A Future Shorts rescore event in London

Future Shorts is pioneering a short film revolution. Forming a cultural bridge between the ten-minute home videos of YouTube and full-length feature films, this unique label aims to boost the reputation that short films have deserved for so long.

Set up in 2003, the company provides a platform for filmmakers of any level to send in their creations. Whether they are three, thirteen or 23 minutes long, all are filtered, monitored and processed, and any that are deemed remotely worthy of sharing will enjoy unparalleled distribution across the world. Future Shorts hosts a monthly festival which sees it team up with cinemas and entertainment venues internationally, from Finland to the Philippines, to show an official selection of short films.

With Future Shorts, film watching becomes more of an event, daring to suggest that just going to the cinema for a movie is not enough. Short film screenings are often shown in unusual and lively environments such as music festivals or pubs, combined with discussion, music and performance.

Shorts have, in the past, been denied this sort of global publicity. They are traditionally seen as projects that film students work on to hone their skills or as pitches for longer films, rather than works to be cherished in their own right.

Despite low budgets and short deadlines, the genius of short films is that their typically lower production values and team sizes mean directors can be hugely experimental. There are fewer rules concerning character development or plot movement; a film relies on its originality rather than blockbuster special effects or major Hollywood stars.

With YouTube and other host sites such as Vimeo meaning that such films are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, short films are steadily being brought out of obscurity, into the mainstream.  “We have a million views a month on YouTube,” says Fabien Riggall, founder and creative director of Future Shorts, “and that’s just through word of mouth and social media. I think people today are really interested in bite-sized pieces of information.”

To truly appreciate the genius of Future Shorts, head to their website and prepare for hours of back-to-back video watching. Here are a few of my favourites:

The Black Hole

This short by London pair Phil Sansom and Olly Williams has been watched by eight million people and is credited as a perfect example of a short film. Not bad going for a feature that is less than three minutes long and was shot in a day.

Crazy Hands

A man wakes up from a deep sleep to find he has lost control of his hands. Stumbling around his apartment he is unable to direct his movements and his devious hands twitch and flail him all the way to the local pub where they finally find an outlet for their movement at the piano. Make sure you keep watching right to the end.

Post-it Love

One of the top-rated films on the site, this beautifully simple story of two office workers expressing themselves through post-it notes is wordless perfection, and is guaranteed to make you smile.

Paintballing

An animated version of a paintball game by tiny pixellated dots that more like lemmings? Surprisingly entertaining viewing. This one really needs to be seen to be understood.

More short films including some from the Future Shorts catalogue can be viewed in the monthly Magathèque.