Codes and Conventions Of Short Films

I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of the typical codes and conventions that you would normally find in a short film to help me when I get started on my transitional piece, which is to create a 1 minute short film before starting our main piece of work for A2. Here is a list of the conventions you would need to follow to create a successful short film:

• Characters - these are one of the main conventions included in Short Films, as usually the director tends to stick to 2 or 3 main characters. Being relatively short in length, short films don’t have time to create a deep back story or history of the characters involve; therefore, character numbers are kept low to allow the audience to relate to the characters in the small amount of time.

• A "twist" - usually Short Films contain a ‘Twist’ to make the story line is more interesting and have a new dimension to the short clip. Without a "Twist" in a Short Film the story-line would simply be rather boring and have no story to it.
   
• A Low Budget - This is based on the fact that most Short Film Directors are independent without the sufficient backing in terms of funding. To ensure their budget is low, they stick to one or two locations for their film as well as only using a few actors. Having such a short film allows costs to be little to nothing in some departments, as some actors will work for free if they really like the story line.

• Length - as the name clearly states "short" film, the clip will need to be made in a small amount of time, approximately 5 to 10 minutes usually.

• Everyday situations - these particular story lines are created so that the audience are able to relate to them and then somehow the story will be flipped it on its head in some way. This allows the viewer to relate to the Short Film, but at the same time intriguing the viewer.

• Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium - this is typically applied to Short Films as a sort of guideline to stick to.

1. Equilibrium - Everything is Normal
2. Disequilibrium - A Problem Occurs.
3. New Equilibrium - Problem is Solved, Everything is back to normal; However, a change is noticeable.