Making Short films
I recently met Manjeet Singh, an author on PFC in Mumbai. We had a long and interesting chat about films and particularly on his feature film project.
As he wants to make to make a short film first and wanted to understand the basic differences between a full length feature and a short length feature, so instead of writing only to him, I thought I should share it with all on PFC.
Short films are where I come from and they have helped me formulate my style in cinema. They have also taught me to tell stories easily and swiftly. 
My first short film ‘Le Cochon’ (see Photo) ( 35mm/12′/French) was selected at the Clermont Ferrand short film festival in 1996 and I also represented France at the Locarno film festival in the ‘Leopards de Demain’ section of the short film competition in the same year. I have made 5 short fiction films in all and they have all been in festivals and some have won awards.
A short film is more difficult to ‘tell’ than a full length feature. One does not have as much screen timne as in a full length feature to develop your characters and your situations.
So if you take the structure of a full length narration and divide it into four parts:-
1. Introduction of character and place.
2. Exposition of problem of the character
3. The character tries to solve the problem
4. Resolution of the problem. – The character has advanced (moved forward) from stage 1 or regressed (moved backward) But in no case can be in the same situation as the stage 1.
In a short film the stage 1 and stage 2 happen at the same time. The character and his geographic situation are introduced along with the exposition of his problem.
Better, introduce your character’s problem before you introduce him. And then go onto the 3rd stage as you introduce him and then of course to stage 4.
A joke, it is the perfect example of a short narrative film.
Example:
(Stage 1+ stage 2) Intro + Expo -
A Muslim, a Christian and a Hindu (Maharashtrian) have gone fishing on a small boat and are caught in a raging storm in the middle of the sea.
Here we have here the characters, the geographic situation (fishing boat in the middle of the sea) and the raging storm (problem)
(Stage 3) Trying to solve the problem
They all pray to their gods.
(Stage 4) Resolution
Allah comes and saves the Muslim, Jesus comes and saves the Christian
Ganesh Bhagwan is seen on the horizon dancing.
The Maharashtrian asks Ganpati to save him but the lord keeps dancing.
The Maharashtrian begs.
Ganesh says “Well every year you dance while I drown; now it’s your turn.”
This is my secret to telling good short stories.
Get your stage1 and stage2 worked out together.
I hope this helps.
I am not Yoda and do not profess to know the truth. And I am only sharing my experiences so that some of you may gain something from it.
Please do not make any personal attacks on me as it was done in the last post that I made.
If you disagree with what I have to say ‘Lets agree to disagree!’
Tags: Cinema, film, narration, short films, shorts, structure, technical
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was teh DOP of ur first film Vijay Kartik…..i think have seen your first film……good job
PSji, thanks for sharing the knowledge!! ‘Hawa anne de’ is a brilliant piece of work!Easily one of the best films to have being made on Mumbai… makes me curious to see your short films
@vasanbala
You are wrong!
My first feature Hava Aney Dey was shot by a French DOP called Jean-Marc Ferriere and my first short was shot by a Colombian DOP called Adriana Bernal Martinez.
@Manjit
Thanks for the compliment bro! I’ll digitise my shorts the next time I am in India and surely show them to you.
oopsie
@PSji: I would really love to see your short films…
And yeah, thanks for telling us what you have to say about short films… Many of the great filmmakers begin with either short films or documentaries…
Short Films are the reason that I love shows like Gateway and On the lot…
PSji, where can I find (rent/buy) “Hava Aney Dey”? Is it available on Jaman?
@Vivek H,
You cannot buy a copy of Hava Aney Dey yet.
It will only be available in North America at the end of 2008, after it has done the art house theatrical circuit there. Will let you know… If you are in Mumbai, you can borrow the DVD from Manjeet Singh (PFC author). If in L.A. from oz
@ Sameer
I am going to digitise my shorts and will pass around the DVD in a few months.
@PSji, thanks for the reply. Looks like I’ll have to wait till the end of 2008.
PSji,
Very informative article…thanks for the dvd..watched it at oz’s place..
Dude
I had never heard of “Hava Aney Dey”. After reading your post and the comments, i did a quick search for “Hava Aney Dey” on youtube and found a short teaser of the flim. I think the teaser were simply brilliant. I would love to watch he flim. Please let me know where can i get to see the movie.
@Rahul
Well, Depends on where you are based. Hava Aney Dey (Let the Wind blow) is touring the US as a part of the Global Lens 2008 series of the SF based Global Film Initiative . Check this link for screenings near you > http://www.globalfilm.org/lens08/let_the_wind_blow.htm
Cheers!
I may not be able to attend Global Lens 2008 series to watch “Hawa Aaney De”. Is it possible to release the movie online. This way the release can be in US if the indian censor board is not ready to release it without cuts and we would get to see a good flim. I think movie makers have to look at technology to release movies.
@rahul.
I completely agree with you. But you see the delivery systems are controlled by business houses. And at this moment internet pay perview is bought at chicken shit prices. most of them offer 700 USD to buy the film. and then pay a fraction of the rental to the filmmakers. So we know the tech but it has to be cost effective.
Nice explanation.. very precise and perfectly understandable!! But I think, if the content is bit complicated, does this format work?? because you have to give explanation about location, characters, situation etc. then what to do??
Does short filming v/s feature filming compare to a writing a short story v/s writing a novel (I hope you know something about this from school; if you don’t, please ask and I’ll tell you – don’t want to make this post unnecessarily long
).