Short Culture Cuts #8: Summertime ushers in the new frontier of the short film

But even pop songs in general, which today if they reach 3 minutes, already seem too long. Why is all this happening? Maybe “it’s the fault of the heat, it’s the fault of a shot”, as Baby K sings.

An installment series in collaboration with MAX3MIN – Very Short Film Festival looking at what short films are today. Spoilers: Everything.

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frozen by Madonna lasts for 6 minutes and 7 seconds. This is one of the first of the mainstream singles from this not-too-distant era, which comes to my mind to say the opposite of what’s been happening in cinema for some time now: movies once lasted an hour. were and a half, now on average they take 2 hours and 40 minutes long; Once upon a time pop hits could last 6 minutes, now it’s surprising if they reach 3. Today’s films have become very long films, small songs.

(Then we can also discuss the fact that once upon a time there was a pop hit frozen They were written/produced in a way that would be unimaginable today, but I’ll risk the typical mumbling speech that old people make, there was a time when everything was better, music was beautiful when I was young, etcetera -etc. So I’ll stop here, we understand each other anyway.)

Recently, I came across summer phrases (it’s hard work, dot dot) that somewhat confirm the above. lambda Runs for 2 minutes and 55 seconds by Boomdabash with Paola and Chiara. she loves me, she doesn’t love me 2 Minutes by Baby 23. taxi on the moon 2 min 23 (did they agree?) also by Tony Efe, Emma and Takagi and Catra. another world 2 minutes and 47 seconds by Merck & Crémont with Tananai and Marrakesh. then you see it disc heaven by Fedez, Annalisa and Article 31 is 3 minutes and 18 long and makes you feel like Fanny and Alexander.

Even overseas the trend seems to be spreading, as headlined by local newspapers. Let me take the first example I see in the Spotify chart of most listened songs at the time of writing: barbieworldThe reboot of the 90s hit by Aqua signed by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, as they say it today, runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds. In addition to Max3Min: already 2 minutes, nowadays, seems an unimaginable amount of time.

whose fault is it? (Because, another thing you do when you get old is that you always have someone or something to blame for anything.) I will say, as always, about TikTok and other things like that . By now it has been established that attention span decreases (no: it dies) after 8 seconds, nanoseconds plus nanoseconds minus. So everything collapses (no: dies) as a result. Those younger than me (who are now about fifty, okay) – or less young, who, however, unlike me, practice modern technology – tell me that TikTok’s fault is even more double: “singing more” in a few seconds. Keep in mind, today the trend of songs is spreading even more (sorry once again). sped upThat is, like when you put Netflix on 1.25 (even 1.5: I admit that sometimes, especially on some Italian ones, I do that too).

It’s our fault that we don’t pay attention, that we speed everything up, that we live in a frenzied time where three things should fit in 3 minutes, not one (let alone 6). It’s the fault of a discography that has turned ugly and bad, of the songs used as #adv jingles by artists who make more money by being influencers, of the serialization of everything, of the catchphrases that grow every year and so you have to make them even smaller, otherwise no yes everyone can hear. It’s the fault of Spotify playlists, reels, new broadcast channels (we just needed them). It’s everyone’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault. ,It’s the fault of the summer, it’s the fault of the shot

Baby K sings in her new summer song, and it would be no coincidence that this shot is actually the shortest.