I met up with Leeds based shortfilm maker Eugene Taylor in The Ship: the best place to drink cheap German beer in the city. As a some-time short filmmaker I wanted to get a sense of how to get started making films to show that, in theory, anyone can do it. Eugene is the right man for the job.

He greets me with a firm handshake, immediately opening up his battered laptop to show me his latest film 'Way Out'. It's like The Shining directed by Chris Morris as the voice of a young girl taunts a man locked in a darkened room. It's rough around the edges but it has a strong story and uses the medium incredibly well.

"I think that constraints bring out the best in me. I like being forced to use my imagination to get away with things in five minutes that you can't in a feature film."

I ask Eugene about the myth that short film requires a lot of money and experience. His reply is animated. "No! What you really need is time, equipment, imagination and shitloads of enthusiasm."
The 'equipment' part makes my ears prick up as it always does when I think I have heard someone presuming that everyone has access to Daddy's camera. Eugene sees my concern. " I had an idea for a short film and I just got a small group of people together. One of them was a student at the LMU and was able to get equipment and access to digital editing. We just pulled it together. I have never been to University and I have never used my parents money."

Eugene is eager to point out that a fledgling filmmaker needs to be aware of the limitations of the short.

"If you spend a lot of time setting up one room then you can create a whole world for your film." The trick seems to be to pick a relatively cheap and simple but affective idea and make sure that you prepare everything to make a shoot and subsequent editing go smoothly. "80% of my filmmaking time is spent on concept development, scriptwriting, storyboarding and then planning for the shoot. A useful thing to do before you even think about make a short film is to take a look at other efforts." Eugene is right. People who make short films do not watch them often enough, which may explain why there are so many bad ones. There are now tons of resources online to see short films. 'Britshorts' is a good place to start.

"Even if you can't get friends and family to help you make a film, there are ways of getting in contact with people in your local area who are just as ambitious by putting feelers out, or looking online." In my experience the internet presence for people looking to get involved with filmmaking for free is limited to the cities but www.mandy.com and www.shootingpeople.org are well known databases to find like-minded people.

"I have now invested in some editing software now which means I am almost completely sustainable. I can film, edit and then stick the finished product onto a CD and send it to competitions and festivals. Computers and the digital age has revolutionised guerrilla filmmaking."
So what's next? "I'm going to try and get a relatively high budget idea attached to a local producer so that I can try and get funding from Screen Yorkshire. There is funding out there if you want it and can convince people you deserve it."

Eugene's message seems to be that if you want to, you can make a short film with relative ease. "I've always found that it is only lazy people who make excuses. If you want to make a short film, you can. Just get off your arse and do it."


	EDITION 005 - FEBRUARY 2004 Jamie Sherry meets up with Leeds filmmaker EUGENE TAYLOR I met up with Leeds based shortfilm maker Eugene Taylor in The Ship: the best place to drink cheap German beer in the city. As a some-time short filmmaker I wanted to get a sense of how to get started making films to show that, in theory, anyone can do it. Eugene is the right man for the job. He greets me with a firm handshake, immediately opening up his battered laptop to show me his latest film 'Way Out'. It's like The Shining directed by Chris Morris as the voice of a young girl taunts a man locked in a darkened room. It's rough around the edges but it has a strong story and uses the medium incredibly well. "I think that constraints bring out the best in me. I like being forced to use my imagination to get away with things in five minutes that you can't in a feature film." I ask Eugene about the myth that short film requires a lot of money and experience. His reply is animated. "No! What you really need is time, equipment, imagination and shitloads of enthusiasm." The 'equipment' part makes my ears prick up as it always does when I think I have heard someone presuming that everyone has access to Daddy's camera. Eugene sees my concern. " I had an idea for a short film and I just got a small group of people together. One of them was a student at the LMU and was able to get equipment and access to digital editing. We just pulled it together. I have never been to University and I have never used my parents money." Eugene is eager to point out that a fledgling filmmaker needs to be aware of the limitations of the short. "If you spend a lot of time setting up one room then you can create a whole world for your film." The trick seems to be to pick a relatively cheap and simple but affective idea and make sure that you prepare everything to make a shoot and subsequent editing go smoothly. "80% of my filmmaking time is spent on concept development, scriptwriting, storyboarding and then planning for the shoot. A useful thing to do before you even think about make a short film is to take a look at other efforts." Eugene is right. People who make short films do not watch them often enough, which may explain why there are so many bad ones. There are now tons of resources online to see short films. 'Britshorts' is a good place to start. "Even if you can't get friends and family to help you make a film, there are ways of getting in contact with people in your local area who are just as ambitious by putting feelers out, or looking online." In my experience the internet presence for people looking to get involved with filmmaking for free is limited to the cities but www.mandy.com and www.shootingpeople.org are well known databases to find like-minded people. "I have now invested in some editing software now which means I am almost completely sustainable. I can film, edit and then stick the finished product onto a CD and send it to competitions and festivals. Computers and the digital age has revolutionised guerrilla filmmaking." So what's next? "I'm going to try and get a relatively high budget idea attached to a local producer so that I can try and get funding from Screen Yorkshire. There is funding out there if you want it and can convince people you deserve it." Eugene's message seems to be that if you want to, you can make a short film with relative ease. "I've always found that it is only lazy people who make excuses. If you want to make a short film, you can. Just get off your arse and do it."