films in the comedy genre.
Who is the audience?
Most of these sites (excluding www.youtube.com, www.atom.com and www.vimeo.com) are set out to find undiscovered talent and to showcase it. The difference between these sites and YouTube, vimeo and atom is that the latter did not set out to find undiscovered talent; YouTube and atom were made simply to share videos with people and vimeo was made by filmmakers who wanted to share their creative work. The audience for most of these sites are filmmakers, film students, or like-minded people; whereas, the audience for YouTube and atom is probably more mainstream, especially YouTube which is an extremely popular website.
What is the submission process?
Sites such as YouTube, vimeo, atom and triggerstreet have no special submission process; they allow you to upload straight away. However, for www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/ you have to complete a submission form, send them the DVD of your film and then see if it gets showcased. The site http://www.film4.com/videos/film4-shorts does not allow you to upload/submit a film. www.virginmediashorts.co.uk is a competition and, therefore, there are specific times that you can submit a short film.
What are the benefits to having a film screened on site as opposed to another?
The benefits of entering the Virgin Media Shorts competition is that, if your film gets shortlisted, it will be screened in 214 cinemas in the UK. On YouTube, there is a much wider audience to see your film and, therefore a much wider chance of being recognised, although with the growing number of videos on the site and such a variety of what you can watch, the chance of your video becoming extremely popular is quite slim. The more professional sites are much more useful if you want to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, especially www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/ as the submission process is a fete in itself, the recognition is bound to be much more prosperous.
What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites and their presentation of the material?
All the sites are easy to navigate through, they are easy appealing and eye-catching. They all, also, have featured videos on the main page, advertising what sort of films they have to offer.
Evaluate their effectiveness in terms of the exposure they achieve for the films and their makers, and also in terms of their potential audience.
The sites like www.youtube.com do offer a lot of exposure for the films and filmmakers, but not in a professional way, whereas sites like www.virginmediashorts.com and www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/ offer the right kind of exposure for the films and their makers, however they reach a more niche audience. They are, overall, most effective because the exposure they do offer is in a more productive way than YouTube or other such websites.
Part 6
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tours/shortfilm/tour1.html
This article concentrated on answering the six key points when writing a script for a short film. The six key points are:
•Who is the protagonist?
•What is the active question, which is the basis of the action in film?
•Who or what opposes the protagonist?
•From whose point of view is the audience being shown the story?
•What is it about? Or, what is the theme?
•What is the style of the film?
These questions, the article says, are the most important questions to be able to answer when writing a short film script.
http://www.netribution.co.uk/features/howto/scriptwriting_5_short_film.html
This article, firstly, talks about characterisation and that it’s hard to include good characterisation in 10 minutes. He then says about keeping things simple in shorts and that “Yes, the film should act as a showcase for your writing ability but by throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the mix you are going to come out with a jumbled, unfocused piece of work”.
He then establishes that a small cast is better than a big one because of the need for good characterisation in such a short time and also the fact that budgets are usually small for short films, so smaller casts are more ideal.
When he goes on to talk about dialogue, he says that every line has to mean something and if it doesn’t then you should change it so it does. He says that you shouldn’t use excessive swearing just to shock your audience. He also says that there shouldn’t be any ‘preachy’ dialogue as it doesn’t sound natural.
Part 7
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/
“Lighthouse offers a variety of training courses and mentoring opportunities for filmmakers and artists. Our initiatives include script development workshops and introductory courses for screenwriters; the Guiding Lights mentoring scheme for up-and-coming filmmakers; a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Media Arts run in conjunction with the University of Brighton; and a programme of short courses in various aspects of filmmaking and digital and moving image art production aimed at both beginner and intermediate levels.”
“The Digital and Moving Image Arts Commissioning Programme is designed to provide opportunities for artists and artist groups to develop new work in a supportive environment.
The Commissioning Programme is funded by Arts Council England South East, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Brighton and Hove City Council and Lighthouse.”
http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/
“We combine the best filmmaking traditions with new digital technology – a policy that works. In the last 12 months, over 3,000 filmmakers - writers, directors, producers, actors, agents, film and media students - attended our courses.
Raindance tutors are all working industry professionals who will teach you how films are really made. You will have access to insider information, and most importantly you will meet other filmmakers, all working towards similar goals.”
http://www.skillset.org/
“The Skillset Tick is a kitemark of quality indicating the media degrees and universities best suited to prepare you for a career in creative media.
For a course or institution to be awarded the Skillset Tick, you can be sure that it has undergone a rigorous assessment process conducted by experts working in the Creative Media Industries. They only give the Tick to those courses and universities that have the strongest links with industry.
This ensures that the courses keep up with the rapid pace of change in creative media, and students benefit from using the latest technologies and working with industry throughout their studies.
Employment in the Creative Media Industries continues to grow at an annual rate of 2%. However, there is an oversupply of graduates who have received a general ‘creative media’ education. Employers don’t want to have to provide new employees with basic skills and knowledge that they should already have learnt, and they haven’t got time to sift through hundreds of mediocre applicants to find the one who can hit the ground running. They’ll be looking at a simple indicator of the best graduates.
So, Pick the Tick to stand out from the crowd”
http://www.scriptfactory.co.uk/
“The Script Factory runs a range of training courses across the UK and abroad. We provide innovative, energetic and thorough programmes to suit writers and the people who work with writers or who generally have to make judgements on scripts and story material.
We have traditionally focussed on Film training courses but in recent years have expanded that focus to include story-based TV and Radio training courses.
We run programmes to suit various levels of experience and with varying levels of time commitment ranging from half-day taster training courses to an 18 month Diploma.
We stage our own annual programmes and often design bespoke film training courses in partnership with other regional, national and international agencies.
And we have a unique programme open to participants at all our screenwriting training courses called 'Friendly Producers', which aims to introduce the most exciting new writing talent to top UK Producers.”
Part 8
http://www.cinema16.org/home.php
“This critically acclaimed DVD contains 16 of the best classic and award winning British short films and delivers a snapshot of British cinema past and present. It includes films from Britain’s most exciting new talent alongside early shorts from its most successful filmmakers amongst them Chris Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins), Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien), Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) and Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours).”
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/teaching/movingshorts/
“Moving Shorts consists of a DVD with starter booklet and a teaching guide. The DVD includes a carefully selected collection of 10 films suitable for students aged 12 and over. These films are ideal for teaching a range of skills and concepts relevant to the media component of the English curriculum, but also to developing speaking, listening, drama and writing skills and concepts.”
“These films have been selected through a process of consultation with practising teachers as suitable for classroom use. They have all been identified as appropriate for use with students under the age of 16. However, you should make sure that you watch each film before you decide to show it to your class. Some of the films deal with sensitive issues or have a certain shock element, and only you can know whether a particular film is appropriate for use with your students.
Each film has been chosen because it is well made, has a number of interesting features and is layered with several meanings. They may not all engage all of your students all of the time, but we can guarantee that they will all engage some of your students some of the time, and some will engage all of your students!”
http://www.futureshorts.com/htmlViewer.php?id=15
“Future Shorts is the world’s leading short film distribution label representing an extensive and eclectic catalogue of original, award winning films from across the globe. With years of experience in acquiring premium content and programming cutting-edge events and film packages, Future Shorts is a one-stop shop for broadcasters seeking the latest ground-breaking talent and content on the market.”
“Original content creation utilizing the vast pool of creative talent on the Future Shorts roster. Through strategic development and production, Future Shorts creates cutting-edge, creative content solutions for international brands and organizations “
http://shootingpeoplefilms.com/content/bvb1and2
“The major prize-winning short films from the world's most influential film festivals and awards are collected here for Best v Best Vol Two - a definitive selection and showcase of the best shorts and international filmmaking talent of 2005 / 2006, and the second in the Best v Best series from independent film label Shooting People Films.”
“The ten mini-dramas and docs reflect a refreshing diversity of stories, genres and filmmaking styles. Each of these films, which received top honours, provides a snapshot of lives, characters, situations and emotions - real and fictional, comedic and tragic, universal and personal. Whether six or fifteen minutes, each film involves the audience in the world of the film in a short space of time.”
