Difference between a short film from a mainstream full length film

The first major difference between a short film to a mainstream full length movie of course is the length . Normally a short movie can vary in time length between three minutes-fourty minutes depending on the budget. However a mainstream film can go on from one hour and a half to about three hours.

The second major difference between the two is that short films have a much lower budget this budget can restrict many things like camera's , editing, characters, mise on scene. On the other hand mainstream movies have a much higher budget so they tend to make it to cinema's and then on television and finally made into Blu-ray Dvd's standard Dvd's.

Third major comparison is the characters unlike short films, mainstream feature length movies have a-list celebrities which of course would attract more viewers so in the long term benefits produce a major profit. Otherwise short films have unknown actors and have a tendency of using less characters due to the budget.

The other difference between them both is the obvious quality and cinematography of them both ; short films would be more hand held camera work that produces raw footage but mainstream movies would be all fancy with the hi-tech quality of filming and special effects. Additionally better props and camera would be used as it has a higher budget.

Additionally the way the movies would be shown; Mainstream films would be dispersed in the cinema, electric cinema , adverts, film posters, magazine reviews, internet trailers bringing awareness to the film however short films are more seen at film festivals, competitions, youtube and channel 4 late night viewings where they can tackle controversial issues and send a public message across when hardly viewers would be awake.

Finally the purpose is different between mainstream feature length films and short films as short films have either a educational purpose or self promotion to try make it big to make feature length films unlike mainstream films that are for profit and entertainment.

To conclude there are many differences between them both and the purpose have different outcomes as the themes also vary as short films tend to tackle a issue but mainstream go for the conventional genre of films and stick to a theme that all mainstream movies ten to do either a romantic comedy, action, thriller etc...