I’ve always had a deep rooted appreciated for film in every form, but dwelled mostly on the lengthy cinematic blockbusters spit out by Hollywood or foreign films that I had to pick apart and try to gleen the meaning from its ambiguous content. I saw it as: The more difficult to understand/longer the film, the more I could (was supposed to) get out of it.
Today, however, after a quick coffee date with a friend today and hearing his side of the artistic elements of film, I began reassessing the actual value of short vs. full length films.
He said that he enjoys short films so much more because the content is more condensed and you can pack just as much into these succinct(thank you Maia) motion pictures as lengthy ones. Also, the film gains and then keeps (providing its entire purpose is executed properly) your entire attention-something long films begin to lose if they go over an hour and 50 minutes.
This has prompted me to revisit some of my favorite short films and seek out new ones…
Transient:
http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#play/SEARCH,queryString:transient,order:MOST_RELEVANT/0,142700
I’m Here:
http://www.imheremovie.com/
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Less is more.
I would like to add couple of things. First, I believe that the purpose of the movies was always to connect to the audience. This connection will convey the themes involved in the movie to the viewer really quickly and very sincerely; hence, they will really (not forcefully) laugh, smile, cry and really hating the bad guy. Recently, whenever I watch a movie, after it is finished, I don’t remember what it was about. And this is my reason for my admiration for short films. They are “short”, emotional, and unique. You can quickly differentiate the creativity between thoughtful stories.
This brings me to the second point, which is talking about “I’m here”. First, I have to say that I had to lie over my age to enter and see it (coz i am only 20) but it was absolutely worth it
. It has been a very long time since I saw a film that makes me really think about technology, love, sacrifice and dreams (ambition), rules, breaking them and many other, from my own perspective, in just 30 minutes. In addition, I am sure that many people will have different interpretation as well; hence, we would have something to discuss after the movie finishes (it is not like: good guy, gun fire,, bad guy lose, what should I talk about ?!). Tell me a movie from the Top 10 list of IMDB USA Weekend Box-Office that will communicate these themes of life like “I’m here”?. I absolutely loved the short movie (Thanks Olivia for sharing it)
Just one final thought, I love action and comedy movies, but if I am looking for something that will provoke me into building theories and thinking about them, then short films is the best of all.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
I don’t know if short films are necessarily “more meaningful” than full-length films…in the end, I feel at least that it’s the content, quality, and message that counts…I enjoy both.