Amateur and Professional Short Films

With a lot of amateur film makers about it seems short films are an effective way of producing examples of a particular film makers styles and ideas. With popularity of short films growing means bigger opportunity for amateurs who want their work to be seen. film festivals and prestigious awards for Short films means that it is becoming a growing industry and one that can seem interesting to both the amateur and professional film maker. However it seems there is a lot of difference between what kind of short films an amateur would produce to those a professional would. I looked at a film called 'Experts Say' which was produced by a group of amateur film makers. The film displays no outstanding use of special effects, sound, camera work or decent acting for that matter, however, the film contains certain qualities that make it special. It does seem to have typical movie ideas of a beginning, a middle and end as well as the use of development in the storyline and also the use of scenes that just seem irrelevant towards the development and resolution of the short film. But those special and unique qualities include the idea of taking something that actually happens and emphasizing it to somewhat ridicule the power of media and in turn create an interesting film which captures the viewers interest and produces a film that slightly pushes the boundaries and experiments with issues that other just wouldn't.

Professional film makers for example would have to be a lot more careful when creating a short film, take Pixar, they are a successful organisation but create short films just to boost their performance, however films that Pixar create tend to use the same style seen in their feature lengths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omk6TAxJYOg&feature=fvsr. This creates an idea of identity for the company but also avoids offending anyone by making it with the same elements, humour and animation. Pixar wouldn't take the same risks as an amateur film maker therefore giving the amateurs a chance to shine and have their moment by creating something totally unique and giving a great opportunity for experimentation in film, and with 'Experts say' winning the YYC film competition in Calgary it is fair to say that films like this really can be just as appealing if not more appealing than those produced by well known professionals.