forms and conventions of short films

in the early day of cinema all films were short film, however over time and with the use of a higher budget, techonolgoy advances,and big production comapnies short films have been pushed aside. short films are now distributed in a different way and are usually associated with indie film comapnies and through the use of social networking sites and sites such as you tube, were the film gets played and they are able to keep record of the views, hits and comments they recieve, they do it through these sites in order to get their target audience. they also can take into consideration the comments they recieve and make any alterations if nessacary and more than likely one day there short film will go into production.
by using these sites they are able to determine their target audience, they can see the age group and most of the time the sex of the people who are viewing and rating their short film, they are able to then give the movie a specific target audience and change the one they already had or the idea of one, this also enables them to see if they got it right the first tim round.
however, saying this short films are not given a certification as the likelyhood of the film ever going into production is very slim. so without certification anyone of any age realalisticy can view these films, so there is a chance the film will not end up with the most viewings from their desired audience as some people may not be allowed on such sites or may just not have access to them. unlike production films which have the certification and they know the age range their film is being aimed at.
another difference between short films and production movies is that the actors names are not included until the end of the clip or sometimes not included at all. for example in "The black hole" the actor name those not appear until the film is completely finished, this is because unlike production movies were the actors or indeed the actresses can have a big impact on the target audience and the audience, short films do not, the names of the actors arent going to improve the films viewings or ratings as the actors will not be well known.
a major difference between the two, apart from the length is the budget, ultimately short films have a lower budget then production movies, this means that the film is short in only one location most of the time, "my name is lisa" only has the location of her house and her front drive way. just like most short films only have one main character using an example from "the black hole" were the only character is the man we see who finds the black hole.
however what short films lack in money are usually made up through their creativity, short films tend to be more dramatic and keep your attention as they are on a shorter time length. there are no slow beginnings they take you right into the action and the main issue of the film, alot of short films tend to be more dramatic due to the fact they usually end of a cling hanger in a way leaving the audience wanting more, but gives enough to fufill there aim as a short film. "the black hole" which is clearly a great short film and has the forms and conventions of a short film as i have used it as an example alot, is a clear demonstartion of ending on cliff hangers because in the film when the man gets stuck int he safe you want to know wether or not he got caught!!!!
they tend to use a lot of non diagetic sound to, meaning the audience can hear the sound but is unable to see where it is coming from, which gives the film a more dramtic film and holds the audience attention, which in a short film is very important.