Codes and Conventions of the Short Films

For making the short film it's important to follow the certain codes and conventions because they are used to represent the characters, places, the message which film wants to deliver etc. Basically the short film codes and conventions are similar to feature-length films although there are some differences.

Budget: Unlike the feature-length movies the shorts budget is quite low because considering the small amount of time the plot will not have to take place in many locations so not too much money is going to be spent. As a result, some actors would work for free so most of them work for getting an experience. Considering the small budget, it can result that the directors are not dependent on the large corporations/studios so there's a high probability that the film would follow the formula of film d'auteur.

Length: The average short film lasts around 15-20 minutes however it doesn't really matter, it can be either 5 minutes or 30 minutes but it shouldn't reach the 40 minutes, otherwise it'll be already considered as feature-length film.

Setting and Characters: Due to the low budget and a limited length the plot should take place in maximum 3 locations, but most of the short films are set in 1 place. Technically, the director is not restricted from the amount of places but they should play an important role in a story so the audience could understand the importance of this certain scene. The same thing works with the characters, in short film the average amount of main characters is 1 or 2 people. This happens because in the short film there's not enough time to create a proper back story for the protagonist so in a short film, the viewers do not know too much about the main hero.

Narrative Theories: They are some of the ways to express a story. They also help the audiences understand how the plot works and make them think about the choices or decisions the filmmaking team has made. The narrative theories are the Todorov theory (when the disequelibrium happens and the peace restores), Barthes (symbolic codes), Levi Strauss (binary opposites) and Propp (with different types of characters that play their unique role in a plot)

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Andrii Azarchenko

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