Comic-Con
2011:
Mad Filmmakers: Beyond Bellflower Part 3
Page 1, Page 2
But it's Brandes that may have the best attitude about the vagaries of the business. "I did a lot of community theater when I was a kid. I'm not a triple threat; I can't dance or sing very well at all. But acting – people always told me, 'oh, you're so darling,' but I was like eight, so it didn't mean anything."
Glodell has mulled it for a while. Despite starring in his film, acting really isn't what he wants to do. "I want to move forward as a writer/director, definitely. In all honesty I don't think that I had the resources to find someone (to play himself) that I would have been satisfied with."
"Being that I had no money, and I had very little experience, even if I had been able to find that person, without paying him, to get them to come and put the time in to be the lead character, I don't think I was skilled enough or experienced enough to get them to understand it."
He struggles with the thought. "Or that I even know if I understood it on a subtle enough level. Putting myself in was like putting in the X Factor , the wild card, I knew there were things that I didn't understand consciously that subconsciously I did understand. If I got lucky, some of those things would come across."
"After all this time has gone by, and seeing people's reactions to it, and starting to get some distance from it, I think I got a ton of that. Stuff that I did as an actor in the movie that I had no idea I was doing, portraying stuff to the point that it makes me uncomfortable."
Clearly a fan of his friend, Grashaw offers support. "But you just knew it so intricately."
 The easiest actor to direct must have been the car, Mother Medusa. Taking up half the film's $17,000 budget and possibly not street legal, the image of that car dominates the film and gave it the hook for a Comic-Con event.
Glodell nods, "To me, the car is like God to the characters. It becomes everything that's falling apart, they put all of their hopes into Medusa. Somehow, if they can finish this car, then all of their lives are going to be okay. Everything is going to be awesome."
Grashaw continues, "I think you get that when you watch it, because when it starts getting destroyed, when my character starts breaking it, you know it's not just some random car. This is the only positive thing they have. Everything is dark, except for the car that is theoretically God." He laughs, realizing what he said. "Theoretically."
With this Mad Max influence, were all of you Mad Max fans?
Deadpan, Wiseman stares me down. "I'm a girl." Then she bursts into laughter. "I am (a fan) NOW!"
 Clearly, we've gotten to the heart of everything with this question. Glodell reminisces, "When I was a kid and I first saw Mad Max, I thought it was unbelievably cool. I wanted to be Mel Gibson's character and have this car that made him indestructible, it seemed like. And then the Lord Humongous character scared the piss out of me because he was so huge."
"So would I rather be clever or huge? And he was both. He was super-smart AND he could crush you. As time went on and the older I got, even when I was still young, I realized that my focus and interest had moved to Lord Humongous."
Wiseman laughs, "This has been a good therapy session."
And a perfect note to end the interview, as the group's long overdue lunch arrives. Grashaw looks relieved. These filmmakers no longer have to struggle just to eat.
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