What is a short film?

A short film is not long enough to be considered a feature film. 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" Short films are very diverse in genre, in fact many people argue that they create a whole different genre of film. So they do not conform with the usual genre's, instead they create a whole new genre of film. They can produce some strong pieces, considering how short they are, they still manage to leave an imprint in your life like the normal characteristics of a feature film. I have been watching a few short films recently for some inspiration, many examples such as "Spider" or "The Black Hole" or even "Get Off My Land". All three of these short films are completely different in story and delivery but they work so well.
My favourite would probably have to be Spider, due to the fact it actually felt like a feature film but with a short and sweet story, yes it may have been a slow build up, but it was done with great effect, especially the twist at the end.

Short films have one major problem, they can never make it big like feature films because they lack the mainstream appeal. Usually a short would have to rely on a film festival specifically designed for the showing of shorts. Or websites such as BBC's Film Network. There are even exhibitions for short films less than three minutes, these are called Short shorts. An exhibition called The International Festival of Very Shorts feature these less than three minute shorts. The short genre even goes as far as having one minute shorts and a whole festival for them called filminute. On the other hand there are some shorts that get a lot of publicity, such shorts created by big companies like Pixar, or simply just the people in them, for example Lady Gaga's soon to be released short called "Judas" has attracted a lot of attention due to her iconic reputation and huge fan base.