I haven’t seen too many short films and I honestly don’t know why. Every time I’ve seen a short film – yes, every time – I am so blown away by the filmmaker’s ability to squeeze this impactful story into the smallest time frame.
During the screening of the Oscar nominated live action short films at the IFC Center, prior to each film, there’s a screenshot of the title and the length of the film. Each time, I’d say “Psh, fifteen minutes, you can’t show a decent film fifteen minutes!” and each time I was wrong.
I don’t often care about the Oscars because more often than not, I haven’t even see half of the films nominated. The short film category, though, brings something different to the table.
“Short films are easily overlooked because most people prefer to see feature length films. However, many short films have a lot more meaning than a lot of feature length blockbusters,” said Aaron Figueroa, a film student at Brooklyn College.
Often featuring independent filmmakers, the viewer isn’t distracted by big name actors or gimmicks and can focus on the story and stylistics of the film. Short films really capture my attention and I think that time plays a big factor in that. They don’t waste time; each minute is valuable and carefully thought out- something I think feature film directors and producers should consider more carefully.
They’re about enough to make me want to give up my free movie Tuesdays (thanks, Optimum Rewards!) and trek to IFC to see them. Yeah, they’re that good.
A scene from the Oscar nominated short, God Of Love. Courtesy of Oscar.com
“Psh, fifteen minutes, you can’t show a decent film fifteen minutes!” I thought the same thing.
great post lisa, I agree the fifteen minutes were tircky but overall it was suprising how much I enjoyed them. When reading this , I felt like you were having a conversation with me, I really enjoyed your post!!