Difference Between Short Films And Documanteries

During my journey in SAE, I spotted many differences between working on a short film, and a documantery. Working on a short film is easier for me and more interesting. It is more controlable for actors wise and setting up your equipments. You can tell the actor what you want, and the actor can practice when he reads the script, but in the other hand, in a documantery you should hope that your character gives you the information you need. You can imagine how a short film will go before you start your production phase, but you can never guess that for a documantery because it all depends on your actors and what are the stuff that they will say.

Personally, I prefer working with actors and with a script that visualize my written ideas, rather than hoping and trusting my characters that they will do good or not in the interviews.

The only thing I find more interesting in a documantery is the observational shots. I love to go around and take random footage or for example film my characters' every day life without dialouges.

Finally, you have to confess that there's a special thing about a short film or a documantery. I enjoy being responsible to film both and I try so hard to do my best on each.