A short summary of my opinion as to why short films are made and why it could be a useful tool for us.

After reading the article in ‘The Telegraph’ entitled ‘ Short films that launched big names’ it is easy to see the importance of short films to new film makers. Creating short films is a quick and cost effective way to gain producers attention, and can often lead to bigger projects. Short films such as ‘Alive in Joburg’ and ‘Jesus vs. Frosty’ have been the starting points for directors such as ‘Neill Blomkamp’ (creator of hit movie ‘District 9’), ‘Matt Stone’ and ‘Trey Parker’ (the guys behind the hit U.S show ‘South Park’), all well respected film makers by critics and fans alike.

But it is also true that film trailers can lead to production of a film. The film ‘Machete’ was based on a fake trailer for a film of the same name that was shown in the middle of the double bill film ‘Grindhouse’. Although the two films were directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the trailers in the middle included Edgar Wright’s ‘Don’t’, a tribute to Hammer horrors of the Seventies, Eli Roth’s seasonal slasher Thanksgiving and Rodriguez’s Machete. However it was Rodriguez’s film that gained the biggest public reception, thus the film was made. However this was not his first film.