One big difference between the mainstream full length films and short films is obviously the duration but this factor causes many differences between the two such as the products purpose, production, financing and final outcome.
The duration of the short film enables a faster production rate with low financial expenses but the revenue from the product isn’t considered an income, therefore the purpose of the product is within its artistic style of the producer, this creates an independence from the mainstream film by the products economic restraints and the final outcome. The less effort and costs to produce a short film, the less financial risk meaning the producer can influence his short film more in order to create the desired effect. This allows the producer to influence his final outcome more with experimentation; innovation and its originality and quality will be decided on how much the audience likes the short film. One big purpose in this for the producer is the promotion of the short film or even himself as a director, this is done at film festivals such as Cannes every year in France to make a name for themselves for future prospects or opportunities.
Other purposes of short film involve experimentation and education. Some short films try to incorporate experimentation as explained above in the attempt to create originality that which the audience has never seen, possibly related with the promotion of the short film or producer trying to create aesthetical enjoyment for the audience. Another reason for experimentation is the fact that producers can tackle difficult issues such as social breakdown and propose a different point of view or way of thinking, which in turn would make the audience think about society and humanity.
Finally the last main purpose for short films is for educational reasons, a lesson or moral can be learnt by witnessing events in the form of a short film. I believe this can be a effective way of communicating messages to the youth due to their lack of interest in news, radio and even television, now the youth is much more involved with the internet because of its view on demand characteristic. This is why I believe if my production was posted on the internet and with a target audience of the youth it would be a great success. Educational films are used extensively throughout lower education and are very effective compared to seeing a situation visually on a screen then just conceptualising a situation, the point of the lesson is clearly expressed.
The production of short films is short and therefore there is not any large financial backing to fund the production or a large cast crew, the producer will be working with balancing economical restraints with the quality or the short films outcome, this is not the case for mainstream films.
For mainstream films, the purpose is usually to make money. Contrastingly to short films, the purpose of full length mainstream films is for the audience’s aesthetical enjoyment, and in this way the product produces a higher revenue income than which expenses were paid for during production, if it is a success. Therefore the production of these mainstream films are very expensive and usually require investors that aid the production financially expecting low financial risk which would influence the outcome of the final product resulting in little economic freedom with no room for experimentation or innovation. This is all very different to short films but both genres have their own purpose and reason. An example of this is ‘The passion of the Christ’ which would hint some good cause or a tribute but instead was a great success and made millions.
A range of examples of mainstream films include Titanic, The Bourne trilogy, and the Harry Potter series.
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