(Extra) short film study: an emerging narrative practice within global community

Abstract

This article documents a research on the emerging phenomenon of (extra) short film production, that transcends the limits of national characteristics, while having a worldwide distribution, in mostly young audiences. Social media have brought in the frame of audiovisual narratives, through the use of filmic language, a popular practice of storytelling. All kinds of genre are allowed, with a time constraint of a few minutes, not to say seconds. These genres not only have their own audiences, but also gain new ones, due to the way the extra short films are being projected, in a non-linear and often random sequence. In this new “filmic” landscape, the notion of copyright takes a whole new meaning: copy becomes a kind of recognition and homage to the original director, who in turn, becomes instantly famous among thousands of followers. Are these (extra) short films capable of forming a sur-genre themselves? In the context of social media, is video production becoming a new form of folk art?