Our Films / Our Scripts

[mario gauci]

Although some of my favorite films are short movies - SHERLOCK JR. (1924), UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929), SIMON OF THE DESERT (1965) and any number of Laurel & Hardy two-reelers - I can't seem to be able to come up with any ideas that lend themselves to this concise format!

In fact, all of my "projects" so far have been too ambitious and ended up being turned into feature-length screenplays. For the record, in the past I've attended an 8-week Film-making Program at The New York Film Academy's offices at Universal Studios in Hollywood where I shot 5 shorts (or, more technically, clips) totalling 10 minutes in all...but, frankly, except for two, these were nothing to write home about!

Anyway, I wanted to put to you knowledgable folks some pertinent questions about this topic:

a) Are there any recommended texts (be they printed or available online) about Short film-making?
b) Are there any lists available online of the greatest short movies?
c) Which are the most prestigious Short Film Festivals worldwide?
d) If one was to submit his Short in one of these Festivals, is one expected to clear any music rights before doing so?
e) Similarly, do Short movies submitted to Festivals need to be copyrighted or is that solely a prerequisite for screenplays?


Thanks in advance for any input. It is truly appreciated.

[Peacock]

a) I'm sure plenty of people could recommend good short filmmaking books, but I'd be wary. These sorts of things often prescribe certain formulas when really you should be finding your own way, otherwise your film becomes more about the formula than expressing an idea

b) There's a list on this very forum in the Lists Project subforum for the best Short Films. May I personally recommend checking out Renoir's Partie de Campagne, Vigo's Zero for Conduct, Genet's Un Chant D' Amour and Farrokhzad's The House is Black, if you haven't seen them? The French New Wave's early short films are useful from a learning perspective as well.

c) There are so many short film festivals now it's hard to rank them. Future Shorts is pretty big, but I'm not the best person to ask for dedicated Short Film Fests. I'd really recommend sending your films to the big boys: Cannes, Venice, Berlin, as well as Sundance, London Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival... Costs a bit, but you'll get great exposure if your film gets accepted!!

d) This will depend on the size and stature of a festival. As you are getting a public screening (or several) I'd presume you'd have to submit evidence to most places that you have cleared the rights. There's a website which allows you to find out the copyright holder of whatever music you search for, can't remember it now, but maybe somebody else here will..
So if you really want something not recorded for your film, try emailing the rights holders and ask if they'd be lenient as your just a young short filmmaker submitting to some festivals etc etc. I think it's easiest if you get someone you know to compose, but yeah anyway.

e) If no one else is stated as being the copyright holder, it is presumed you are. You don't need to pay for copyright for a film. To make things easier should there be a breach in copyright from somebody, you could put a copyright sign at the end of your film, but if no, you don't need to officially copyright something.



I don't watch too many short films, but of the ones i've seen, none of my favorites are shorter than 15 minutes. A lot of film schools encourage you to make them shorter, but it's actually in some ways harder as you have to simplify your idea, simplify your characters, and make it a worth while experience in a short space of time.
I'd recommend aiming more for the 20 minute mark on your next film, and it may come out bloated and dull, but you'll have much more room to play around with character development and pace; for me this is much more useful if you want to make feature films, but many would disagree...

[carax09]

I'd just like to add that the Black Maria Film Festival, now in it's 30th year, is an excellent stepping-stone festival for short films, they are based in Jersey City, NJ, and begin accepting films this month.

[Ovader]

Roberta Munroe has a book titled How NOT To Make A Short Film: Secrets from a Sundance Programmer (link has more interviews!) which is getting positive reviews from the many indie filmmakers I know in the USA. Listen to her interview on Film Courage for some practical advice regarding the making and distributing of short films.

[aox]

If you are looking to make a film to show in a festival setting, the shorter the better. 20 minutes is a lot of time in relative terms. 5-8 minutes usually do much better.

[Peacock]

Maybe so, but interestingly in Cannes this year all the shorts in competition were between 20-40 mins

[nsps]

Yeah, the shorts at Cannes usually seem to be pretty long.

[Tark]

The Criterion Forum is extremely talented.

[AWA]

A surreal experience tonight - while visiting my friends tonight, we were talking about funny videos online. One of them raved about this "one guy" who does "the funniest shit" and it's "really amazingly good". Alright...

.... so he fires up the Mac and shows me a bunch of videos... made by our own chaddoli & Co.

Small, small world.

[chaddoli]

A surreal experience tonight - while visiting my friends tonight, we were talking about funny videos online. One of them raved about this "one guy" who does "the funniest shit" and it's "really amazingly good". Alright...

.... so he fires up the Mac and shows me a bunch of videos... made by our own chaddoli & Co.

Small, small world.

Hahaha! That warms my heart. It's always good to hear we have a couple fans kicking around.

I haven't posted for awhile. We've been working hard on new stuff. I have a new film called "One Night Only" starring Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, Deadwood), Brian Petsos (the upcoming Sin Bin), Amy Seimetz (Alexander the Last) and Kristen Wiig (SNL), which was shot by Steve Gainer, ASC (Mysterious Skin, Bully) on 35mm, and features music by Phosphorescent, Peter & the Wolf, and The Relatives. It's a romantic drama about two couples night out together. It has some funny bits as well.

Here's a link to the trailer

We also just produced two short films that will be on HBO's Funny or Die Presents in the fall. "Boobie" stars Petsos and Elijah Wood, and "Sticky Minds" stars Petsos, Wiig, and Adam Brody. Check them out - I'll post which night they will be on when I know.

We're also making new stuff with Gavin McInnes all the time, which I'm guessing are the videos your friends think are the funniest shit.

[AWA]

A surreal experience tonight - while visiting my friends tonight, we were talking about funny videos online. One of them raved about this "one guy" who does "the funniest shit" and it's "really amazingly good". Alright...

.... so he fires up the Mac and shows me a bunch of videos... made by our own chaddoli & Co.

Small, small world.

Hahaha! That warms my heart. It's always good to hear we have a couple fans kicking around.

I haven't posted for awhile. We've been working hard on new stuff. I have a new film called "One Night Only" starring Garret Dillahunt (No Country for Old Men, Deadwood), Brian Petsos (the upcoming Sin Bin), Amy Seimetz (Alexander the Last) and Kristen Wiig (SNL), which was shot by Steve Gainer, ASC (Mysterious Skin, Bully) on 35mm, and features music by Phosphorescent, Peter & the Wolf, and The Relatives. It's a romantic drama about two couples night out together. It has some funny bits as well.

Here's a link to the trailer

We also just produced two short films that will be on HBO's Funny or Die Presents in the fall. "Boobie" stars Petsos and Elijah Wood, and "Sticky Minds" stars Petsos, Wiig, and Adam Brody. Check them out - I'll post which night they will be on when I know.

We're also making new stuff with Gavin McInnes all the time, which I'm guessing are the videos your friends think are the funniest shit.

That trailer looks good - as a Dylan obsessive though, I'm assuming you don't have legal permission to use the recording... also as a tiny little indie filmmaker myself who takes advantage of looser copyright laws in Canada by using copyrighted songs in my work, I applaud you for it! (And hey -somehow I even got a little distribution deal for my shorts 3 years ago despite being filled with old songs I didn't have the rights to!). Looks great though, keep up the good work... looking forward to more.

[Ovader]

Check out the trailer for my new short film Dead and Lovely here:... I shot it with the Panasonic HVX and the Brevis35 with Nikon lenses.

I finally watched it tonight and good job! What was the general critical reception and received any possible opportunities to further your filmmaking goals?

[AlexHansen]

For anyone who is looking to kill some time, here are three pieces of mine that I think ended up working fairly well. Thanks in advance for those that give them a watch and I hope you enjoy.

Die Erste Reise (The First Would Rub)
Three Nights of a Dreamer
Relief

[Two Cent James]

My brother created a short film/montage of the great slaps in cinema. You read that right: slaps.

Glove, Actually

[Grand Illusion]

My brother created a short film/montage of the great slaps in cinema. You read that right: slaps.

Glove, Actually

That was kinda fantastic. A lot of (tedious) work must've gone into that. The end result is very well cut together.

[zedz]

Nice job! But you missed a good one:
"And remember. . . no slapping!"

[colinr0380]

I did find all the slapping got a little too intense for me after the first minute though!

My favourite of these kinds of 'film trope' videos would have to be the one illustrating that modern horror and thriller films now have to include a scene disabling mobile phones!

(The older version of this is probably the 'cutting the telephone cord, or pulling it out of the wall' moment)

[Grand Illusion]

Here's a short film I helped out on. The director was submitting to film fests, but Motorola released their Super Bowl ad with the same exact concept and, suspiciously, the same ending. Anyway, he threw the thing online ASAP and has been pushing everyone to promote the film. Much love if you check it out. More love if you like it and share it with others.

It's about a girl wandering around a dystopia where nobody interacts because they're too busy listening to their iPods.

edit: The film made an article on CNET

[chaddoli]

Here's the trailer for my new short film BLOCK, which just premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival.

Here's what horror director/producer Larry Fessenden had to say about the film:

A meticulously crafted minimalist shocker distinguished by striking visuals and sound, grounded by a compelling, deceptively spare performance from Helen Rogers.

[Grand Illusion]

Looks great, chaddoli.

[domino harvey]

Yeah, looks good!

[Grand Wazoo]

My latest short film BACKYARD is done making the festival rounds, so it can now reside on Vimeo. Check it out!

[Cash Flagg]

It's about a girl wandering around a dystopia where nobody interacts because they're too busy listening to their iPods.

[Grand Illusion]

Haha. Excellent. Although I see a few people who aren't plugged in! It's like Where's Waldo.

[paranoid-knight2008]

I'm really not sure WHERE to post this on any of the boards, so if this ends up getting locked up or anything, I just want you to know that I apologize. It's just I'm not familiar completely with the CF boards quite like most here.



A film made by yours truly. It's currently being uploaded via Veoh in HD. Because of its length (69 minutes), it's taking a while. Been uploading for three days now and it's only 60% finished. When it's complete, I bet the wait will be worth it. Better having it in one complete video rather than 10 minute chunks on Youtube.

Anyway... CLEANERS is a film that is hugely experimental, but still aiming at expressing personal ideas and feelings that I have within myself concerning the teen's scattered views on love and sex while showcasing, through the period of one night, how two youngsters who believe themselves to be in love go on a drug binge which ultimately ends in a murky act of violence. I tired to keep to my own personal sensibility the whole time while using other forms of entertainment to underline the characters' perception of their surroundings on substances.

The film was shot on MiniDV with no budget at all. There was also no script for dialogue, but only for the scenes themselves. I tried to create an atmosphere of aimlessness that still seems to be heading towards a point of no return.

The film will be posted here as soon as it finished uploading. Currently, all I have to share is some film stills and a brief clip from the film.

FILM STILLS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4pdkrKTZm0

THE CLIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsUdQlHzHvc

Would love to hear your comments and such! Will you watch it when I post it?