HollyShorts Filmmaker Interview: WELGUNZER

An interview with Bradford Schmidt, director of the short film, “Welgunzer.”

This is a really intriguing premise. Tell our readers what your short film is about?

Welgünzêr is a darkly comedic tale about Donald, who plans to travel into the future and murder himself painlessly. He constructs a fantastical junkyard time machine in his shower. But before he can enter into the 4th dimension, he’s confronted by a shaken and alarmed Future Donald. Moments later, the pair are interrupted by the enigmatic Future Future Donald.

The utterly confused Donald is coerced by the pair of his future selves to travel into his past to visit his estranged wife one last time.

The 14 minute film is an ironic examination at the concept of individual freewill and puts into question the possibility of significant change in a person over time.

Where did the idea for the story come from?

Welgünzêr was adapted from a story written by my writing partner, Brandon Thompson, in his book of short stories: A Secret Beast (2006). The idea was originally inspired by comic genius Bill Watterson in his cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes. Brandon and I had an obsession with Calvin and Hobbes during our childhood in Colorado. There are a few playful nods to Watterson placed within the film, but Welgünzêr took on a more dark and adult nature. Adapting the story into the script brought a number of new ideas and challenges in order to make the plot work in such a short amount of time. While most viewers can grasp the story the first time, it typically takes a second viewing to see the intracacies of the woven pattern as the plot unfolds.

How did you go about selecting your cast?

Kate Sharp, the producer, and I cast for nearly three months. There were several talented actors interested and it was very difficult turning them away; but Donald was a specific character and required a wide range to play all three parts.  After two frustrating months, a wonderful professor of mine, Barry Primus, connected me with the Actor’s Studio and in walked Gary Colón for an audition. He was the last audition of a long day. It was his face that caught me at first, it’s expressive in a way that is reminicient of Klaus Kinski. On Gary’s call back, we played around with nearly every scene. Halfway through the climatic showdown and the dawning realization of Future Donald, I turned off the camera. I was trying so hard to hold back my laughter, I was literally wiping away tears from my face.



You have 3 versions of your main character interacting with each other on the screen. Even for big budget films that can be a difficult proposition, tell us how you handled the continuity and special effects challenges?

Casting triplets would’ve obviously saved the actor and I from severe headaches. Sometimes, Gary would have to go to makeup and delve into a new character three different times for one wide shot. It was a long and laborous process. Thuyen Tang, the script supervisor, was methodical and precise. We had screen overlays and multiple stopwatches running on each take. All the while, I had to make certain Gary was focused on the emotion and logic of the present character even when he was playing against himself in a previous performance as another character. Gary and I nearly went crazy ourselves in confusion. It was a harrowing feat for everyone.

But if there was one person on set who was my own personal savior making sure everything was holding together it was Austin Schmidt, my brother and cinematographer. Austin, Brandon, and I shot the entire script in mockup with a digital camera months beforehand to test what shots, angles, and effects could possibly work and what wouldn’t. With these kind of complex special effects, regardless of small or big budget, extreme preparation is required. No matter what, you have to roll a lot of film. You must go into it knowing that some things will work and some won’t. You make certain that you give yourself outs even after covering all your bases. And even then, tragically, some of the best performances of the film are on the cutting room floor.



What other challenges did you face in making the film?

Thinking up ideas on paper is always the painless part. But the actual physical aspect of suspending a junkyard time machine above a bathtub and creating the surrounding world which would make it believable was daunting to do on a small budget. That’s where the real creativity comes in. Not the ideas, but how to pull them off. It took truckloads from several junkyards to obtain enough material for both our time machine engineer, Big Metal Todd, to build the machine and for the production designer, Allesandra Said, to create the rest of the world. The set builders and art department worked through the night for days to make it happen.

What do you hope your short film achieves?

Are you asking besides the outrageous hope that after your credits roll and the lights come up in the theatre, there will be a financier or producer waiting for you with an open checkbook asking how much will it take to make your next project? That’s probably at the top of everyone short filmmakers list.

In reality though, Welgünzêr is a calling card for my future projects. A short film is a way for the business to take you seriously as a filmmaker.

On a more personal achievement level, being selected and going to festivals is always a delight. It’s a way to feel how your film is connecting with an audience. To hear laughter contagiously roll up the isles. To sense your viewers tense up, or their breath, or come to a realization together. It’s exhilarating. And all because of something that came out of your head.

What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers?

Work with people you know you can trust, and then be willing to actually put your trust in them. The latter part is much harder. If I only had a few words of advice though it would be: Story. Story. And Story. Thats what we’re here to do, so we better make sure it’s a good one. The rest is just making the telling of it more effective.



Which filmmakers inspire you?

From the first frame of Welgünzêr, most can see that I had an obsession with Jeunet’s ‘Delicatessan’.  The similar antique futuristic world and tone seemed very appropriate for the story of Welgünzêr. Of course, I would have to list Gilliam and the Coen’s as influential for the film. As far as inspiration goes: Kieslowski for his sheer tenacity, Herzog for his insight, and Lynch for his surprises.



What are your future projects?

I am developing several feature length screenplays. I had to write a several other scripts before returning to develop a feature version of Welgünzêr.  Brandon and I are in the middle of writing it at the moment. Another script in a similar vein to Welgünzêr that we just finished is an epic adventure titled ‘The Landsailor’. The unusual tale is set five hundred years after an unknown cataclysmic event when a leprous deformity drives our sparse human population to extinction. An afflicted and dying twin escapes with his unblemished, simpleton brother from their family cult on a wheeled sailboat across a savage desert in order to chase down whispered rumors of an all powerful, healing scientist.


Click to view the trailer or official site.




“Welgunzer” will be screening during Program 8 on Saturday, August 8th at 8:30 PM. Click here to order tickets. Film Radar readers can receive $10.00 of the All-Access Festival Pass (regular price $50.00) or $5.00 off a daily pass (regular price: $25.00) by mentioning “FilmRadar” at the HollyShorts will call table.