Does a short film have to be that good?

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harmonica44

I've noticed a lot of newbie wanna become directors, on here, are worried about not being able to come up with much of a good story for a short film. But don't a lot of critics at the film festivals and people in the business realize that short films are just for directors to pitch their craft, and it's not that the story matters as much, but the editing, sound, acting, etc. Or am I wrong and they highly value story, even though story is not exactly the director's job?
 
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Part of a director's job is picking good stories to tell in his/her style. If you start by picking a bad story to direct for one of your first, or "calling-card" projects, will you stand out as a good choice to hire as a director? (if that's your goal)

If you watch a film, short or long, and it's not entertaining or engaging, you would probably consider it a failure, even if it had nice camera moves and adequate framing of shots. I saw the Tom Hanks-directed "Larry Crowne" the other night, and although it is competently executed, has solid actors, etc., I didn't find it to be a really good movie.

A short film with a good story AND interesting design/direction will get you more favorable response, faster.

gelder
 
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There is the alternative of music video.

but..

A story can be just a few words long. Ask and Answer a question.

A boy walks around a wagon. A cute girl is in the wagon with a cute puppy, she smiles at "someone." (Q: Who is she smiling at?) The wagon moves, a boy is pulling the wagon.
(A: its the boy pulling the wagon)

That story earned me $10K. ;) (I just like saying that.. check is still in the mail!)
 
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harmonica44 said:
I've noticed a lot of newbie wanna become directors, on here, are worried about not being able to come up with much of a good story for a short film. But don't a lot of critics at the film festivals and people in the business realize that short films are just for directors to pitch their craft, and it's not that the story matters as much, but the editing, sound, acting, etc. Or am I wrong and they highly value story, even though story is not exactly the director's job?
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Pitch their craft, so story doesn't matter? This statement says a lot. You need to really think if you want to be a director because it sounds like you want a technical job like editor or DP. A technically superior short where you ignore story to pitch your craft is pitching the tech side. If that's what you're into, you should go with it.
 
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Lots of shorts have very narrow stories.
My current "story" is simple

A woman dies
Her husband reanimates her
She finds out that shes a monster and kills her self
The husband reanimates her YET AGAIN
She gives him "that look" and he releases her from her mockery of life.
 
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What indietalk said.

Directing IS storytelling (or, at least it should be). If you don't care about telling the best possible story in your best possible way - then why are you doing this? So you decide the story doesn't matter, and you create a technical masterpiece with a flat story. The guy next to you creates a technical masterpiece AND delivers an awesome story with it. Who gets the nod from the critics, judges, etc?
 
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Maybe look at it this way: jokes are short stories that make you laugh. They can be one liners or take 5 minutes to tell. Let me re-frame your question for perspective: does a joke have to be that funny?
 
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A director IS a storyteller - you tell (direct) everyone (cast & crew) exactly how you want everything to look and to sound. Everything person on both sides of the camera and every piece of gear is a tool for the director to use for his/her telling of the story. STORY IS KING!
 
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harmonica44 said:
Well there a lot of well directed bad movies.
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No there aren't. It's impossible.

Perhaps you mean that there are well-SHOT bad movies, in which case I'd agree. But your job as a director is not to shoot it well. it's to shoot it well AND tell a story. Shooting a bunch of pretty things that don't relate to a story you're actively trying to convey IS NOT DIRECTING. If you don't want to tell a story, or are unable to come up with ideas, don't call yourself a director. Just go out and do photography gigs, or become part of a technical crew. One's inability to tell stories visually inherently means that they are not a director.
 
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True, but there are times that a screenplay is bad enough, that no good director could save it. For example, a lot of people including me, think The Human Centipede was bad, but the story was still told coherently. It was just a bad story.
 
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Everything is in aid of telling the story.

Personal preference will decide which story we like, and dislike. But there's always a story.

If there wasn't, what are we sharing?
What are we showing our audience?
What are we all working for?
What are we doing on set?
Why does any craft have a purpose if there's nothing to convey?

To dismiss whether it is important or not, is a huge red flag in your priorities as a creative.

(Although I have a feeling this is question of merely deciphering a story out of apparant "eye-candy" etc)
 
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harmonica44 said:
Yeah, there's always a story. I just meant can a director save a bad story, and if so, then does the story matter, just so long as the director is telling it well.
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The Director will have deemed interest in the story before hand, he/she will have believed that they are suitable to best take it from page, to screen.

It can change on set. Sometimes, it just won't work. It just won't convey.

But stories are a collective. They're all connected. They're all different versions of eachother painted differently.

It's VERY possible to save a "bad story". But the story will always be there.

(Try to better choose your titles, it was a little misleading, as you mentioned short films inparticular...)
 
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