How long?

tongoll

tongoll

How long should, if one was intending, make a short?
now i am talking about something i am going to put a LOT of effort into, it would take a lot of time with what i am planning to do in the first scene (planned to be 15 minutes, but could be condensed into 10.)

It was going to be a movie, but now i am thinking, of only doing scene one, and keeping the script etc, and adding on too it if it gets good feedback.....

but is that enough? i want to make something long enough to make it into the largest amount of festivals, both online and off.....
 
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How long is a piece of string?

The story is as long as the story is.

There's a big difference, btw, between a short film and an episode. You might find an episode harder to get into any festivals, as it's not a standalone unit that tells a complete story. Depending on how long the entire long film is supposed to be, a "part 1" could be totally filled with just character introductions - and that (with nothing else) could put an audience to sleep. Or at least make them scratch their heads in a wtf manner, when the credits roll instead of the rest of the story.

I'd suggest figuring out whether you're going to make a short or a feature first.

You could do some kind of open-ended continuation that you write as you keep going (several web-series do this), but that's not the kind of thing that gets sent to the various festivals (until wholly complete, at any rate), but rather to their viewing audience.

Meh, I'm startin' to ramble.

.
 
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Zensteve said:
How long is a piece of string?

The story is as long as the story is.

There's a big difference, btw, between a short film and an episode. You might find an episode harder to get into any festivals, as it's not a standalone unit that tells a complete story. Depending on how long the entire long film is supposed to be, a "part 1" could be totally filled with just character introductions - and that (with nothing else) could put an audience to sleep. Or at least make them scratch their heads in a wtf manner, when the credits roll instead of the rest of the story.

I'd suggest figuring out whether you're going to make a short or a feature first.

You could do some kind of open-ended continuation that you write as you keep going (several web-series do this), but that's not the kind of thing that gets sent to the various festivals (until wholly complete, at any rate), but rather to their viewing audience.

Meh, I'm startin' to ramble.

.
Click to expand...

well, the thing is, i have all ready written the entire version as a feature. (about 203 pages, its not like an amazing story, but i want to keep what it is secrete)
but....
not enough funds as off right now, so what i was thinking was, make the first scene (i purposely made the first scene able to aether be viewed solo or continued), as kind off a pilot if you will, and then if it gets some good feedback etc then film the longer bigger better version...
 
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Most fests like shorts under 20 minutes. They like to do shorts programs with 5 or so short films in an hour. A good length is 8 minutes. All depends on your film though. Don't compromise it. Hope this helps.
 
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Hi tongoll!
To me it sounds like you are on a good track. I'm by the way nowadays reasoning that when you take every circumstance into count: the two best choices are a feature or something under 15 minutes. If your first episode has a satisfying ending as well as manages to make the audience curious for the rest this can be very good for your feature project.
 
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it did indie! and one more question....

how big of a no no is dropping F bombs in shorts you plan to send out to festivals? (i know i shouldn't but it really does add to a situation...the effect can be compensated for, but it still being there wouldn't hurt...)
 
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for real? I would imagine that they would consider dropping random F bombs not only unnecessary, but a cheap way to get a emotional reaction from the viewers....
i find it hard to believe....
 
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I recently shot a short that will probably end up being 35 minutes or so. Everyone I talk to says, "Oh your making a long short." I expected it to be shorter than it has turned out to be...keep in mind that often happens. This "one minute to one page" rule doesn't always translate.

However; I did some research and there are festivals that except anything under 40 minutes. I believe you should tell the story you want to tell, while keeping what you want to do with your film and where you want to send it in the back of your mind.
 
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