A History of Short Films

Short films began in the US in 1910. It was at this time that films were lasting longer and the custom at the time was to show the feature film followed by a short subject. As identified in Short Film Codes & Conventions these short films could be of any genre, ranging from a cartoon to action. At the time, these were not called "short films" but called short subjects. However, they would soon become the first short films.

The earliest of the short subjects were commonly in the genre of comedy. But others had topics that would interest audiences and sustain their attention. However, by the 1930s, the short films were becoming less popular. There were fewer being made and most that were made were produced in-house. It was even possible that these short films were being financed by big film companies. Companies that had the power to force the owners of the short films to sell to the bigger companies. These companies were not only film production companies, but also cinema-chain-owners, or theatre-chain-owners as they were at the time. They would then turn what was a short film into a feature to reap the profits. This was known as block booking. This was then later declared to be illegal by the Supreme Court of the United States.

With the rise of television in the 50s, short films were attended to by independent film makers. However, television programming schedules included broadcasting some old short films or subjects. These were due to the television stations having bought the short films. But, by the 60s, short films had died out.

In the 1980s the term 'short film' was classed as something different to 'short subject.' The 'short subjects' were still defined as the short film that was shown in the earlier history at the end or beginning of films. 'Short Film' on the other hand are "contemporary, non-commercial motion pictures which are shorter than feature films."

Opposed to the restricted genres of short films in the earlier history, they are now very diverse, generally featuring themes that feature films avoid. Unfortunately they have to rely on art exhibitions and festivals in order to be noticed by the public.

Bibliography:

Kamau, R. (2007). A Brief History of Short Films. Available: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199025/a_brief_history_of_short_films.html?cat=15. Last accessed 13 January 2010.