Writing a short film can be a great way to see your work actually produced.
Whether you raise the money and direct it yourself or hand it off to others, it’s a cheaper and easier endeavor than getting a feature or series made, and to show what you can do.
I wrote and directed a 22-minute short, I Got This, a few years ago, and it was a great test run for later making my first feature film.
So what should you keep in mind as you come up with a concept for a short, and write it?
Do the same principles apply as in features?
Yes and no.
The first thing I would say is that my short was longer than most would recommend, and I made the “mistake” of trying to cram a 3-act “mini-feature” story into it.
I knew this going in but decided to do it anyway. I had my reasons!
But the conventional wisdom is to stay under ten minutes, making it much easier for film festivals to accept and program it.
I think generally that’s a good plan, and of course it can be easier to finance and produce something in the 5-10 minute range, compared to what I did.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy to make it stand out and win awards at major festivals, though, or develop a big following online. Like everything else in this business, there’s a lot of competition.
But putting aside all of that, and just thinking about story and writing in the short film space, I would make three main suggestions.
1. Clear conflict, relatable emotion
A short can have a much simpler “story” than a feature, and can make a strong impression if it’s really well-done even if it doesn’t have a conventional narrative.
But usually you still want to establish a relatable character with a problem/goal of some kind, and to focus on them pursuing intentions in the face of obstacles. I see that as pretty essential.
So ideally someone has a conflict/difficulty that powerfully affects and drives them. Their strong emotions and actions they take to try to solve it, then, is what usually grabs and holds viewers.
It doesn’t have to be a lengthy complicated process to achieve whatever they want, and you don’t necessarily need typical three-act structure. Maybe you don’t have an on-screen “catalyst” or “inciting event” and open with them already in the midst of whatever it is. And there’s not necessarily a Midpoint or an All is Lost moment, and probably not space for any sort of “B Story.”
But typically something is wrong and something is being done to try to address that. Whether it’s one extended scene or a series of them.
Ideally the “thing wrong” has sufficient stakes to feel potentially life-altering, and what they’re faced with is punishingly difficult. While perhaps quite brief.
2. Entertaining while believable
Genre still applies in a short. There are horror shorts, comedy shorts, action shorts, etc. The genres I love in Save the Cat probably don’t apply, but traditional entertainment categories do.
People generally remember if something was fun to watch. If it engaged them emotionally. If it was escapist in some way. If it made them feel. And usually that’s consistent with a particular genre.
Even in shorts, straight dramas can struggle to do those things. Unless you add other elements that make it extra appealing to experience. (I list some ideas for that in my book and course.) Dramas can feel flat unless extremely well-executed and emotional, and with a stand-out topic.
But as always in the quest for entertainment (or originality, or high conflict), there’s a risk of verging into the unbelievable. Meaning things that are just hard to buy into or understand.
I would still avoid that. And I’d still say that a sense of authenticity — a “realness” to what’s going on despite whatever exaggerated elements are also there — is key to being impactful.
You want to make it easy for the audience to suspend disbelief, by not giving them a lot that is hard to believe. If anything. And being upfront with what you’re saying is fantastical. Defining it.
If you haven’t seen the pilot for Pluribus on Apple TV, writer Vince Gilligan puts on a master class of how to do this sort of thing.
3. A memorable take-away
Lastly, it really helps if there’s thematic material in your short script for the reader to take with them, that goes beyond its surface plot. A deeper meaning or relevance.
Ideally it explores an aspect of the human condition in some small and fresh way that feels like the “why” of the project. The reason why you decided to write it.
And the more what it explores is personal to you, that you have some unique or original take on, the better. It’s yours, after all, and if it has your individual voice, that’s a good thing.
Only you could or would write this, the way you did. Lean into that.
That doesn’t mean the story or situation has to be so amazingly original (that’s always hard to achieve). But putting your personal and specific spin on what may be familiar elements.
In conclusion…
Just as with a feature of a pilot, none of this is easy to do really well. The relative approachability of attempting a short can mask the fact that the ones that rise to the top are still… special.
And for them to really affect the reader/viewer, as I’ve indicated, they would likely still have all 7 elements of a “viable story” that I wrote about in The Idea, using the acronym PROBLEM:
PUNISHING
RELATABLE
ORIGINAL
BELIEVABLE
LIFE-ALTERING
ENTERTAINING
MEANINGFUL
If you can deliver that somehow in 5-10 pages — and then turn it into a movie with a strong (ideally SAG-Aftra) cast, and high production value — this is no small achievement.
