Short movies are becoming more popular nowadays. In the side of film makers, these kind of film are great since it is easier to make them and the production cost is also cheaper. Having said that, let me then share some short film making tips for you.
But before going into the short film making tips, let us first define it. When we say short film, we are referring to the movies that are relatively shorter than the normal two-hour movie. It can be 30 minutes or even one minute. While it is short, it must still have a complete story. That means it must still have an introduction, body, and conclusion.
My Short Film Making Tips
1. Make a simple story
Since you will be making a short movie, just create a simple story. Don't make a novel because the time might not contain it. Just focus on a single idea and let the story revolve around it.
2. Make anticipations
Don't show everything from the beginning immediately. It's good to place some suspense to let your audience anticipate on what will happen in the end. This will capture your viewers' attention until the story reaches the climax.
3. Use few characters
I watched some short movies that are not so effective due to having so many characters. It makes the story not so focused.
Don't be afraid to use few characters. if you can even make a story that has only one character then that will be great. There's a short film I watched where in they only used two characters but it was very nice. Having few characters not only make your life as a film maker easier. It will also easily drive the audience to focus on few elements of the film.
4. Complete the story
As I said above, a short film must still have a complete story. I'm not really a fan of those short movies that just end abruptly without any conclusion.
I understand that there's another way of ending a story which is the open-ended one. In doing this however, you must still bring your audience somewhere. Do not just cut the story and that's it. So what's the point of ending the story if you only showed an introduction?
6. Gain inspirations
It's actually challenging to create a very nice story that you can use for your short movie. To gain some ideas, I recommend watching a lot of short films. You will surely be able to come up with your own idea when you see what others have made.