From the judge's mouth
Jeremy Howe
As the former Head of Short Films for 91Èȱ¬ Drama, not to mention a previous judge for the New Film Makers Award, Jeremy Howe got the chance to see hundreds of short films every year.
Here he discusses some of the issues surrounding film makers and tells us how the judges look at short films.
Q1. How do you, as a judge, compare films which have used a large budget to those made on a shoestring?
All the money in the world won't cover up a poor story… I'm quite allergic to production values.
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Q2. How short should a short film be?
Almost all short films are too long, including a lot of 90 second films... generally the shorter the short the better.
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Q3. Do you think formal training is required to become a good film maker?
The trick of directing is thinking you know how to do it. You need a lot of confidence and I think going to film school can give that, but it's not actually necessary.
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Q4. Is there a moral limit to how far a film maker should push the boundaries of taste and decency?
Film makers trying to shock are pretty boring unless they have a really good reason to shock or disturb you.
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Q5. How important is choosing the actors?
Actors don't just turn up on set and give a marvellous performance. It's the director's job to work with the actors and get the performances out of them…
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