A Guide To Short Student Films

By Essie Craft


One thing you should know about short student films is that they are not solely beneficial for people who study the media or who want a career in cinema. There are a lot of other students and people that can benefit from the experience involved as well as the broader community. Knowing how to get the most from this can help benefit a lot of people.

First of all there are the students themselves. While some may simply study media or film because they love it a lot of them are likely to wish to be involved in the media industry at a future point in their lives. This can be very competitive so any experience they can show to a potential employer can be very handy!

One of the positives with the emergence of video upload sites is that students have more access to videos from classic cinema as well as modern sources. This means that increasingly they are becoming more cineliterate and more open to a variety of influences on their work.

Another thing to remember is that it is not just people behind the camera. You need writers who can create smart scripts, make up artists who can present people well on camera as well as do the gory effects and marketing people to help publicise it. Depending on how you organise it a lot of students can potentially benefit.

However it is also equally important to encourage creative talent to use restrictions inventively. A lot of established film makers such as Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez used creative means to fund their work and to make the most of their individual circumstances. For example Kevin Smith used the convenience store he worked in as a set for his debut movie Clerks while Robert Rodriguez handled most of the off screen roles while making his first film El Mariachi.

However if the work is good enough then it is worth showing off. For the students this gives them the chance to show people what they have been working on. For the community it is the chance to give young people the opportunity to show them something positive to do and to show that they can be supported and their skills can be recognised and encouraged.

Naturally this also gives opportunities for other young people as well. If they study at a local business school this gives them the chance to organise a screening and promote it with amateur reporters submitting pieces to the local paper. This is worth considering when you organise projects to see how many people you can get involved and help them benefit from it.

As stated before short student films do not necessarily need to be restricted to their course and may want to do their own. This ought to be encouraged as it gives them the chance to independently develop. In conclusion even if you do not find the next Christopher Nolan you could get them on the path to a career in the media.




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