Lunch with Clanker Man

An interview with Ben Steiner, director of Clanker Man

What gave you the idea for the “clanker man”?
The original idea came from Eli Silverman (co-writer and star) who had been kept awake one night by bangs and shouts from somewhere nearby and started to wonder if the people were making the noise for any other purpose than to annoy him. This experience evolved into the idea of a secret government department in charge of curating urban reality.

Can you tell us about the filming process and location? There is a hint of “guerrilla” filmmaking. What did the locals make of it?
The film was commissioned by a North London film festival who contributed a large portion of the (tiny) budget on the condition that we filmed within the boundaries of their neighbourhood. We already had the script for Clanker Man and it was a perfect fit for that area and that budget. The shoot was totally guerrilla but we never had any problems with the public, especially as we wanted to use deserted locations anyway. The only time the public became aware of us was during the scenes when the clanker man is making loud noises (banging the metal bar against the railing and shouting in the housing estate). Then we were politely asked to be quiet. Funnily enough, the closing scene’s blood-curdling screams in the park at night drew no attention whatsoever!

Would it be fair to call this a mockumentary? What interested you in that particular format? Were you influenced by a particular film or genre? 
It would not only be fair but correct to call this a mockumentary. It was vital that our character felt totally real so a pseudo documentary format was the obvious choice and by talking directly to the audience the character is made more sympathetic.

Can you tell us about your background as a filmmaker?
Clanker Man is my second short film with producer Dan Dixon who’s also the co-founder of Fume Films. Our previous short is a horror crime thriller called The Stomach and we’re now developing it into a feature with Creative England. Before teaming up with Dan I made a few other shorts, all horror or at least dark, some of which are online – anyone who enjoys Clanker Man might want to check out Insecticide and The Flea.

What sort of freedom would you say the short format allows?
I’d say the main freedom is the practical one of being able to make a film quickly and cheaply compared to a feature. Creatively, you can do whatever you want in either format, it just depends if you can find money and collaborators.

If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote or story from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
We haven’t been before but obviously Clermont-Ferrand has a great reputation and we expect to see some of the best shorts in the world and make some new friends and contacts.

Clanker Man is being shown in International Competition I5.