5 Steps (My Short Film)

[deathbeatsliving]

I am currently working on a short film that is based in the same world as the tv series referenced here

D.E.A.D-a tv series

The short film is about a twisted take on the 5 stages of grief people go through when they lose something important to them. Commonly this something important is someone close to them but for the protagonist in this short film it is life.

He starts to go through the 5 stages when he dies and comes back alive 72 hours later and he won't accept that he has lost his previous 'life'.

What I am wondering have you got any advice on what makes a great short film? How do you make the audience care about the characters in the small amount of time you have?

[Hilarious Joke]

I don't know, but I like this idea.

[reiver33]

Ah, misunderstood the question - I thought the '5 Stages of Grief' was the title of a short film...

[Boneman]

Define short film. I worked with a director who was bafta nominated for his short film, and it was precisely 5 minutes long. I assume yours would have to be longer, or it's only 1 minute per step........?

[mygoditsraining]

It depends - are you planning to just write it, or are you going to produce and direct it too?

You can plan to have it as long as you want, as long as you feel is necessary to get the message across, but there will be the external forces of budget and directorial/editorial control (if you are just writing it) to consider. What you may feel is an essential piece of dialogue might get clipped for causing bloat.

If you're aiming to have a short film for some form of competition use, most will have guidelines on what constitutes "short". If you're planning to self-produce and get grant-based funding you're better off writing it first, taking a stab at what the length is going to be, budget for that amount, stick 10% onto the total to cover all eventualities and then draft up a proposal for the funding. There's money out ther for the asking, but there isn't a lot and it tends to go to people who either have an established name or are very clear on what they want to do. The absolute worst thing you could do in terms of impressing a possible funding source would be to sit down and say "well I'll aim to make it as long as I get money for".

According to Wikipedia, the Academy lists anything under 40 minutes as short. The IMDB, <45 mins. If having a number makes you feel better about it, there you go.

On the matter of the 5 stages of grief, anyone who has seen the Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" will know them from Homer's reactions in Dr. Hibbert's office.

[HareBrain]

Originally Posted by mygoditsraining

On the matter of the 5 stages of grief, anyone who has seen the Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" will know them from Homer's reactions in Dr. Hibbert's office.

And done in a good deal less than even five minutes!

[Hilarious Joke]

Ha ha ha, I'll admit that's what I thought of .