Why do you make short films?

mjjason

mjjason

Well-known member
I am curious as to what is the motivation behind making short films. Not necessarily why the short film format exist as there are hundreds of valid reasons for that but more specifically what motivates you to shoot a short?

Do you only shoot a short because of competitions like the Fests on this site? Or do you shoot shorts for personal projects?

Do you find it easy to motivate people to work on a short if the short is for only personal accomplishment with no real defined place to submit it and have it screened?

For me that has been my biggest issue. Getting people to want to work on a short. If there is no monetary gain many people are not interested. How do many of you overcome this? Or are you all mainly making shorts for competitions?
 
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My main reason is to learn to direct and learn how to use the camera and all things technical to do with film so when I do my low budget feature it will be worth the effort.
 
Every short i have done so far has to practice something so when I'm ready for my feature all the kinks will be worked out.
 
I shoot a short when the idea doesn't merit a feature length film. Oh, how I wish others would give the audience the same consideration. I've actually shot features that I have cut down to shorts because it improves the particular film.
 
So I take it most of you shoot shorts for personal reasons and not specifically for contest.

Do you find it difficult to entice people to work on your short with little to no money and with them knowing that there is a possibility that few people will see it?
 
I am shooting one now for film fests. I have been waiting on it for a long time but my lead got his own TV show and has been busy as hell so I'm recasting in the next week or two. Here is my old thread for it.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=82547
I'm going to use some of the peeps from "Bronx Bottom feeders" since I hang with them all the time and have been working on their films.
There is always someone you know that tries to act so you can start with them and hopefully they have a friend or two that act also. Then after you do that short, your friend will probably show it around to other actors and the group grows. Two or three of those and then you can probably just have a casting call when you get used to directing.
 
I shoot shorts because for the most part they're a little creative outlet for me... I am wrapped up in longer, bigger projects, but because those take so much time to come to fruition, shorts allow me to stay sharp,and have some fun! :) And yes, they indeed help the skillset everytime.
 
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