Interview with The Blood of The Dinosaur’s director Joe Badon

From the initial minutes of Joe Badon’s new short The Blood of the Dinosaurs, it’s clear the director/writer isn’t going for cohesion with this project. It opens with footage of Badon talking about the film, bouncing a question about its meaning back onto the person who asked him. From there, the short explodes into a mashup of Mr. Rogers’ parody, classic horror films, and, yes, dinosaurs. Sometimes the collage-like nature of the short can work against the viewer, jumping from one concept to the next before the ideas feel completely explored, but throughout it maintains a lovely atmosphere of chaos and unpredictable imagery. Talking to the director led to some insight into why he chose to style the film this way, as well as some insights into the world of indie horror filmmaking (this interview was conducted over email).

What made you want to make a short after making two features?

It's as simple as this: it's easier to get into bigger festivals with shorts. Nothing profound, lol.

You’ve made all of your projects with the same editor (Joseph Estrade) and cinematographer (Daniel Waghorne), can you speak on each of these relationships a bit?

I have a great working relationship with these guys! I like collaboration and you need time (over multiple projects) to be able to have a good, smooth creative workflow with people. So I like having the same group on each project. Dan and Joseph are good people with good hearts. That should be honored above everything else.

And fuck man, they are crazy talented. Like Hollywood Legit Level Great! They make my stupid ideas LOOK and SOUND great! Without them, my work would be insanely rough around the edges! I love those guys! I'm also able to build an organic creative community when working with a consistent troupe of cast and crew members (as opposed to a revolving door of ever-changing collaborators).

What inspired this short, in both the horror and non-horror world?

This, along with everything I write, is just me turning off my brain and writing through instinct. Like a Word Association Game but it's an Idea/Plot Association Game. It's kind of like "Thought Vomit". Because of that, the inspiration comes from everything I've ever been exposed to. But, having said that, there's a lot of inspiration from Adult Swim, my Catholic upbringing, Classic/Vintage Horror Movies, Dada-ism, Filmmakers like Quentin Dupieux, David Lynch, Miguel Llansó, Bergman, Ken Russell (I could keep going).

You’ve referenced Adult Swim a few times in other interviews and press releases for the film, what about that style of comedy appeals to you?

It's all their absurdity and the nonsense and the unfiltered thought vomit. Adult Swim is wonderfully unhinged (compared to really any other mainstream network).

The faux children’s show format of the short allowed you to play with different styles of filmmaking, like stop motion. Was it a medium you’d wanted to work in for a while now?

I LOVE stop motion and would love to explore it more. It's extremely nostalgic and still feels like magic.

There are a few scenes where you call attention to the fact that this is a work of fiction and being filmed, both by yourself and in the reality of the short. Were these meta elements always a part of the short or did they come to you while making it?

The ideas were a little there in the script BUT I think we explored the meta elements even further during production and post-production.

In one of these meta scenes, you’re seen talking about what the film means, and sort of dodging the question. Is your intention here to make a piece of art that doesn’t have a clear meaning to interpret?

I never want to have a clear meaning. I want to view film as poetry and let the viewer assign their own personal meanings to my work.

A few times in the short, references are made to this being a prologue, or part of something larger than itself. Is that something you’re planning on developing or more of a meta element for the audience to imagine what could follow this?

We've actually already shot it! The Blood of the Dinosaurs is a prologue to our next project: A mini-series entitled The Wheel of Heaven where we follow the character Purity into her jaded adulthood essentially where she reconnects with her true purpose whilst reading a Choose Your Own Adventure style book. 

And last but not least, is that an Alice, Sweet Alice reference I caught?

It's definitely an homage! That raincoat and mask combo is a cheap and easy scare, lol!

The Blood of the Dinosaurs is director Joe Badon’s first short. It follows his two features The God Inside My Ear in 2018 and Sister Tempest in 2020. It recently played at Fantasia Fest as part of the Cavalcade of Perversions: A Lewdly Religious Glare block.