Initially with the invention of moving image technology most recorded footages were short, but towards the end of 20th century films became longer.

The very first short film was presented in 1894 using Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope which is a peepshow-like device for individual viewing. These, as well as projected films that followed, where one shot ‘actuality’ or ‘interest’ films depicting celebrities, ceremonial processions, current affairs, travel or everyday footage.

The best-known film from this time is perhaps the Lumière brothers’ Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895), which supposedly had audiences fleeing in terror as a celluloid locomotive hurtled towards them. Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope

In the early 1900s improvements in recording and editing technology allowed film makers to produce longer, multi shot films.

Some of the most memorable short films from the pre-features era include Georges Méliès’s A Trip to the Moon (1902) – in which a group of astronomers build an improbable space ship and encounter some acrobatic moon men – and Edwin S Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903), often celebrated as the first Western.

In the first decade of 1900s with audience demand and film studio competition, film maker started making even longer multi-reel films which signaled the birth of first feature film.

Features were regarded as more respectable art form than short films. The length and narrative complexity allowed them to be compared to theater and opera.

DW Griffith’s controversial Ku Klux epic The Birth of a Nation (1915) is considered as the first feature film.

George Loane Tucker’s controversial Traffic in Souls (1913), dealt with white slavery and prostitution.

Since then short films were shown along side news-reel and sometimes live acts.

During WWII, short films became a government tool for war propaganda.

British short films during WWII proved to be very popular but there were also concerns that the cinema would gain reputation as ‘interfering marm’.

The contrast between escapism of Hollywood feature films and the informative nature of short films was instrumental in there demise in cinemas throughout 50s and 60s.

By the end of the 60s short films were completely absent of commercial cinemas programs. Only short cartoons continued to be shown at the start of PG films at the late 80s.

As the short film became less favorite with commercial cinema, their popularity was constantly present within visual artists.

Since early 20s Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali and later Andy Warhol experimented with medium.

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Vinyl (1965) black and white experimental film by Andy Warhol.

Since early 80s with the birth of MTV and with the raise of music videos short film format became an alternative to film makers.

This signal the raise of new type of short film making. Music videos have definitely influenced the look and the language of film-making in general.

The 90s are considered as a landmark decade for short film making thanks to the affordable video recording equipment. These technological advances led to an upsurge in independent film making, especially short films which are regarded as cheaper and less demanding than feature films.

Shorts have always been treated as something of a poor cousin two features, but short film festivals and companies around the world have encouraged people to find innovative and new ways of making short film.

The biggest new demand for short film comes from the internet because people are interested in bite size peaces of information.

This ‘bite-sizeness’ of shorts makes them ideally suited to the internet, where users demand short, sharp bursts of entertainment that they can consume on the fly at work, at home, or increasingly, on their mobile phones.

YouTube is the most popular viewing platform for shorts online and it is popular alternative for short film makers who can not afford to distribute their films on DVD. The song's music video is well-

remembered as the first music video shown on MTV in the United States

The 90s are considered as a landmark decade for short film making thanks to the affordable video recording equipment. These technological advances led to an upsurge in independent film making, especially short films which are regarded as cheaper and less demanding than feature films.

Shorts have always been treated as something of a poor cousin two features, but short film festivals and companies around the world have encouraged people to find innovative and new ways of making short film.

The biggest new demand for short film comes from the internet because people are interested in bite size peaces of information.

This ‘bite-sizeness’ of shorts makes them ideally suited to the internet, where users demand short, sharp bursts of entertainment that they can consume on the fly at work, at home, or increasingly, on their mobile phones.

YouTube is the most popular viewing platform for shorts online and it is popular alternative for short film makers who can not afford to distribute their films on DVD.