1. Todorov's Equilibrium Theory is typically applied to short films. 1. Equilibrium - everything is normal. 2. Disequilibrium - a problem occurs. 3. New Equilibrium - problem is solved, back to normality but change is noticed.
2. The situation within the short film usually involves an everyday event or situation that the audience can relate to and then adds a 'twist' to turn it around in some way possible. Doing this allows viewer to create a personal relationship with the characters, but also to intrigue them in a way.
3. Characters is a clear convention in short films as they seem to stick to having only around 2 or 3 main characters within the plot. This is due to the fact short films don't have time to create a long back story for each character, therefore numbers are kept low throughout these films. It also allows the audience to create a relationship with the characters in a short amount of time.
4. Short films are usually known to contain a 'Twist' within the plot as it makes the film more interesting towards the audience considering the storyline is so short. If there wasn't to have a twist within the film the storyline would become dull and boring.
5. The budget for short films tend to quite low as most short film directors are part of an independent film company. To keep the budget low throughout the process of filming they usually stick with having one or two locations and only using one or two actors within. By having such a short film the costs are very low and in some cases the actors will even work for free if they like the storyline.
6. The length of short films are typically around 5-10 minutes long and the maximum length can be up to 35 minutes for short films. If they were any longer they would not be categorised as 'short' and would be named Feature Length instead.