History of the Short Film

Thomas Byrne
When films were first born into existence, they were all short. After discovering
that showing images in rapid succession created the illusion of movement,
filmmakers were eager to experiment.
Seen to the left is the most iconic shot from the 1902
French short film called Le Voyage Dans la Lune directed by
the magician and theatrical performer Georges Mlis.
Unable to purchase a film camera, he resorted to building
his own and from 1896 to 1913 he directed and produced
over 500 short films with varying subject matter and
varying time lengths, with the longest being forty minutes.
Many of his films featured little to no narrative, instead
focusing on the special effects to show audiences what was
possible. Modern auteur Michael Bay has marked a return
to this format in recent years. In his lifetime, Mlis created over a thousand and
five hundred films demonstrating what can be done on film.
It was around 1910 when longer, feature films became popular, a response to the
audience demand for longer running narratives, elevating
film to a more respectable status in popular culture.
However, despite not being as commercially popular, short
films remained relevant for artists as the surrealist
movement found new opportunities by using the medium,
unsettling audiences in new ways. To the right is a frame
from a short film which involved an eyeball being sliced
into.
Music videos presented a new form of life for the medium, with
channels like MTV showing them with the song.
With a music video, the narrative follows the rhythm of the song so theres much
less freedom. I was always very careful not to impose my need to make a movie
on to the video, says director Tim Pope. As the nineties came about, digital video
recording hardware emerged, making film production more accessible to the
masses. This developed with the internet becoming more interactive the amount
of short films created, shared and watched has surely never been bigger.
Anyone who can access the equipment can now make a short film and distribute it
online and its often used as a platform to launch
directors into substantial careers. Gareth Edwards,
director of Godzilla and an upcoming Star Wars spinoff, became well known for directing a short film that
won a competition and opened doorways for
resources to complete his first feature.
While the stigma of short films merely being gateways to being able to
make longer movies still lingers, many directors have turned to short
films to tell stories they wouldnt have been able to with a larger studio
backing. Spike Jonzes unconventional love story Im Here was
produced and then released online.
Understanding the history and functions of short films means
people who want to make their own have a larger
understanding of the format, medium and functions short films use, and allow
them to make the most of these features.