Distribution/Exhibition
Due to the fact that short films are not mainstream, compared to most feature length films, I researched how short films getv recognised and how they are distributed and where they are echibited to audiences. I have researched online to find places that specify in short film as this would help me get this film noticed, or any future projects i might take part in. Due to the fact that short films have a nicehe audience, it is essential that the film is well distributed in the correct to get the film seen as things like trailers and posters are never shown in mainstream media (i.e. Tv/Newspapers/Radio.)
The first thing i researched was online websites that streamed short films. The one that took my interest was 'Filmsshort.com' as they streamed short films from all over the world, of all genres and lenghts - this is great as it doesnt limit film makers from other countries and it enables your film to be consumed all over the world.
Another event to distribute/exhibit a short film is through film festivals.
Film festivals hold competitions in which a number of short films are presented to an audience and a panel (normally industry professionals) will give awards to the film(s) that they thought were of a particular high calibre. Some organisations do a 'mimi oscar' type of event in which multiple awards can be won for best storyline, best sound etc. And the winner usually wins some equipment, money and their film and their name get some attention. The film festival i researched was sundance, which is a fairly well known one but is usually ained towards more experienced film makers so you dont often find first time film makers appearing here - Although there are many film festivals that are open to all pieces of short film.
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The Raindance Film Festival aims to show the very best in new independent cinema from around the world and specialises in first-time directors and discovery. The Festival accepts films of all lengths and genres and is committed to showing the boldest and most innovative work, and films that challenge the boundaries of filmmaking. Feature films need to be UK Premieres, there is no Premiere Policy for Short films and Music Videos. The Raindance Film Festival accepts films of all lengths and any genres if following categories:
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Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature (all over 45 minutes, including credits)
Narrative Short, Documentary Short (all under 45 minutes, including credits)
Music Videos (under 6 minutes, including credits)
My next piece of research went towards online resources that have advise to short film makers. From a google search, many sources came up which shows the growing number of people who are makingshort films. There were some pages from large conglomorate companies suc as BBC. The one i picked was 'Indiewire.com' as it is a fairly unknown website so i was interested in the tips it gave. I found that the tips were things like 'First time short film maker mstakes', as well as practical tips for filming. This is incredibly valuable for someone like me who is a first time short film maker as it educates people to avoid common beginnermistajes and helps make the film look more professional.
The next thing i researched was websites that sold/dstributes short films over the web. This was considerable harder to find then some of the other things which shows that alot of short film makers make no profit from mtheir time and they use short film making as a hobby or a platform to advance in the film industry. The website i found Alowed consumers to purchase short films via. itunes. - This shows how the proliferation in technology us helping short film makers as well as feature length film makers as now they can start to earn a small profit from their short films.
Additionally, i researched some books that offered advise on short film making. One i found on amazon was titles ' Get started in short film making' by Chris Patmore. The books originally cost £14.99. The book is 144 pages long and guides the reder through developing ideas, script writing, casting, locations, lighting, camers, sound, special effects, titles and credits, different starting projects to embark in (suck as 15 second film etc.), as well as a page on how to distribute your film and get it seen.
From this research i decided to look at what was locally available to me, in terms of distribution and I found ''Walthamstow international film festival' - which welcomes short films from film makers all around the world. It is held in the same borough as me, so it is more ideal to put my film in a local festival like this, to gain feedback etc. from people locally, before entering my work into larger festivals. Entries for this year are now closed but that gives me the opportuity to maybe host a film festival at school to show all media students work, so we can get feedback from an audience and work to improve elements of our short films for entry next year.
