What is a short film? A short film is a motion picture that is shorter than a featured film.

They are 40 mins or less and normally have a motive or meaning behind it, to raise
awareness that links to current affairs, predictions of the future or for the audience’s
entertainment. The reason why short films have grown is because it interests people by
entertaining the viewers in a short amount of time. Which is why it has grown over the
years and continuously growing because of how accessible, entertaining and educational it
can be.

Thomas Edison was the first person in the late 1800s to introduce the new medium of
moving pictures to American Audiences. His machine which allowed him to introduce the
medium was the Kinetoscope. The Kinetoscope included a strip of film which would pass
rapidly between a lens and an electric bulb whilst the viewer would peer through the
peephole. After the Kinetoscope was made, this opened many doors in the film and short
film industry.

At the beginning of the decade, short film experienced a recession due to a ‘lack of
legislative protection offered to short films in the 1927 Cinematograph Films Act’ and as a
result, the production of short films decreased. But now in the modern Era, short films were
able to grow and reach a wider audience. They are normally posted on YouTube, Vimeo
other free video streaming apps which makes it accessible for anyone who owns a phone,
laptop etc to post their productions and reach their audience. Filmmakers will often use
short films as a chance to prove an idea from an unknown, inexperienced director is worth
investing to financiers. The Internet simplifies the process of entering films into contests,
and makes it possible to network with many more people. Not only does it help unknown
filmmakers gain more access to the public and to industry professionals; it also makes a
possible career in film more accessible to more filmmakers.

The first short film released was a French film called “A trip to the moon”, “Le Voyage dans
la lune” in French. It was created by a French director, Georges Méliès. Georges Méliès was
a hands-on artist, involved in every stage of the performance production as a director,
writer, producer and set and costume designer. He is credited with inventing as many as 30
new illusions tricks in a decade. He fell in love with cinema in December 1895 when he
attended a special demonstration of the Lumière brothers' cinematograph. The brothers
turned down his offer to buy the machinery, so he travelled to London to buy the
equipment and began making and screening films a few months later. His versatility and
talent would shine in his film-making, where he applied many of the lessons he learned as
an illusionist to develop special effects and machinery. Méliès is credited with as many as
520 films to his name, created in less than two decades. Including the 1902 international hit
"A Trip to the Moon." But after a series of financial troubles, Méliès found himself living in
poverty before his movies were re-discovered in the late 1920s. He was awarded France's
highest award, the Legion of Honour, in 1931, seven years before his death.
A director which has created a statement in the film Industry, Wes Anderson, has changed
film and storytelling by engraving and building his own style of filming into his feature films.
Wes Anderson, in full ‘Wesley Wales Anderson”, (born May 1, 1969, Houston, Texas, U.S.),
American director and screenwriter known for the distinctive visual aesthetic of his quirky
comedies. His style of film consists darkly humorous scenes, often films close ups and using
wide angles etc.

“I want to try not to repeat myself. But then I seem to do it continuously in my films. It's not
something I make any effort to do. I just want to make films that are personal, but
interesting to an audience. I feel I get criticized for style over substance, and for details that
get in the way of the characters. But every decision I make is how to bring those characters
forward.”

Wes Anderson has followed through with this quote by creating a wide range of films for all
ages, such as the Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox and many other unique stories.
Throughout Wes Andersons career, he has won many awards for his directing skills and his
films he has created. One of his early awards was for Best animated feature 2009- The
Fantastic Mr fox. Another award which he won was for best Picture, Best Director, Best
original screenplay in 2014 for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

During the continuous evolution of film, technology has played a massive part into creating
short films, such as starting small with the Kinetoscope created in the early 1800s, to CGI
(Computer Generated Imagery) in the modern era. CGI and other technology-based editing
has changed the art of film significantly. Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the
application of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media,
video games, simulators, computer animation and VFX in films, television programs, shorts,
commercials, and videos. The history of CGI goes all the way back to the 1950s when
mechanical computers were used to create patterns onto animation which were then
included in a feature film. The first film which used CGI was Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo
(1958).

Big franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and many other big franchises use CGI to
create a world within the film to keep the audience interested. An example of a film that
was ground-breaking in the film industry that has been mentioned and opened many doors
for short film makers was "Avatar". The reason for this is because the film was heavily based
and relied on the CGI to create the alien like characters. During the process of making
Avatar, there are many fun facts that we are going to share. Every Na'vi costume was built in
real life. James Horner invented many of the instruments used in the movie's score. Cars
factored into Cameron's creature design. Cameron used two different 3D camera rigs to
shoot Avatar. These inventions by the creators and the crew really built Avatar is what made
the film open many doors to other directors and editing crews.
Even though CGI is popular, to make a good short film you need to have professional editing
skills. Good editing can help a movie move at a good pace suiting the story and establishing
a proper engagement with its audiences. When scenes are edited well emotions, tensions
and mystery can be captured in the right shot. Video editing is important in the film
industry as it is the key to blending scenes and sounds to make us feel emotionally
connected and sometimes truly they are in the film we're watching. It's a safe assumption to
say that video editing is among the most important jobs in the film industry. Throughout the
years, the role of editor has very frequently gone to women. While it has always been
difficult for women to break into the role of a director or producer, being an editor was a job
women had an easier time getting. This is because, at first, editing was not seen as a
“creative” position; rather, it was seen as a “technical” job.

To kickstart your film, here are some simple yet effective editing techniques you can use in
your own short film.

J & L Cut
Cut from the same thread, a J and L cut use sound and imagery to capture the attention of
the audience. A J cut is when audio from the next scene infiltrates the current scene before
we get to see where the sound is coming from. An L cut is sort of the reverse; the sound
from a preceding scene is still with us as we enter the next scene.
It is often used in conversation scenes to keep things interesting and less stilted.

Jump Cut
Popularised during the French New Wave, a jump cut is when there is no continuity between shots.
They call them jump cuts because the shots seem to jump ahead in time during the same shot. This
editing technique was mainly created to simply cut time off from a movie by eliminating needless
seconds in a scene. However, it would soon become influential in the French New Wave scene and
beyond.

Match Cut
One of the more famous and popular editing techniques out there is the match cut.
This is when a new scene carries over elements from the preceding scene. So, if you have a scene of
a donut in one shot, the very next scene could be of a bagel; same shape, different object. It could
also be of a city skyline in the day, immediately cutting to that same skyline at night.

Montage 
Montage are an interesting editing technique because it can mean different things
depending on the context. The most common understanding of a montage in film is when a
movie puts together a series of shots and moments together into one scene. It’s pretty
common in sports films where an athlete or team is training or preparing.
Montages are also implied (or outright stated) to take place over a course of time; this
makes the montage a compressed presentation of this time passing.
Shot/Reverse shot
A shot Reverse shot is one of the most common editing techniques: shot/reverse shot. If
there’s one editing technique (outside of a “cut”) that’s in almost anything, it’s this. Two
people talking will almost always feature a shot/reverse shot, with a little bit of the 180-
degree rule thrown in for balance. Two or more people don’t even have to be talking, as this
technique can also be used to showcase reactions from one or more parties.