Copy of The Checkmate (2019) Proposition

Can you take the plot of a short film and expand it into a feature film?

Like feature films, short films also follow a simple Three Act structure. The first act hooks the audience in all while introducing us to the story. The second act introduces the theme throughout the film, and the third act resolves the plot. Here, the filmmaker can choose to end the story at its climax or allow the story to resolve quickly.

We see this in Darius Chinoy’s 2019 short film Checkmate, a 6-minute short film that follows a young couple on their first date. They play a game of Chess and have an insightful conversation that leads to a clever twist in the end:

Checkmate (2019), directed by Darius Chinoy

A short film’s budget is significantly lesser than that of a feature film which forces plots to be concise. A concise story means fewer protagonists (one or two at most) and restricts it to one or two locations.

It helps keep the audience’s attention as there is less time to convey the message. For example, in Checkmate, the story takes place in a cafe and centres around two protagonists Krishna and Radha.

Throughout, we see that the story has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Its message is crystal clear enough for the viewer to grasp in one sitting. But can it translate to a two-and-a-half-hour-long feature film without compromising on the film’s core idea?

It could be possible by adding more layers to the story, helping the viewer an insight into the setting or even the psyche of a character. But these layers could compromise on the core theme by adding additional concepts that might confuse the audience.

In essence, this could undo all the time it took for the filmmaker and their team to craft a crisp and concise story that fit within the limits of the film’s budget and time constraints.

But it could still be an interesting question for an aspiring filmmaker to ask and get their creative juices flowing.