Why You need to Shoot your Short!

(Caveat: Reading this article may trigger you to create your first/next award-winning short film in 7 Days)

You may experience an inescapable stirring to start or stay consistent at creating screen-gluing, nomination-worthy award-winning short films after reading this piece.
That’s actually the plan here; on behalf of all of humanity, all story-lovers and netizens, all Gen Z’s and Millenials, we passionately request…, we humbly demand that those who have been gifted and fashioned to inspire mankind with their beautiful stories are to stop starving us of these amazing gifts all in the name of….
I don’t have enough money to produce a movie and tell my story
Though I can move you to laughter and tears with my narratives, I don’t have enough expertise for movie production
I do not have access to gadgets
These seemingly ‘genuine excuses’ are all about to collapse like a pack of cards as we explore why you need to start shooting your short rather than waiting for perfect conditions, cast, camera or cash.
But right before we dive in, we need to look at the difference between Feature Films, Short Films and Skits.

Feature Films, Shorts and Skits
A feature film runs for an average screen time of 60-90 minutes.
While the Marvel phase 4 superhero movie, Eternals was almost ‘eternally’ long-2hrs 37mins, and the DC 2022 Batman ran for 2hrs 57 mins, we still have lots of great feature movies that ran for 6o minutes or even less (Werewolf by Night- 2022,The Unknown-1927 etc.)
A short film on the other hand might have a running time of as short as few minutes to as much as 40 minutes. A skit, according to a user on Reddit is just a ‘specific type of short’, one that may run for about 2-10 minutes and usually ‘takes place in one scene and (for the most part) one location’.
To make it easier; every skit is a type of short film but not every short film is a skit.

Why You need to Shoot Your Short
Now, let’s dive straight into why you need to start ‘shooting your short’ films.

1. Hundreds…no, Thousands…no, Millions of People are Waiting for you to Shoot Your Short:
Have you heard that the attention span of the average human is now shorter than that of a goldfish?
Less than 7 secs, to be precise.
Millions of content consumers are getting weary of sitting to watch a 2-hour plus movie. People want to catch their laugh from a 5-mins skit as they simultaneously cook Noodles. They want to learn a lesson from a 35-min short film while they stay stuck in traffic. They want to have instant inspiration from a 15-min short as they observe their lunch break at work.
This is the first reason you need to shoot your short very soon rather than wait till you have all you need to produce a feature film. If ever in doubt, just look at the millions of loyal and consistent fans and audience that some skit makers (in the comedy genre) have gained in Nigeria. According to a publication on Legit.ng, ‘skit makers like Sabinus, Broda Shaggi, Kiekie and Taaooma have, over the last few years, redefined the face of comedy in Nigeria while amassing huge followership and wealth’
(https://www.legit.ng/entertainment/celebrities/1502945-broda-shaggi-sabinus-taaooma-7-richest-skit-makers-nigeria/)
Huge followership can soon be yours if you start ‘shooting your shorts’ with some basic gadgets, a good story, few but good cast (which may even be as ‘few’ as a ‘single person’) and of course consistency. Remember that you don’t have to be a comedy skit maker like Sabinus who, according to Dataleum gained over 47m views during the third quarter of 2022, you can be like the Tolu Ajayis (The Encounter), Stanlee Ohikuares (Oblivious), Olabody Izzys (The Samaritan) and so many more who have made a landmark and gained loyal fans and audience by creating awesome short films in different genres (drama, romance, horror etc)

2. You don’t need Millions of Naira to Shoot Your Short:
Olabode Lizzy, the Ebony Life Creative Academy graduate and director of the award-winning short film, The Samaritan had some interesting insights to share during an interview with Business Day. Among other things, he went ahead to establish a very important reason why young filmmakers need to start exploring the advantages in short film production.
‘Going to feature film, you need to have a lot of money, you need to have at least N10 million to make a feature film, you don’t just jump into feature films’
Well, while that amount may come at the snap of a finger for some filmmakers, it may almost cause other aspiring story-tellers to gasp for breath. This is why Olabode’s next reveal is important.
‘Feature films are more capital intensive than short films, making short films can take N500,000 to N3 million’.
(You can read the full article on https://businessday.ng/bd-weekender/article/young-filmmakers-must-focus-on-building-a-fanbase-first-before-chasing-money-olabode-izzy/)
As a matter of fact, the above figure is based on non-skit shorts, for a 2-5mins skit, a filmmaker may not even spend up to N50,000. While this is not in any way to suggest that quality should be compromised when making skits or shorts, it’s simply to say that you can start with what you have. Rather than wait for N10 million, you can still have super-amazing production quality with a good phone or better still, you may start by checking out some affordable but quality camera and lighting equipment (with discount packages ) on https://holoceneinnovations.com/product-category/professional-video/cameras/ and https://holoceneinnovations.com/product-category/lighting/ .
Our article on how to choose the best camera for your video production will also prove very helpful. Check it out on;
https://holoceneinnovations.com/2023/02/15/how-to-choose-the-best-camera-for-your-video-production/
So before we go to the final point, let’s summarize all that has been said so far this way; with short films, you don’t need millions of Naira before you can reach millions of people.

3. You don’t need Hundreds of People to Shoot Your Short:

The average feature films need hundreds of people as cast. More people means more technicalities, more processes, and of course, more money.
But think of skits-a specific type of shorts, you’d never need as many people.
Skit makers like Maraji, Taaooma, Lasisi Elenu typically started with a one-man production (and many of them still do). How convenient! How simple! With good video editing skills or hiring a video editor, you can become a filmmaker starting with skits.

Now is the time to Shoot Your Short:
Sometimes, filmmakers and creatives wait too long for perfect conditions. Do not let what is not available at the moment rob you of what is possible at the moment.
Excellence is good, but perfectionism might be a big robber working alongside procrastination, analysis-paralysis and a host of other accomplices.
Get at it. Hit the gas pedal. Hit the road. Give us “light, camera. Action” and shoot your short!