Short films are more than just a concise form of expression, and can often convey important and universal morals unfit for feature length films, allow greater felxibility and creativity in film genre and style, and avoid restrictions common to feature films such as cost or crew. These properties are apparent in both "The man without a head" by Juan Solanas and "Vincent" by Tim Burton.
"The man without a head", directed by Juan Solanas, is a movie with prevailing themes of love and superficiality and depicts the love and portrays the love life of the main character. The film lasts for only 18 minutes, however is able to carry a message which can be understood and accepted universally; that substance is more important than superficiality. In this short film, the lack of a head is symbolism for the lack of class, power or money. However, the main character's passion is consistently represented through his dancing among other minor devices such as his red scarf.
"Vincent", directed by Tim Burton, is another exceptional example of a well-composed short film. It has gothic themes and, as with "The man without a head", a universally accepted message. Vincent Malloy, the young boy who aspires to be just like "Vincent Price", ends the short film with his demise. This animated short film uses flashes between the reality of the story and Vincent Malloy's reality to convey it's message that an overactive imagination can lead to obsession and death.
Feature films often require Hollywood budgets and well-known actors (with the exception of independent films), neither of which are easily obtained by film students. Tim Burton's "Vincent" is not only an expressive and meaningful 6 minute short film, it also established Tim Burton's career and cost little over $60,000 to produce. This short film is clearly a component of Tim Burton's successful career. "The man without a head" was also a step in a positive direction for Juan Solanas, and was the precursor of his next film, Nordaste.
Short stories and poems are often rewritten for feature films such as "A sound of thunder", however, these are commonly filled with empty plot devices. From this it can be seen that some texts are simply not suited for feature film production. However, short films allow a direct transposition from a poem, such as in "Vincent", or, from a short story, such as what was done with "The Man without a Head".
"The man without a head"'s Juan Solandas, has directed and produced several other films, including, as mentioned before, "Nordeste",which features central issues such as love and the struggle against the modern world. For Tim Burton, the director of Vincent, gothic films have become his trademark, many with striking similarities in contextual tone to "Vincent", such as Edward Scissorhands. A short film is not only a quick and cheap expressive production, it can also set the style of the director, which is evident in the above examples.
Reality is frequently disregarded and is often not required in order to create an effective short film. For example, "The Man without a Head" disregards reality and overcomes it by simply ignoring the fact that a head is required to talk and instead presents all emotion through body language. "Vincent" flashes back and forth through the reality and the reality created by Vincent Malloy.
The cinematic devices used in a short film have equal relevance to those used in feature films, as illustrated by the non-diagetic descending music in "The man without a head", symbolizing the main characters descent into his depression or feelings of inadequacy. In addition to this, the bleak industrial landscape in this short film juxtaposes the passion of the main character and also establishes the setting. Throughout the film there are devices used such as the red scarf also used to symbolize passion (derived from the colour of the scarf) and, the aforementioned and most prominent device, the lack of a head.
The juxtaposition of the characters in "The Man without a Head" is effective as it establishes the idea of the film. For example, in the scene with the man inspecting heads, there is supposedly a young woman, who is later revealed to be an old woman looking for a more youthful appearance. This positions the audience to understand that the head of the characters is supposed to represent class. Also, the man without a head and the woman he loves both look "pure" against the bleak industrial landscape as they do not need class or power to be satisfied.
In conclusion, short films are more than just a concise form of expression. It creates realities which its audience can relate to, expresses universal themes, establishes the style of its director and helps build reputation. "Vincent" and "The man without a head" are exceptional examples of the effective use of filmic devices and plot in short films.