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TO P S H O R T FI L M MAKE R CLI CH É S
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Is your protagonist coming out of the closet? Do they get beaten up, thrown out of the house, alienated from best friend? Does your film have lesbian or gay subtext that never materializes? Does anybody commit suicide in your film? If you had a quarter for every time one of your characters said “What should we do?” would you have enough money to make your next short? Is your short an homage to the silent film era? Complete with Charlie Chaplin lookalike? Is anybody in your film being chased due to mistaken identity? Did your sound guy put clinking ice in your dinner scene when it’s obvious to the audience that there isn’t ice in any of the glasses? Assuming this isn’t a porn short, are any of the women in your film not wearing a bra? In broad daylight? Is there a crane shot in your film? Does your film feature “the silent homeless guy”? Are there white guys in their twenties sitting around a table doing lines of cocaine? Does a gun appear out of nowhere, especially when it is obviously fake? Did your DP use the old dolly/zoom combo? It worked in Vertigo, leave it alone. Does a couple break up over a conversation at a café? Does your film feature a time-lapse montage? Does your main character stare into the bathroom mirror? Is there a close-up of water dripping from a faucet? Is there a close-up of a clock ticking? Is your opening credit sequence almost as long as the film?