What Actually is a Short Film?

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A short film is any motion picture not long enough to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".

 Well there's the definition, but what is a short film in the context of wanting to produce one? The limitations given to us (beyond a 5 minute maximum running time) are surprisingly open ended, and in a medium often defined by a lack of definition - as in the facilitation for abstract ideas - the possibilities for a short filmmaker are seemingly limitless.

 The fact is that a short film can be anything from a biting, grit-filled tale of tragedy and commentary, to a wonderfully meaningless (in the best sense of the word) comedy, to something completely incomprehensible. As much as such a lack of guidelining could seem intimidating at first, you have to approach the prospect optimistically; to choose to see a world of possibility rather than a blinding lack of precedent.

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