How to Write a Short Film

Today I take a deep dive into writing a short film. I reconstruct a short film from the ground up as well as debunk some of the myths surrounding short films.

Illustrations at 8:44 and 8:46 by Julieta Colás

Short Films Used:

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#HowToWriteAShortFilm #Screenwriting

[benjaminsarcofilms]

I learned more in this 22 min. video than in my 3 years (not finished) on Film School

[ohmyprettygirl]

My issue is wanting to become a filmmaker but not having ANY friends or contacts who are also into filmmaking or even acting for that matter. :/

[VELOCRAPTR]

The typographer is important! Its a metaphor showing how he struggles to assemble words and statements. He's literally building them letter by letter and he's surrounded by repeated characters! It feels very fitting that he's a typographer

[starella.]

Video Breakdown

*Myths:*
0:53 Myth 1: Short Films are too short to be meaningful and dramatic
1:07 Myth 2: there isn't enough time to set up the story
1:35 Myth 3: Stunning cinematography, witty dialogue, and cool concepts will create a good short film even if the story isn't good.

2:20 Stutterer

*Structure*

1. 3:11 Finding an Idea (find a concept)

2. 3:36 Building our main character and what they believe (one character will usually push the story more than anyone else, what does the character want, what do they believe, and what is their conflict)

Build a philosophical conflict

3. 5:52 Building other characters in the story that also have their own problems

4. 7:32 Narrative Structure

5.7:48 Fundamental Elements of Structure

7:56 Story Circle

12:14 Crafting an ending

14:04 Analysis of the film

17:57 important: (no one will care about simple external obstacles they only care about how your characters beliefs come into conflict in the story so now we go to another scene)

20:15 Climax of the film

21:08 Why Stutterer is a great short film
(fantastic short film since it has a strong philosophical conflict good structure and an ending that works perfectly)

*NOTES:*
a short film needs:
- philosophical dilemmas
- ethical dilemmas
- moral dilemmas

*good dramas have characters that*
- *a character struggling with their own beliefs as they come into contact with the world*

*One of the biggest important elements of a good drama is that characters action must be challenged characters heading towards what they want or getting what they want should always come at a cost this keeps the conflict heightened*

hope this helped!

[GoldenSpoon]

Thanks for giving Stutterer some recognition, it really deserves it.

[kevinsooextra]

Thanks for this, the explanation made the short film even more beautiful than if I had just watched it

[ferdumas]

I always say that film schools need to teach this. They give us everything about how to make feature films, but we don't have the money nor the time to make them. SO TEACH HOW TO MAKE SHORT FILMS, at least how to write them, as you did

[michaeledgerton]

I’m a high school student who has an interest in screenwriting and film making. This was a great video and I feel inspired to start writing.

[jacyntaharris]

I used your method to create my short film!! It came out great and has already been accepted into festivals!! Thank you

[jonathancoleman]

I'm a actor I've done a lot of short flim work gonna start writing and acting in my own movies.

[AndrewHarten]

Bro watching this not only did I learn loads but experienced the emotions of the short bringing me near tears

[ImNotOdd]

How does this not have so many more views!?

[Jabrils]

thanks man. Writing my first short story (game) & your videos have been a lot of help.

[AndresSnaps]

I never thought I would ever write my own short film by myself but I finally did it! I wrote the whole thing on my own and can’t wait to film my scary movie with some friends this summer and share with y’all!

[david]

Tyler, man, you did it again. Great essay! I have been thinking of writing a short film these days, and then bam! Here's the perfect video to help my mind get clear.

[lekyfilmsmedia]

I went to film school as a movie manager/producer, this was one of the greatest story breakdown, we as small independent creators are easily discouraged when in comes to bringing ideas to life, as it asks to write films with very low to no budget comparing to the blockbusters we study and breakdown in school. This is a great reminder that a great story; doesn't a big budget, but a good sense of writting.
Thanks very helpful !

[osanneart]

I've been trying to write a graphic novel script for about 5 years, together with my brother. It's a hard process especially now that we don't live in the same house anymore and have day jobs and studying that comes first. we were mostly missing the very important middle part of the story, but I really think you flipped a switch in my head thanks to your this video and the one about writing conflict. I guess it finally clicked.


I'm gonna present my ideas to him tomorrow, but no matter what my brother thinks of what I just thought off, at least we now have a conflict that we can adjust until we both like it and an actual plot that we can base it off! Thank you so much!

[talifishman]

I've been wanting to write short films ever since I was 15, and Curfew came out and won the Oscars, and I was just mesmerized by how insanely good the writing was, I wanted to be able to do it myself so badly. Thanks for this video! Brings me one step closer.

[_viveksingh]

Literally the best video I've seen on writing a short film

[nctwyd]

In my film studies course, I have to write a screenplay for a short film, but the teacher hasn't really explained to us how to even begin doing that, so this video helped a lot!