Does a short film have to have a story?

[harmonica44]

Every story I come up with is over before it starts, since I'm suppose to come up with a conflict, then rap it up right away. Not really a lot of time for things to get interesting. I have two ideas for two I wanna send into festivals. One has a bit of a story, but will have to have a ambiguous ending, but that can be intentional in an artsy way, like some movies.

The other idea is just one scene. It is a great comedy, scene and my friends laughed so hard when I told them. It's normal for friends to give flattery, but you know when they are laughing out loud for real. So can I just shoot a five minute funny scene, and have that stand out on it's own as a short, or do I have to come up with a story, where you actually know why the characters are there and what are they doing exactly?

 

[wheatgrinder]

thanks alcove for the link..
this 1min was great .. awesome punch line I did NOT see coming..

http://www.filminute.com/2011/

In regards to shorts with stories.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then in just a few frames you can write a short novel! Create an image that tells a story. Trust in visual exposition.


A 3 second shot of a guy stuck in traffic looking at his watch and pounding on the steering wheel can say everything you need to say about a character in a short story. Add a few more seconds and have the radio share some interesting information and you have an entire 1st act.

 

[Alcove Audio]

If a picture is worth a thousand words then in just a few frames you can write a short novel! Create an image that tells a story. Trust in visual exposition.

A 3 second shot of a guy stuck in traffic looking at his watch and pounding on the steering wheel can say everything you need to say about a character in a short story. Add a few more seconds and have the radio share some interesting information and you have an entire 1st act.

There are more ways to provide information that most indie filmmakers tend to overlook, usually with the "budget" excuse. The clothes that a character wears, the hairstyle, the jewelry, even glasses. Their "personal space" - a bedroom, living room, kitchen, etc. - the way that it is decorated/painted/arranged, knick-knacks, books and dozens of other little clues add volumes to the information an audience absorbs at a glance, often without even knowing it.

B-roll and even the way the shots are composed will tell you a lot about a character and/or a situation. And, of course, don't forget about sound; a carefully crafted ambient soundscape can provide oodles of information, as can the way that a character responds to sounds in their environment, or even the sounds the characters him/herself creates.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Dido! Knightly said it all.

 

[WalterB]

My advice:

shoot the funny scene.
Don't expect it to make it to filmfestivals (but try anyway).
Post it online and try to get it noticed.

Doing this will give you more experience and something to show the people you want to work with the next time.

If you're lucky/good/smart: it might enter a festival or attract a lot of viewers on the internet. (So it might give you some credit as well...)

 

[Ernest Worthing]

Can someone PLEASE tell me what EXACTLY what was the "story" in the film Un Chen Andalou ????

EDIT ..

yes Im sure Dali and Bunuel had something in mind but beat me to a pulp if I have a clue

It was intended by them to have no meaning, symbolism or story. You could call it a brave experiment in surrealism based on a dream.

EDIT: I lived in Madrid for a decade and went to their modern art museum a few times. They had Un Chien Andalou playing repeatedly in a small room because it was modern art in the 1920's.

 

[harmonica44]

My advice:

shoot the funny scene.
Don't expect it to make it to filmfestivals (but try anyway).
Post it online and try to get it noticed.

Doing this will give you more experience and something to show the people you want to work with the next time.

If you're lucky/good/smart: it might enter a festival or attract a lot of viewers on the internet. (So it might give you some credit as well...)

Yeah that's what I originally was going to do. And I'll stick to that for now.