SHORT FILM VS FEATURE FILM

Obviously, the biggest difference between short films and feature films is of the length. For a film to be classified as short it must be less than 40 minutes in duration. Where as a featire film can ranges from 70-120+

Another point which differentiates the two is the budget. It's more than likely that a successful feature film will have a considerably larger budget than an short film. This is due to the need to pay the cast and crew, use of equipment and props, setting rent, studio rent, marketing and  much more. 

Feature length films are usually closed ended and tie up any loose ends of the story unless there is a sequel to come. This is because people pay lots of money to watch films and don't want to be robbed of an ending. Short films don't have to do this because of their length and people don't usually have to pay for them.

Feature films are shown in cinemas to generate revenue, whereas Short films are intended for dvd/tv because they are made to convey a message, not make money usually.
Also Short films usually have a lesser known cast and crew, the reason for this is discussed in purposes, there are more purposes, all of which can be seen in the purposes section.


Finally, when seeing a feature film people will expect to see an ending so that the studio releasing it can justify the cost of seeing it. You can't feel cheated out of money if you didn't pay for it and you can understand why there is no ending if there was not enough time to tie up every loose end.