backyard oasis
A Specialist Portfolio by Fanny Hoetzeneder
A Director’s Narrative & Genre Portfolio. Specialism: Director BA (HONS) Film & TV \\ Year 2 London College Of Communication, University Of The Arts London. A Project By: Fanny Hoetzeneder (HOE10303059) adriennehoetzeneder@hotmail.fr 07412399148 This project is availble to view online at:
http://issuu.com/fanfanfox/docs/backyard_oasis_portfolio/2
Fanny Hoetzeneder.
changing room. Short film Backyard Oasis is the result of a 16mm project brief from my University, The University of The Arts London. The film depicts the persona’s of swimming pools though four short stories based around four different pools. Taking on the role of Director and Sciptwriter meant creative writing through visual research, collective preproduction and execution with the crew (notably my Producer) and delivery of my initial idea. This journal exposes my
work
from
preproduction
to
editing.
(above) I worked with a rough journal throughout the films production. Inside I would draw rough sketches, develop segments of the script and keep general production notes. Though informal the book became a key tool in fullfilling the brief.
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
Intro. 00
front dive.
Daniel Cornell’s mesmerizing and diverse photo To deepen my research I started to watch as book Backyard Oasis became the main influence
many swimming pool based films – or films with
of my project. The book intrigued me with its
swimming pool scenes - as I could and became
visual narrative that portrays the evolution of
fascinated whenever a pool would appear in
South Californian swimming pools from 1945 to
anything I was watching. From the first episode
1982 through showing their various designs and of the TV series The Sopranos, where ducks ultimately how they influenced photography,
gather round in the pool, to Lynne Ramsay’s
film and art. Through analysing and enjoying Swimmer, I would observe how pools would the photos the swimming pool as a subject
interact with the characters. Eventually I found
became an appealing and potentially hypnotic it more interesting when pools where used as (above) Backyard Oasis by Daniell Cornell became the main source of inspiration for the project and should be considered essential reading for anyone interested in the imagery of swimming pools and the sun drenched scenes of south California in the 1940’s to the 1980’s.
subject to film. I began to imagine the varying
symbols (Bill Viola’s Refllecting Pool) or would
and individual stories behind each photograph
influence a character’s behaviour (Benjamin The
and wondered whether I could create my own Graduate) rather than an aesthetic set design. narratives. I decided to select a few photographs and start writing unconscious little vignettes inspired by photographs from Slim Aarons, David Hockney, Herb Ritts and many others.
01. Front Dive.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
ED RUSCHA | Nine Swimming Pools 1958
DAVID HOCKNEY | John St. Clair Swimming 1972
LORETTA AYEROFF | Orange Umbrella 1981
DAVID HOCKNEY | Nathan Swimming 1982
Here are a selection of images from Cornell’s Backyard Oasis. When I look at these images I feel an intriguing energy that triggers different narratives within me.
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
Backyard Oasis Pictures. 02
The Graduate | 1967
The Reflecting Pool | 1979
Swimmer | 2012
Dir. Mike Nichols
Dir. Bill Viola
Dir. Lynne Ramsay
The Swimmer | 1968
Real Life Exp | 2013
Deep End | 1970
Dir. Frank Perry
Dir. Kristoffer Borgli
Dir. Jerry Skolimowski
03. Swimming Pool Films.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
wet chips. Besides the amazing South Californian pool’s imagery I was conscious that if the film were to be made it will have to be shot in England. I found the English character was actually more inspiring than restrictive. It encouraged me to look at Martin Parr’s photography or John Hinde’s photographs of the Butlin’s lido. I became particularly fond of English Lidos and the fact they were created for pure entertainment and yet looked so dull, odd and in many cases extinct. In
parallel,
the
16mm
film
project
was
another inspiration of filming water as the texture of film will bring a strong aesthetic to the swimming pool film I had in my head.
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
Wet Chips. 04
a bigger splash.
The writing process of Backyard Oasis wasn’t as
different story. The pool would become a sort
straightforward as I had hoped; I went through
of personification, an entity that gradually takes
10 different drafts as I became stubborn to keep control of the different character’s actions and a ‘poolside pulp stories’ structure to the script.
evolutions. Like the pool, the characters are stuck
Originally there were 5 short stories: The Swimmer, in a cemented hole in the ground, swimming in The Narcissus, The Lolita, The Gossiper and The
a gleaming illusion. They come, they swim, they
Alligator. Each short would convey a different
chat, they fantasize, they drown. Progressively
perspective of a pools persona. A concern arose
the characters would unconsciously use the
where I was scared that the stories were too pools to reflect their nature, to assign themselves different from one and another, and thus the film
to their least identities and perspectives in the
would look fragmented and without a readable outer world. I finally had my swimming pools narrative. I couldn’t convince myself to choose as Backyard Oasis had or backyard utopias. only one story for the film and therefore I started to think of making the swimming pool themselves as the main protagonists of the film. The pools would have different shapes and colours, but would always remain the main character of each
05. A Bigger Splash.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
The Swimmer
The Lolita These are the stills form the final film. The pools are shown empty and moving by themselves. In total I kept four short pool stories: The Swimmer, The Lolita, The Gossiper and The Alligator. (above) This (rough) page in my field notes shows my early working on script writing on each mini narrative.
The Alligator
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
The Gossiper
Pool Concept Development. 06
backstroke.
to gossip every time she would have a coffee with teenager, never understanding the world she grew other nanny friends. They used to gossip about
up with, always missing the one that left. The
this woman that suddenly divorced and left for
Alligator was the only story not directly linked to
I first thought of the film as a triptych of three London, leaving her 2 years old daughter with my life story, but overall it was a conclusion upon different pools but when I started to write The
her ex-husband. This was a shocking story for the a certain disturbing environment in which I grew
Gossiper in more depth it evolved into something
little town of Belleville-sur-Saone, which is where up, a sort of reflection of Belleville and its people.
else; something more profound. Originally The
I grew up. Indeed, no other women would do
Gossiper was a vain representation of swimming
such things, but how they dreamt about it! Hence were appealing and malicious at the same time,
pools, a show off of upper class lifestyle. The the continual gossips of jealousy and prejudices.
I finally understood how much swimming pools
creating this hypnotic fascination that I wanted
characters in the story would be rich middle Of course, this woman who left was my mother. to convey in the film more than anything. age ex-models parading in their luxurious life,
Therefore The Gossiper, and ultimately the film
with nothing else to do apart from enjoying their became something more personal that I wanted it comfort. Their narrative would be made up through
to be. The story of The Gossiper was the only one
a snippet of their routine gossip. This lead me to
with dialogue making it the sub-narrative of the
think about the kind of gossip I should write; I
film. The Swimmer became a representation of my
unconsciously chose a story from my childhood,
father, swimming to forget, drowning to disappear.
remembering my rich middle class nanny that used
The Lolita became an incarnation of myself as a
07. Backstroke.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
the swimmer.
MICHAEL CHILDERS | The Hockney Swimmer 1978 (above) Childer’s photograph inspired me to write The Swimmer. For me the photograph is emotionally charged with a sense of mechanical movement; a dazling performance.
(figure a.) Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
(figure b.) The Swimmer. 08
the gossiper.
SLIM AARONS | Poolside Gossip 1970
The Gossiper narrative is fully inspired by Poolside
Gossip by Slim Aaron. Visually this imaged evokes possible narratives and was the first image within Backyard Oasis I started to build and experiement narratively with. The composition is also in keeping with my taste for symetrical perspective shots.
09. The Gossiper.
(figure a.)
(figure b.)
(above) figure a. and figure b. are screen grabs from the final gossiper segment. Inspired by Aarons composition I recreated it for my own film. University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
the lolita.
Brigitte Bardot.
Lolita screen grab from the film.
On set photograph of The Lolita.
HERB RITTS | Richard Gere - Poolside 1982
The Lolita charchter partly comes stems from the Lolita is the imagery of golden era Hollywood stars photgraph of Richard Gere (above) by Herb Ritts. around the pool. Brigitte Bardot (above) and Marilyn This scene of nothingness based around pools Monroe evoke this status, wealth and imagery. inspired me to write The Lolita story in which pools create the ‘bodies of desire’ (ref.Backyard Oasis) The second point of reference that inspired The
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
The Lolita. 10
the alligator.
The Alligator was inspired by the film Sunset Boulevard (1950) (right) and how a pool is depicted as a creepy hole and a health hazard in Backyard Oasis. This scene had to emmitt a menacing and creepy feel though its placid and naturalistic approach. (bottom left) You can see my workings on the composition of the scene and a final grab below.
11. The Alligator.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
shallow end.
Backyard Oasis’s photographs have reinforced about the ‘pool narrative’ I was aiming to create. my fondness for long wide shots, something For me the film was a ‘tableau ‘styled film. The very present in Kubrick’s (my favourite Director’s) pool had to be filmed as the main character, cinematography. I believed the one point making an object alive, a ‘personified pool’. This perspective wide shot would be essential at was my main struggle and issue with my DoPs covering the stories in the most interesting way.
and I look back wishing they would of thought
As still photographs inspired the imagery, the more conceptually rather than technically. This film should look still. At this stage I was thinking
experience made me realize that in the future I
of shooting Backyard with a single shot where
need to be more strict and clear with my DoP. I
the different pools would be locked within the
learnt that it is essential that DoP and Director
same frame. This idea was very hard to convey share the same unique vision and concept of the to my Directors of Photography as they wanted film in order fullfill the Directors desired vision. to think of the film as a medium to experiment with the camera - with jibs, tracks and technically style over substance shots. Though keen to experiment their enthusiasm to do their own stuff appeared selfish as they didn’t think
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
Shallow End. 12
Kubrick’s
frequent
use
of
the
one
point
perspective shot has always been an inspiration for my filmmaking. I find the depth it gives to the image adds authenticity and strength. I decided that this composition would benefit my own film and give each narrative a symmetry.
A perspective grab from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
A perspective grab from The Shining.
13. The Kubrick Perspective.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
pool chlorine.
the character; this took a lot of exercising. One of
professional swimmer was immensely easy and
the highlights of Backyard was to rehearse with fascinating. It was relatively straightforward my two Gossiper actresses Melanie and Emilija.
to make Sam feel for the character of the
We could only arrange one rehearsal between Swimmer as he understood the ‘last dive, last us the day before the shoot. With the amazing swim’ concept of this film sequence. He felt the
Casting actors has always been my worry when
collaboration with my second assistant director pace I was looking for which made it in my
making a film. I find it particularly terrifying to
Lolita we developed a surprising characters’ lives
opinion the most beautiful scene of the film.
meet and rehearse with them and I tend to
background. By remembering a good memory, a
Backyard made me realize how unique, rare
panic and talk too much about the characters bad memory, a 15 years later memory, Emilija and and pleasurable it is to work with non-actors. emotions and background which usually can
Melanie became full of souvenirs and emotions
only confuse actors. But on Backyard I was
as if they knew each other by heart. It was
aware of this through my experience with The
a very intense rehearsal and I could feel that
House Project last term. I was still uncomfortable we were going somewhere positive, it was also but I tried to keep clear and simple at casting.
very interesting to have two actress of different
In rehearsals I tried to ‘play’ more than ‘work’. age
and
background
collaborate
greatly.
Within Sal Anderson’s lectures I learnt that I Finding through my set designer our Swimmer needed to find a ‘trick’ that would trigger an and Alligator was one of the most enjoyable actors subconscious and help them to embody
encounters of the production. Working with a
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
A snapshot of the 16mm camera viewfinder
Pool Chlorine. 14
scuba diver. What was really interesting about filming Backyard was to learn and understand that the ar t of directing is driven by gut feelings rather than precise technique. Whilst working with my actress Melanie I realized that I should concentrate my directing towards balancing the creative overseeing of the crew and the ensemble of the film whilst letting go and leaving the unpredicted to take over.
Production photos from the set of Backyard Oasis.
The results of this gave me a strong confidence and a serene view upon my skills in directing and positive thoughts for the future of my filmmaking.
15. Scuba Diver.
University Of The Arts London | LCC | BA Film & Televison
deep end.
In conclusion I believe the film travelled in a
the end we agreed on an edit that would find
direction and a place that was both unexpected its narrative with the juxtaposition of cuts. and predictable. This is both a good and a bad We attempted to emphasize the movement thing. I believe the Directors of Photography and
of water through the different pools. This
I did not share the same vision for the film which was one aspect that we lost in the first edit: it resulted in having the Kubrick esque ‘photographic’ wasn’t trying to show the pools personification. long still shots I wanted combined with stylistic I believe the final result is good but not great and narrativeless shots the Directors of Photography it is certainly not the way I had envisioned it.
HAROLD JONES | Pool 1982
wanted. The film became stuck between two
However having said this I think I have
different styles that couldn’t be perfectly edited
discovered a real interest in making a film
together; one being a tableau styled film where
from photographs. I seem to find inspiration
swimming pools would be emphasized in order for scriptwriting from a visual content and the to convey a concept, a symbol. Whilst the
exploration of a subject - in this case pools -
other being an emphasis of the characters of
has been both exhilerating and intriguing. The
The Swimmer, The Gossiper, The Lolita and The
journey though bumpey has taught me many
Alligator. In this respect I felt the film was broken. lessons creatively, technically and personally Nonetheless my editor and I spend a very intense that I will carry over to my future projects. A unused shot from the rushes.
week of cutting and re-cutting the rushes. At
Fanny Hoetzeneder | Narrative & Genre Portfolio | Backyard Oasis
Deep End. 16
thank you. A special thanks to Thomas Ralph, William Raban, Sal Anderson and Pati Diaz.