Research: Methods of Promotion

How are short films promoted? 

The most common method of promotion for a short film is submission to a film festival. Film festivals frequently display short films to vast audiences of film lovers, and provide an ideal platform for low budget filmmakers to broadcast their product. Some popular UK festivals include Raindance and Birmingham Film Festival.

However, technological convergence has made room for more innovative methods of promotion. For example, social media alone provides a free platform in which creators can reach a vast audience and interact with them. Many filmmakers also create websites in order to promote their work, which may include trailers and 'making of' videos. Filmmakers may also do interviews for magazines or websites in order to reach out to their targeted audience.

Most short film creators are aware of the small amount of profit they are likely to make. However revenue for these types of films can come from such websites as YouTube or Vimeo through advertisements. Therefore, the basis for promotion of these filmmakers is primarily to share their work, rather than to make money. Due to limited budget, many filmmakers will locally promote their film, through posters and local adverts. This is another cost effective way of reaching out to a wider audience.

In comparison to this, blockbuster feature films have a much greater budget and therefore can experiment with different methods of promotion. The most common method of promotion for a feature film is a trailer. Trailers work as adverts for the film and provide an insight into the storyline, in order to develop intrigue and interest within the audience. Trailers are very accessible through YouTube or other social media websites. They are also shown in theatres, where they can be delivered directly to movie-goers and the film's target audience. Although trailers for short films are sometimes released, they generally do not reach out to a large audience, and are not played in theatres.

Similarly to this, short films and blockbusters both use posters and printed advertising to promote their films, however for short films this is on a much smaller scale in terms of quantity.

One area in which big budget feature films surpass short films in terms of marketing is in promotional tours and large marketing campaigns. For example, for the film 'The Dark Knight', the main actors and director would take part in press junkets, doing interviews and promoting the film. In addition to this a viral marketing campaign was launched, in which a fake interactive newspaper called 'The Gotham Times' was created; allowing fans to receive emails that would slowly remove pixels and eventually reveal the first official image of the Joker. On top of this, big merchandising campaigns were launched with brands such as Burger King as well official merchandise from their own website.

Unfortunately, due to their low budget, these methods of promotion are not available for creators of short films, resulting in cost effective methods of promotion being used instead.

Research -What Is A Short Film?

A short film is any film that is not considered long enough to be a feature length film. This usually means that it has a running time of 40 minutes or less. Short films tend to be low budget and created by independent companies and directors. They follow a common structure, consisting of a middle, beginning and end. They are also typically distributed and shown at film festivals.
Short films were first introduced in 1910 as comedy serials, created by comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.

Editing and Mis En Scene
Short films usually use simple editing techniques in favour of expensive VFX or CGI due to their small budgets. Voiceovers and narration are also common within short films as, due to the time limit, they efficiently give information to audience.

Genre
Short films can be both live action and animated, therefore providing a wide range of genre choices. However it is not unusual to see a short film set in an every day realistic environment, with characters that are relatable, yet still intriguing.

Characters

Most, if not all short films have no more than 3 main characters with a limited number of secondary characters, as there is simply not enough time to establish the history and back story of each individual character. These characters also tend to be relatable to the audience as there is not enough time for the creator to develop a deep, confusing character. There is also generally only one protagonist in order to prevent an overly confusing plot line.

Budget
A feature almost all short films share is their limited budget. Short films are commonly made by independent filmmakers and companies, therefore they do not have a lot of funding to make their film. This results in the director filming in only two or three locations, as well as only hiring one or two actors. These actors are also usually just starting out so typically are between the ages of 16 and 25. They are also inexperienced which can limit the 'star appeal' of a short film. Budget also causes the quality of short films to be worse than that of a feature length film, as the equipment is not as refined as that of a high budget film. Budget also effects the score of the film as creators can not always afford to have a sound track for the film, therefore simplistic music or no music at all is used. For example 'Bottle' by Kirsten Lepore, has no dialogue or background non-diegetic music.

Narrative 
Short film plots always contain a twist that creates intrigue. It is a common narrative technique to keep information back from the audience until the end of the story, in order to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. Todorov's theory of equilibrium can be applied to most short films, meaning that there is a disequilibrium towards the middle of the film that is resolved at the end.  For example, 'Paper Man' by Disney is an animated short, following a simple narrative of two characters meeting and falling in love and then trying to find one another once they separate.

Introduction

My name is Georgie Whitehouse. I am an A Level student currently studying media at Chenderit School. I have a passion for film and hope to go on to work in the industry in my future. Therefore I hope to achieve a high grade this year as I wish to move on to either an apprenticeship or university after A Levels.