Short Film Time Frame

[Fidelio]

What kind of a time frame would be suitable for a dramatic narrative short film of ten minutes?

A day? Two days? A week?

My goal is to make it as natural as possible... I don't want anything to feel compressed.

 

[Chris Messineo]

Anything over ten minutes is compressed, but that is not a bad thing.

Let the story be your guide. You could have a story that covers ten years in ten minutes and it could feel natural and yet 1 hour might feel rushed. It really all depends on the story you are telling.

I think the key thing to keep in mind with a short is to focus on a smaller/more intimate story and not just try and jam a feature length idea into a short.

Good luck,

Chris

 

[Fidelio]

It seems like most short films have a very short time frame, though... I haven't seen much short films that have pulled off anything well over a day or two... then again, I see that it's kind of hard to cover a long period of time. I wonder if it's possible to do it well, though.

 

[-zach-]

Well I know it's not a movie,

but you can read "The Giving Tree" in about 10 minutes and that covers a whole lifespan.

So I guess it depends on your subject matter.

 

[Hairy Lime]

I've seen a 6 minute short film that covers a lifetime. Anything works if executed properly.

 

[srproductions]

Not a short, but Click (adam sandler) was 100 min and it covered his life.