5 Questions with Noel David Taylor ("The Hermit")

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

Filmmaking came pretty organically, my mom got me into films at a young age, I was raised by TV and really couldn't get enough film, especially classics. As soon as I could get my hands on a camera I started trying to make movies, and just never really stopped. I was a pretty quiet kid so it was fairly pivotal for me to find an outlet that worked and held my fleeting A.D.D. interests.

2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?

My nephew, Mitch, who was the co-director and actor in this, makes movies like I did when I was his age and I've really wanted to make something with him for some time. The story and imagery for this short comes from a love of the tarot and the story telling inherent in its imagery. I just wanted to make something that had coins, batons, swords, and of course the hermit and magician. So I kind of threw those elements together a dream-logic story.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?

Biggest challenge was kind of hobbling together props, as we were in lockdown, so I had to riffle through all my trash, luckily I have a lot of it. We also could have used another crew person ideally (who am I James Cameron?) . Easiest part for me was the parts I shot of Mitch, he's just naturally funny and we were just goofing around.

4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

I usually watch either really serious classics or like idiotic blockbusters, but lately I've been trying to watch things that originally inspired me to make films, I watched "Brain Candy" the kids in the hall movie recently, it's still fantastic, but really hard to find. Should we start mailing brains to Lakeshore?

5) What’s next for you?

I just finished my first feature that will be in Slamdance in Feb, have a couple shorts I'm editing and gearing up on another feature I just finished writing. And on a personal note, I'm working on going outside, I've heard good things.

—

noeldavidtaylor.com | IG: @avi.mov | Twitter: @noeltrap