The target audience of Short Films

The target audience of Short Films

Short film is a genre with a very small foothold in the film industry. You don’t see short films advertised on television or hear about famous and successful directors making them. Short film caters for a very small niche in the market.
One of the main reasons short film does not cater for the majority of the market is the subject matter. Normally, short films deal with quite moving and thought provoking subjects, topics that rally make you think when you watch them and for the majority of people that’s just not entertaining. When people pay £10 to go to the cinema they don’t necessarily want to be entertained, and not to watch something that will make them think.
However, some of the most popular short films are not thought provoking, meaningful works but in fact fun and uplifting films. Films that try out new ideas and have fun and original concepts that many people won’t have seen.
The kind of people that go and see short films are typically not your average movie going audience, they are more into the genre as an art piece than as a form of entertainment. They are more interested in what a piece means and what it is trying to say.
To look at the target audience of short films you have to look at who makes, them,
Typically short films are made my aspiring directors, people wanting to add to their showreels and trying to break into the industry. Works like these would most likely appeal to those in the film industry like fellow directors/film-makers or producers looking for talent.
Critics would also have to be part of the main target audience. Short films often shy away from the conventions surrounding mainstream films and television programs so they might provide a more challenging and intellectual watch for critics and might be something more interesting for them.
Films that challenge new ideas and concepts, particularly ones that are very visually stimulating, can appeal to much wider mainstream audience. User-generated content websites have made viewing and exhibiting films a lot easier. If a film on the internet seems to be particularly interesting it can easily spread among web users, the ‘word of mouse’ hypothesis. Typically films that fall into this category and more entertaining than thought provoking and that’s why they appeal to wider audiences.
In conclusion the target film is made up of a wide range of people, but people looking conventions of short films. In very brief terms, either something thought provoking or fin exciting and original concepts.