Gareth Edwards’ is a part of a new generation of Hollywood directors. The 36 year old London boy is paving the way for a surge in low-budget sci-fi films inspired by the likes of George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and, as I learnt today, Ray Harryhausen. Edwards’ feature debut, Monsters, received critical acclaim and was adored by audiences when it premiered at the South by South West festival n Austin, 2010. The film was released on DVD early in April and I was fortunate enough to sit down and talk to Edwards’ about the film and it’s tumultuous production.

First and foremost, how much was the production budget? $15’000 or $500’000

I don’t know! It was more than $15’000. What happened is we did a video for a massive electrontics store in the ‘states’ and they asked what kit we used. So we said it was this camera, this computer, this software, and then they calculated it up and said, “oh, that’s $15’000.” And they sort of said, “If I want to make a movie I could do so for $15’000?” And we were like, yeah, that’s what it . But then that got out there that it was how much we spent but it wasn’t true at all. I got paid a wage, the actors were paid a wage, and then there’s travel and hotel expenses on top of that… I don’t know, but my guess would be it’d be in the middle of $15’000 to $500’000.

A lot of the online blogs have marveled at how you would travel from location to location filming bits and pieces here and there. How was that experience?

We were literally in people’s lives for as long as they’re in the film. They were walking to work or whatever they were doing, and [our] translator would have this spiel in Spanish, and I can’t speak Spanish, but she’d say ‘extra terrestrial’s’, and they would be all yeah… Of course! It felt as though this sort of thing happened all the time and I was worried we’d bump into a film crew at any moment!

In post production, what software did you use?

Well, I mainly used Adobe software. All the shots [VFX] were done After Effects. I obviously used Photoshop because of that… And we used 3DS Max [for 3D modeling]… We edited in Adobe Premiere, and yeah. All of this is available down at your local electronics’ shop. The computers used to make Jurassic Park on are available down the shop for anyone to buy… So that’s what we did.

What advice do you have for upcoming filmmakers?

I have some really straight forward simple advice for anyone that wants to make a film that sounds so simple you’ll be like, “oh, shut up”. It is, just, go make a film. There’s only two reason why you don’t; One is that it’s because you think it’ll be rubbish and if you think it’ll be rubbish then go get the rubbish one out of the way. [The second is] If you think it’ll be great then, what are you waiting for?

It’s the simplest advice in the world, but when it comes down to it there’s only one difference to a wannabe filmmaker and filmmaker, and it’s that the later has picked up a camera and done it. So if you want to be a filmmaker, just pick up a camera and make something.

Monsters is out now on DVD & Bu-Ray. You can also rent or download it via iTunes.

Gareth Edwards’ is hard at work preparing the next Godzilla film. To put things in perspective, Edwards’ completed all 256 visual effects shots by himself in his bedroom at an average of two shots a day. He also told me later on that he was self-taught in everything to do with VFX.

You can follow me, Edward Drake, on twitter, @Woodsmen