Help to Expand an idea?

[M8Tty1694]

ok i have this basic idea for a storyline for a short film. the film has to be a maximum of 10 minutes long and i have a good basic story of two theives breaking into a house only to then be chased down and eventually caught by the owner. from what i have so far its up to around 5 minutes and i was hoping if anybody had any ideas on how i could expand the story?
-Thanks

 

[polfilmblog]

Two thieves break into house, get arrested is an INCIDENT.

Two thieves break into house, and one of them is the son of the owner who hates his father for favoring his brother and buying him a car and a boat and a house...

Now there's a story.

 

[Instag8r]

This is funny as hell. Use it for inspiration.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/08/oregon.intruder.911/

 

[FantasySciFi]

ok i have this basic idea for a storyline for a short film. the film has to be a maximum of 10 minutes long and i have a good basic story of two theives breaking into a house only to then be chased down and eventually caught by the owner. from what i have so far its up to around 5 minutes and i was hoping if anybody had any ideas on how i could expand the story?
-Thanks

Pol is right, this is just a set of events or an incident. It's not a story. It is very hard to explain but a story is the underlying reason the events happen in the way that they unfold. The end of the story has a resolution of the emotional component, even if the events continue on.

Look at the changes in the characters. Thieves may go from being in control and indifferent to out of control and concerned. The owner may go from being helpless to being in control. This may involve outside factors (police, booby traps, guard dogs, etc.) . Stories, fundamentally, are about personal transformation(s). Without that, you just have a series of events. If you watch a good documentary, they don't just provide facts but focus on the impact of those events on bystanders and those in the thick.

Perhaps your five pages are enough. And without seeing your script, it's difficult to say if the characters are sufficiently developed. This premise is a common one and has many ways of branching out. If it only takes five minutes to tell your story well, then that's how long it should be. Unless you are specifically told it needs to be more than five pages, you've met the expressed criterion and kept it under 10 minutes.