Learning from Other Shorts

Here are a wide variety of different shorts and game cinematics to look at for both inspiration and to learn from. I purposely made sure all of these examples are drastically different.


Video 1
*Warning, not in the best of taste*

Notice how throughout the entire short there is no mistaking what the story is about. Very expressive and successful acting as well.

Video 2
*Again, some suggestive themes but we're all Adults here.*

This Short is perhaps the exact opposite of the last. It uses a lot of abstract cinematography and story conventions to add interest. Also this is an excellent example of how powerful creative lighting can be.

Video 3

The first Game intro example. Keep in mind game intros never tell the full story, just an introduction. That said this example is particularly successful introducing the world and characters.

Video 4

Take note of how they are able to establish a relationship. Not an easy thing to do in such a short amount of time. Stylistically, this is another strong example to look at for inspiration.

Video 5
This is a good example of what not to do in terms of story development. If we try to turn our short into a giant epic feature contained in a few minutes, the story and characters will escape from us. That said, what this cinematic does well that is of interest to us how it deals with having more realistic characters and mocap animations. Notice all the fast actions. They help hide the shortcomings.


One of the biggest challenges we have is working with more lifelike characters. From what I've discovered watching these shorts, we need to get very creative with our staging, lighting, and pacing to make sure our audience is not focused on pinpointing the inaccuracies. Yankie Girl is a perfect example of this. These are all things to consider for the next time we brainstorm for the story. Please comment with your opinions. Also do you think this kind of post is at all helpful?