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Short Films
Longer films were rare before the 1920s, so length-based categories had little meaning. By the 20s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature, short comedy, 5-10 minute cartoon, and newsreel. -
Our Gang
Our Gang was a production team of Americans who based their prodctions on comedy in the 20's
Unlike many other motion pictures featuring children that are based in fantasy, producer/creator Hal Roach rooted Our Gang in real life: the majority of the children were poor, and the gang was often put at odds with snobbish "rich kids", officious adults and parents, and other such adversaries. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression seriously affected not just short films.
With the rise of the double feature as a cinema programming format, two-reel shorts went into decline as a commercial category. Hal Roach, for example, moved Laurel and Hardy full-time into feature films after 1935, and halved his popular Our Gang films to one reel. By the 1940s he had moved out of short films altogether. -
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin wasnt just an actor in himself, he was also a directer. He also would never give away his fimling techniques as he believed it was like a magician giving away his secrets. Chaplin never shot from a completed script. The method he developed, once his Essanay contract gave him the freedom to write for and direct himself, was to start from a vague premise. -
The Televsion
By the mid 1950s, with the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead, The Three Stooges being the last major series of two-reelers, ending in 1959 -
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, ending in 1980, despite the fact it began in 1964, when most cartoon studios were closing down or turning to television. -
Pixar
Pixar has screened a short along each of its feature films during its initial theatrical run since 1995 (producing shorts permanently since 2001). -
Short Shorts
Short short films are sometimes considered as a category of their own. The International Festival of Very Shorts is a festival based in Paris which shows only films less than three minutes long. Filminute, the international one-minute film festival, has presented and promoted a collection of one-minute films across multiple media since September 2006.
