![opoides is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Mexico and Central America. Three species are currently recognized.[4] The common names suggests they are able to leap at an attacker, but this is likely exaggerated.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110713031814im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/4c/6e/7c9442bb722f7efa0143c2063798_grande.jpg "opoides is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Mexico and Central America. Three species are currently recognized.[4] The common names suggests they are able to leap at an attacker, but this is likely exaggerated.")
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits". The Internet Movie Database draws the line at 45 minutes.
The increasingly rare term short subject means approximately the same thing. An industry term, it carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short is an abbreviation for either term.
Short comedies were especially popular, and typically came in a serial or series such as the Our Gang films, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' character. Although there was often no set release schedule, these series could be considered somewhat like a modern TV sitcom - lower in status than feature films but nevertheless very popular (comedians such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton all 'graduated' from shorts to features).
Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects, as did newsreels. Virtually all major film production companies had units assigned to develop and produce shorts, and many companies, especially in the silent and very early sound era, produced mostly or only short subjects.
In the 1930s, the distribution system changed in many countries owing to the Great Depression. Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, a cartoon and little else. With the rise of the double feature as a cinema programming format, two-reel shorts went into decline as a commercial category. Hal Roach, for example, moved Laurel and Hardy full-time into feature films after 1935, and halved his popular Our Gang films to one reel. By the 1940s he had moved out of short films altogether (though MGM continued the Our Gang shorts until 1944).
Later shorts include George O'Hanlon's Joe McDoakes films, and the animated work of studios such as Walt Disney Productions, Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz and Fleischer/Famous Studios. By the mid 1950s, with the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead, The Three Stooges being the last major series of two-reelers, ending in 1959, and the cartoon short began to fade beginning in the early 70s due to rising inflation, with The Pink Panther being the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, ending in 1980, despite the fact it began in 1964, when most cartoon studios were closing down or turning to television. Short film had become a medium for student, independent and specialty work.
Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work doesn't fit the standard broadcast schedule. ShortsTV is the first television channel dedicated to short films. It broadcasts an SDTV feed in France, Belgium, Luxembourg (Numericable 134 & 52) and Turkey (Ttnet). An HDTV version of the channel, ShortsHD, is available on AT&T; U-verse channel 1789. Movieola is a Canadian cable channel devoted exclusively to shorts up to 40 minutes long. Another Canadian TV station, Bite TV, is trying to become the world's first user-generated television station, encouraging viewers to send in their videos.
Mainly, however, short films must rely mainly on festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such films can also be distributed via the Internet. Across the Hall, for example, was solely distributed on the net. Certain websites which encourage the submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Openfilm, BritFilms and Newgrounds have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like BBC Film Network focus on showcasing curated shorts.
Short films are a typical first stage for young filmmakers,like 'Stalemate' by Leila Newton-Fox. Also S. Luciani's Dolls show how professional actors and crews still choose to create short films as alternative form of expression.
Short filmmaking is growing in popularity as equipment becomes cheaper and more amateurs are making films. "Prosumer" or semi-professional cameras now cost under USD$3,000, and free or low-cost software is widely available that is capable of video editing, post-production work and DVD authoring.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
![opoides is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Mexico and Central America. Three species are currently recognized.[4] The common names suggests they are able to leap at an attacker, but this is likely exaggerated.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110713031814im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/4c/6e/7c9442bb722f7efa0143c2063798_thumb.jpg "opoides is a genus of venomous pitvipers found in Mexico and Central America. Three species are currently recognized.[4] The common names suggests they are able to leap at an attacker, but this is likely exaggerated.")
