The term short film orginated in the 1910's which was also the early period of cinema. The is used differently in he continents of the world.
North America classes a short film being between 20-40 minutes long, but in europe the definition is used if the film is longer than 1 minute but shorter than 15 minutes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_film
The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors. When the majority of feature films began to be made in much longer-running editions. A typical film program came to be expected to include a feature preceded by one or more short subjects. Short subjects could be live action or animated.
Comedy was particularly utilized, and well-known comedians such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others are known for their short films as well as their features.
North America classes a short film being between 20-40 minutes long, but in europe the definition is used if the film is longer than 1 minute but shorter than 15 minutes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_film
The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors. When the majority of feature films began to be made in much longer-running editions. A typical film program came to be expected to include a feature preceded by one or more short subjects. Short subjects could be live action or animated.
Comedy was particularly utilized, and well-known comedians such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and others are known for their short films as well as their features.
Very short films are sometimes considered as a category of their own. They are the film equivalent of microfiction, like the 60 Word Story. People usually think of short films as being animation rather than reality.
The International Festival of Very Shorts is a festival based in Paris which shows only films less than three minutes long.
Filminute, the international one-minute film festival, has presented and promoted a collection of one-minute films across multiple media since September 2006.
