Our VIP Judge has been chosen!

Jonathan Ross, eat your heart out – we've found our VIP Judge! Her name's Melanie Hussey and she'll be joining our illustrious panel to choose this year's Virgin Media Shorts grand prizewinner.

We had hundreds of entries, with the nation's would-be film critics coming out in force, but Melanie pipped them at the post. She'll be taking up her position alongside Kevin Spacey, Stephen Mangan and the rest of our movie heavy weights to pick one lucky winner from our shortlist.

So who is Melanie and what are her critic credentials? We had a chat with Swindon's most dedicated film buff to find out… 

How do you feel about joining Kevin Spacey and the rest of our high-profile judging panel?

I'm extremely pleased to have been chosen to have my opinion. I've studied film for a long time and it's a pleasure to think that I can put what I've learned to good use.

What's your film background?

I've always enjoyed movies and returned to college as an adult to take a Film Studies A Level. This led to a Masters Degree in Film Studies and European Cinema at the University of the West of England. As a committed cinephile, I've attended film festivals in Cannes, Cambridge and Edinburgh.

What's your favourite film and why?

It would have to be Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. I think it has stood the test of time and remains a classic. Every time I watch it I see something different. Its themes of 'what is real?', of identity, urban claustrophobia and environmental degradation are still very resonant today, maybe even more so than they were in the eighties when it was made. I think it has sterling performances from Harrison Ford and especially Rutger Hauer and even supporting characters like J.F. Sebastian, played by William Sanderson are memorable. It has a fantastic score by Vangelis that fits the futuristic setting and the cinematography is simply stunning.

What makes a good short film?

In my opinion, a strong message. There isn't time for plot development and character development so the short film needs to have a memorable point. The more that the elements of the film (setting, camerawork, lighting, editing etc) assist in making the message memorable, the more successful I think the short movie is. I also think it's a good milieu for experimentation and originality.

What are the essential qualities a film critic needs?

A film critic needs to be able to look at the whole process of film - to see the good and bad points and rate it on the basis of how successful the movie is in terms of what it's trying to achieve. For example, The Mummy Returns is a very funny and entertaining movie and set out to be just that - and therefore it succeeds, whereas other films fail because the director has lost the sense of what the movie is aiming at.

What would you like to make a film about?

I would really like to make a film that made people laugh. In the current economic climate and weather climate too, something that gets people rolling in the aisles would be fantastic. I’d like to make the antithesis of urban gritty drama, crime, serial killings and people being generally unpleasant. I think it would be something along the lines of  the French movie 'Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis', maybe where some typical town/city people decide to go self-sufficient, move to a country location and struggle to adapt.