Difference between a Feature film and Short film

Feature film

A feature film is a film, also called a movie or motion picture, with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole film to fill a program. The notion of how long this should be has varied according to time and place. According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American Film Institute, and British Film Institute, a feature film runs for 40 minutes or longer, while the Screen Actors Guild states that it is 80 minutes or longer.

Short Film

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences define a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits". In the beginning, all films were short. The films screened by the Lumière brothers’ were of less than one minute duration. The length of film got extended as the industry began to grow.

But the biggest demand for short films has undoubtedly come from the internet. YouTube and Whats App have become some of the most popular viewing platforms for the short films online. The internet is also proving to be a popular alternative for short film-makers who can’t afford to distribute their films on DVD. Many of the campus films produced by schools and colleges belong to this category. Apart from the short film competitions and festivals, the internet has become the biggest platform for the exhibition of short films.