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By Meredith Alloway · October 11, 2013
Anyone can make a movie today. With the right camera, crew and cast, a short film can pave the way to a career. Daniel Klein’s short AB- is a perfect example. While teaching at DePaul University, the filmmaker was able to assemble a team to create his first dark project, The short, which centers on a man rescued by a questionable ambulance, has gone on to a plethora of festivals. From Tribeca to Cannes and now Austin Film Festival, the short is garnering praise.
Klein discusses the story, how he made the short on a small budget and turning it into a feature film.
ATW: Your new short AB- is about a man who’s saved after a car crash by a questionable ambulance. Where did the idea begin?
K: Basically it was born out of a funny conversion with friends who are producers. One night they were sitting around trying to scare each other with dark tales. I said, ‘I don’t like this genre, frivolous thrills.’ They said, ‘You’re riddled with fear, why don’t you talk about your fears.’ I started talking about how there these ambulances that show up out of the blue and no one questions them. They kind of horrify me! What would be interesting is to tell a story about good guys and bad guys. I love the comedy genre but I realized that I don’t care what genre it is as long as it’s a great story.
ATW: You also teach at DePaul. How were they involved in production?
K: Basically I had a friend who was looking for some people to help build the school. I started to help design a good experience for students. They said, ‘We’d love for you to be here and we’ll help you in any way. If you can help design the school and curriculum we’ll offer you access to equipment and help.’
ATW: AB- is under 10 minutes, which is a challenge when making a short film. What sort of structure did you follow to keep the film concise?
K: My goal was to demonstrate this could happen to anybody at any time. A lot of horror films give you an introduction to character so they can build some kind of an appeal, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, establishing isolation and young kids. It was our goal to actually craft something where we get enough time to know these people in advance. In the longer version of this, I would spend time getting to know these people more.
ATW: What are some aesthetic influences you used to construct the eerie feel of the film?
K Texas Chainsaw Massacre for sure. This might sound kooky, but the original The Night of the Living Dead. You watch that now and it’s wrought with all of these commentaries. It’s my favorite zombie movie. I watched Halloween again. The musical cue was pretty scary for me. I learned something: you get a little bit of a glimpse into the relationship of the bad guys. I wanted to get that tension, a rock band about to break up.
ATW: What were some challenges you faced on set? With a short film you have a much smaller crew and budget.
K: We made it on a nickel! We got a lot of favors from friends. I was able to craft a crew of four professional department heads. The rest were students and we had about 40 people in the woods. This is where I almost screwed everything up! We’ll shoot this in up state Wisconsin…all nighttime exteriors. The winter’s probably done by then! There was a torrential down pour. There was an ice storm and it was slippery. It stayed at 17 degrees the rest of the shoot. The students had a blast! They rallied! Oren made it fun for the cast and the crew took from him that you have to be together to be stronger!
ATW: You guys were at Tribeca! How has the festival circuit been?
K: We’ve been invited to a number. We’re half way through our run. We were at Cannes, a new festival in Austria and were just in the Fantasia festival. I heard from something today, New York Television Festival and the Chicago International Festival!