There is a quiet revolution brewing in the filmmaking world. Empowered by technology and emboldened by new avenues opening up, aspiring filmmakers, tired of waiting for the big break are taking fate into their own hands. With an improvised script and a shoe-string budget, these visionaries are realising their cinematic dreams with short duration films between 30 seconds to 40 minutes. The result, a short film revolution. Some of these films are good, most are terrible, but each express an individual voice.

Filmmaking, till just about five years ago, the bastion of the chosen elite with contacts and cash, has suddenly been democratised. In a country where films are a religion and filmmaking, the ultimate dream job for millions of aspirants, this approach promises to shape the creative future.

Technology is the main driving force behind this surge in short-filmmaking. Jean-Luc Godard once famously said, “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.” Today, thanks to the easy accessibility of high-resolution cameras and high speed Internet connection, all you need to make a movie (albeit, a short film) is an HD video recorder (DSLR or smart phone) and a laptop.

For filmmaking aspirants, short films serve as a calling card. With crores of rupees involved in making a feature film, few studios are willing to take a risk with a newbie. Earlier, assisting on a few films was the only option for aspirants to worm their way into the good books of a producer. However, savvy newbies are now showcasing their abilities through short films.

These young filmmakers are using cheap, accessible tools like a DSLR with HD video recording to shoot, friends as actors and free editing software like iMovie to create a short version of the film they would like to make.          While some filmmakers are using short films as a stepping stone into the world of feature films, there are some filmmakers who thrive on the creative challenge and freedom that short film format offers. When you make a short film, you are your own boss. There is no demand to pander to a particular taste or audience. There is absolute creative freedom and the director, cinematographer, actors and editor can go crazy and create something commercial demands would never allow. As a result, films like Kabir Chowdhry’s Good Morning and Q’s Gandu (though these are long-shorts) are where you get to see some of the most brilliant, experimental filmmaking.

On the commercial side, short films are emerging as an effective marketing tool with major mobile phone and digital camera brands hosting short film competitions. The accessibility of the video camera has liberated the filmmaker within every consumer. Life In A Day, conceptualised by filmmaker Kevin MacDonald and editor Joe Walker, is a brilliant example of this development. This is a film where people from around the world have shot a slice of their daily life and shared it with MacDonald and Joe Walker, who have edited these clips to make a truly global film.

While global video sharing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo have been the prime distribution platforms, there is a whole bunch of websites like shortz.in and shortfilms.com that only showcase short films. Interestingly, the short film craze has also percolated offline. Common interest groups like Shamiana Short Film Club and Mocha Film Club’s The Short Circuit organise regular screenings of short films and interactions with filmmakers to encourage this trend.

With the tools and the platform both coming within reach, aspiring filmmakers now just need the passion and the dedication to pursue their dreams. As director James Cameron advised, “Pick up a camera. Shoot something. No matter how small, no matter how cheesy, no matter whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it as director. Now you're a director. Everything after that you're just negotiating your budget and your fee.”