Chase Whale: To start off, talk about where the idea started of focusing on two buddies bantering during a zombie outbreak versus showing them fighting off zombie after zombie until the end of the movie.
Jeremy Gardner: Where that came from? Oh, I mean physically in the real world it came from me shooting an audition video with a friend of mine. I had the idea of kind of making a creative audition tape so it was two buddies documenting their time in a post-apocalyptic world, but then after I shot that I couldn't kind of stop thinking about it so I started developing it into a feature about two guys who are stuck together. Then the baseball element came in as a way to separate their characters as a pitcher and a catcher you know, hard-nosed kind of thug and a more sensitive type. But it was also about when I realized I wanted to make a movie I knew I didn't want anybody to lose any money. I kind of picked $6,000 out of a hat and decided to write around that budget. So by doing that, by allowing the limitations of the budget to inform the story, it made me realize it just had to be about two characters and how they were dealing with it instead of being this big broad glimpse of humanity at the end. It had to be much more intimate so that's how that came about kind of organically but also forced by budgetary restrictions.
Speaking of budgetary restrictions, there are some
deleted scenes on the Blu-ray, TOOLS OF IGNORANCE (THE BATTERY documentary
Again, I mean it's like I wrote the script around the
budget so there wasn't like this big set piece or anything that I had that I
wasn't able to shoot that we had to cut. That was the whole point was to try
and write something that we could make so I cut all of that stuff out before it
was ever even written. But I guess I would say budgetarily it would have been
nice to have had money and time to have more zombies. At the end [of the film], the hoard of
zombies, if you [watch] the documentary, you would know there is a shot that's
missing there that really shows the scope of how trapped Ben is in that car from
the outside, and there just weren't enough zombies to make it seem impressive
enough to me. So that was something that budget and time greatly informed. Was
not being able to get the extras and the time to get that shot correct. Adam?
Adam: I was really hoping there was going to be a scene
where he got to jump out of a helicopter but that wasn't going to happen (all
laughing).
Part II, Part II.
Jeremy: Money is time really so the thing that the budget
stopped us from doing was having more time. Like the Annie sequence, it just got
dark so quickly cause we only had those two actors for one day and by the
time we got to Annie's stuff it was just dark, dark, dark and rain. Again, to
have more time and money to pay those actors and keep them there and a location
that we could've secured for longer or even days to have rehearsals. Yeah the
budget stopped us from having rehearsal time too. A lot of things like that. So
no big set piece it was just timing.
So do you think, was time the most challenging thing
shooting this movie or was there something else you would say that was actually
more of a challenge than that?
Adam: Time and money. It's just time and money. Time and
money, right?
Jeremy: We needed more time, yeah.
Jeremy, you wrote, directed,
produced and starred in the film, but both of you produced and starred in it. Did you
find you liked doing one or the other more? Which job was a lot easier or a lot more fun?
Adam: That's easy. I don't think anybody wants to produce on
our side (all laugh). We both started as actors and Jeremy is a great writer as
well. Yeah, I think it would be acting all the way. We were producing out of
necessity. There was no one else there to do it so we just had to step up and
do it ourselves.
Jeremy: I started as an actor but I've always been a
writer. At this point in my life or career, you know, I like them all for their
own reasons. Writing is something I can do without needing any permission from
anybody. I get lost in a story...it's [can be] a frustrating process but so rewarding. Directing is fascinating because you get
to run this set and make your vision come to life, but acting is the most fun.
It's the most visceral, in the moment process and that's where I started, but I
would be happy doing either of those three.
That's awesome.
Jeremy: I just don't want to produce anymore. (all laugh)
That's great because I'm actually trying my hand at
producing now, so looking forward to it guys. Thanks.
Jeremy: (laughs) No I mean look it's the one job I respect the most
because I can't do it. I'm not organized and disciplined enough to figure out
how to produce a movie. Again, we ended up producers by necessity but it's
something.. we're still learning how to do that. That's why when I meet
producers I'm just like, "how the (fuck?) do you do it?"
Isn't that so rewarding... it was
do-it-yourself and it's been a success with critics and fans. I mean everyone, it's all they're
talking about on Twitter right now is THE BATTERY and you know all these big critics are loving it and
spreading the word. It's got to feel great.
Jeremy: Of course I mean it's a dream come true. It's
literally a dream come true. To say "yeah we're going to make a movie we're
going to make a movie and then oh yeah it's this weird quirky, slow artsy
zombie drama, but trust me people will like it". Even now even three years after
shooting it and all the film festivals and the awards and the distribution I
sometimes sit here and I go, "Why the hell do people like this slow ass movie?"
I start to second guess myself even after it's all worked. I think that comes
down to personality. That's the thing I love most about movies that I love is
you can see the personality of the people who made it in there. That sets it
apart. I think that's what people are responding to.
So I want to talk about the car scene. No spoilers or
anything, but I want to talk about the car scene. We spend a good amount of
time in there and I thought it was really fascinating the things that Ben and Mickey do in there -- like the conversations -- to keep the audience invested, while sitting in the back of a car with nowhere to go. When writing
that scene and talking to Adam about the scene, how did you finalize all the
discussions and the card games you were playing in that scene to make you feel confident enough, like, "ok this is going to be interesting enough for the audience"?
Jeremy: Well I mean I never was totally confident that it
would be interesting enough. I just think that I mean all of the scenes that
are in there are written. All the scenes that take place in the car are in the
script. There were actually a few that didn't make it. There is a scene where
Ben is looking at one of the zombies and he tells Mickey that he looks like
some guy who used to be on security at the ballpark that they used to play in
and he always hated that guy so he shoots that zombie just because it fucking
reminds him of this old guy he used to hate. Then there was a scene where
Mickey sees a car on the horizon out the windshield and starts screaming and
honking the horn and the car just turns around and leaves and you're not quite sure
if it was a mirage or if somebody was coming down the road and realized there
was a hoard of zombies and left. These things just got cut for time, but the
games were all in the script too it just says like, "they throw cards into a
glove, they play the alphabet game, they do this". That was just organic in
that way. I guess I knew that (give up the?? 9:49 ) edit. How do we cut this so
it looks like time is moving along you don't quite know how much time, but days
are passing? It's really about a rhythm and hoping that we don't overstay our
welcome, even though that was kind of the point.
Wonderful. Awesome. Cool guys. I have one more question
this is for both of y'all. It's probably the most important question you'll
ever get in your entire life so I hope you enjoy it.
J and A: Uh-oh
So in an all-out brawl, who do you think would win in a
fight, Ben or Rick Grimes (from THE WALKING DEAD)?
Jeremy: I want to be biased and say Ben, but I think Rick
has been through a lot. Depends on when you get him. Depends on if he was still
protecting his family or if he's crazy Rick. I think Ben is a little more
level-headed at this point. He kind of is a little more flippant about
situations. I think he can kind of navigate his way around cleverly, but I
think Rick is kind of animalistic in a way at this point where he just like he
would probably rip Ben's throat out with his hand. I don't know. I'd like to
see that fight.
Adam: I'd like to see that fight too. Let's go to Atlanta.
Maybe you could somehow have a walk-on role on the next
season of THE WALKING DEAD.
Jeremy: Somebody make it happen. Let's do a crossover where Ben just wonders in.