A SPECIALIST PORTFOLIO BY FANNY HOETZENEDER
Specialist Portfolio | Directing A project by Fanny Hoetzeneder HOE10303059 BA Film & Television Year 3 London College of Communication University of the Arts London ŠFannyHoetzeneder 2014
Belleville . 1
2 . Belleville
content
Introduction Backyard Oasis Experimentation Exploration Roy Andersson Scriptwriting Characters Stanley Kubrick Fundraising Auditioning Rehearsing Directing on set Inspirations & Results Post-Production Conclusion
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4 . Belleville
FILM JOURNAL EXTRACT
02/10/13 Today my film, Belleville, was successfully selected to be produced into a Graduation Short Film on the BA Film & TV course at the London College of Communication (UAL). Over the next nine months I will be working as a Director and Writer on this major project with a group of fellow students.
introduction
This portfolio will become my working diary for all things Belleville. I am enthusiastic to see it evolve and journey my working process from research to wrap, but also about my development as a fledgling director. The portfolio will become a place to portray my workings, highlight my influences and write my many thoughts on Belleville. I hope it will become what I have envisioned it to be but also something unique and unexpected. From sunset to sunrise, Belleville portrays a fictional suburbia through six interwoven stories. With a photographic form, the film depicts a visual narrative I first experimented upon within my last film, Backyard Oasis. This is a technique I wish to develop.
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From top left to bottom right Photographers that inspired me for Backyard Oasis: Slim Aarons with his Poolside Gossip (1970), Herb Ritts’ Richard Gere, Poolside (1982), David Hockney’s John St. Clair Swimming (1972) and Loretta Ayeroff’s Orange Umbrella (1981). The last two pictures are two screen grabs from my Backyard Oasis.
6 . Belleville
Before I start the long journey of Belleville, it would be impertinent to not critically reflect on my last directorial experience, Backyard Oasis. Backyard Oasis was a 16mm project based around swimming pools that I directed in my second year at LCC. This project was my first film inspired directly by photography, notably 1970s Californian photography. Through the exercise I learnt how to experiment with storytelling and narrative structures. I was particularly interested in making swimming pools the true main characters of the film, thus leading me to shoot the film with wide static shots whilst intercutting four different pool stories.
backyard oasis
watch backyard oasis here:
password: belleville
In retrospect the film lacked a level of engagement in the story from the audience’s perspective: the shots were very wide, there was barely any dialogue and most of all the film was mainly constructed of ambiguous and unexplained aspects with an undefined start, middle and end. Eventually I embraced these ‘frustrations’ within the audience as it provoked people to imagine their own various explanations upon the true narrative and meaning of the film. I learnt this was another form of audience involvement - one I had unpredicted - as some people actually asked to watch it twice. Backyard Oasis was an art film, a film that required subjective thinking and an open mind. Though imperfected it propelled me to uncover my own filmic style and has helped define me as a director. I hope to take that experience - both stylistically and narratively - and develop upon it further in Belleville.
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8 . Belleville
David Hockey, Sun on the Pool (1982) I discovered Hockney’s photography whilst making Backyard Oasis. This paticular ‘joiners’ was one of the first points of inspiration for my project.
When concluding Backyard Oasis, the idea of Belleville came to mind as a film to develop further what Backyard Oasis was touching upon: home truths and memories. While Backyard Oasis made me realize that an unconscious investigation took place within my own identity and integrity. In Belleville, I have decided to take that investigation consciously.
experimentation
The first aspect that interested me since the 16mm film was framing e.g the form of frames, what’s beyond them and the way they convey a narrative. In my research, before pitching, I started looking in detail at David Hockney’s photo-collages, the ‘joiners’ as he called them. The joiners really interested me in their cubism aspect and how it questions human’s subjective vision. A narrative would take life by the joining of different perspectives into one and this appealed to me not as a photographer, but as a filmmaker.
watch Mom’s garden here:
password: belleville
Then after I decided to create a test project; I filmed my mother’s garden on a lazy sunday afternoon - from the house’s second floor with Hockney’s different perspective technique and then edited the ‘frames’ into one. The result was compositionally interesting and I could already foresee potential different subject matter this technique could develop: a swimming pool, a landscape, a road or even my little brother eating spaghettis... However, as I developed this I realised that this was more of a personal art project that could not have guaranteed to fulfil the brief of the film project I pitched. At this point I decided to research elsewhere. Though the idea stopped here, I will continue to explore it in parallel with Belleville and hopefully more closely on a future project.
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David Hockey, Billy Lighting His Cigar (1982)
10 . Belleville
Pages of research on David Hockney and the manipulation of frames.
Fanny Hoetzeneder, Mom’s Garden (2013) Three screen grabs of the experimental film.
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Film Journals Whilst making the film I worked and filled up two journals. Here I kept production notes, ideas, sketches, nonsense... Though informal, these books become essential in the production of the film. On this page These are the first pages of the Belleville project.
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exploration
I had always envisioned my next film to be an alternative and visual project that I hoped would reflect my own photographic style of filmmaking. Belleville really took form when I came across photographer Gregory Crewdson and how he made the familiar and bizarre collide in his suburban photography. I realised that suburbia, the characters that habitat it and composition - like Crewdson’s - would become my major influence. Belleville (the name of my home town) was born and became an exploration of suburbia through photography, film and painting. The initial mission statement was for the film to portray cinematic vignettes from sunset to sunrise. The audience will witness these episodic shorts that portray the repetitive, peculiar and mysterious nature of Belleville and some of its people. This sense of mystery is juxtaposed against the normality of suburbia.
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photographic suburbia
Inspiration Although getting inspiration from the real Belleville where I was born, the fictional Belleville I wanted to create took a great deal of inspiration from suburban American photography. Firstly, I researched into suburban English lifestyle, read about the extension of suburbs throughout the years in London and watch BBC Four’s London on Film: The Suburbs. This research did not satisfy my stylistic vision of filmmaking and the characters lacked a persona I wanted to explore. I decided to cross borders, to the American suburbs. My main influences became Spike Jonze’s music video The Suburbs for Arcade Fire and PhilipLorca diCorcia, Larry Sultan and Gregory Crewdson’s photography. In all their work I identified with the various themes (loneliness and being lost, coming of age, the notion of being stuck, the purpose in life etc) and aesthetics (wide shots and places full of space) that these photographs portray. I decided that this should be how, where and when my Belleville was going to exist. I then started to write snippets of narratives and summaries of characters (directly taken from the still photography), which eventually grew and developed into the film’s script.
On this page Three inspirational photographers: Gregory Crewdson (Beneath the Roses, 2009), Philip-Lorca di Corcia (Hustlers series, 1979) and Larry Sultan (Empty Pool, 1991 and Mom posing for me, 1984).
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Vision
Style
Form
Due to the photographic influence, my vision for Belleville was that the film was a series of moving-photographs that would induce thoughts and feelings to the image and its composition. I therefore envisioned the film exclusively in static, long and singularly wide shots as well as one single unique shot for each scene. I thought that in this way, a scene could become its own world, giving openness to ambiguity, authenticity and intensity. It awould literally hold the audience in place and give them time and space to explore the composition. I don’t want to force feed my audience but rather allow them to find their own journey in my work.
I prioritise style and aesthetics in my films, however I always try to give the visuals a meaning, a purpose, contents. Sometimes, the content is very hard, for me, to explain and, for the audience, to understand. The narrative should be subjective in the films I want to direct. The purpose being to explore a visual experience, an experience that Kubrick intended to do in 2001: A Space Odyssey. One that ‘penetrates the subconscious with an emotional and philosophic content’ (Phillips 2001:47).
Crewdson and diCorcia’s photography are what I call cinematic photography; they are staged and preplanned like a movie scene. This approach enlightened me as a tool of story telling and I have discovered that this is why I am so attached with this style of photography.
Further to my research I was also recommended to watch the films of Roy Andersson. This was very inspiring as Andersson actually gives one single shot for each scene and character and then fills the stories with absurdity and dramatic tension. This was an interesting aspect of storytelling that I truly identified with.
16 . Belleville
While looking at one of their photographs, you are forced upon finding a meaning, a story within the pictures because of the existence of the frame. The story will therefore always be ambiguous and subjective. I I guess I am a stylish director but I embrace this idea as I deeply believe also believe the simplicity of the photographic storytelling is interesting of the power of an image to open multitudes of connection between to take and morph into film. the audience’s mind and the screen. Throughout my 3 years course at LCC, I always found it difficult to convey narrative in words rather than visually... but it is something I would like to be able to embrace one day. Hopefully this project can aid my growth in this aspect.
On the right Field notes on Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s photographic book A Storylife Book. I also wrote a pertinent quote on photography which I found during my research: “After all, photography’s persuasive relationship to realism & documentation is continually in tension with its equally potent capability for fantasy & artificiality”. Below Field notes on Roy Andersson’s film You, The Living.
Next Notes on Brief Encounters, Crewdson’s documentary. Whilst watching the film, I realised that Crewdson and I had in common the artistic need to represent memories with a poetic truth.
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cinema & suburbia
Till David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, American suburbia in film was idyllic, clean and safe (as like Douglas Sirk’s portrayal in All That Heaven Allows). But with Blue Velvet, suburbs are being re-evaluated and this time focus what is behind the white picket fences and green lawns: dirt. Dirt that reveals the anomalies and ambiguities beneath the American Dream: “I discovered that if one looks a little closer at this beautiful world, there are always red ants underneath… I saw life in extreme close-ups” (David Lynch). With Belleville, I want to explore the themes of suburbia with an unstable and strange identity. On the other page, Spike Jonze’s short film The Suburbs. On this page, from top left to bottom right, Blue Velvet (1986), Mystery Train (1989), Paris, Texas (1984), The Suburbs (2011), Badlands (1971 and Slacker (1991). These films’ differing representation of suburbia as well as their style and aesthetics inspired me for Belleville’s vision.
From top left to bottom right Twin Peaks (1990), Mistery Train (1989), Paris, Texas (1984), Badlands (1971), Brief Encounters (2012) and Slacker (1991). These films’ representation of suburbia as well as their style and aesthetics inspired me for Belleville’s vision. Belleville . 19
Roy Andersson | You, The Living (2007) One of my favourite scenes. The flat in where the newly weds are is actually on a train that moves around the city.
20 . Belleville
Roy Andersson’s style of filmmaking is a key influence for the film.
roy andersson
Swedish filmmaker, Andersson made his first feature film A Swedish Love Story at 26 years old. It became a critical success but also dragged Andersson into depression. After a chaotic second film Giliap, Andersson took a 25 years break from his directorial work and concentrated on advertising. It is only in 1996 with his second feature film Songs from the Second Floor that Andersson was again acclaimed for his daunting style. Artistically compelling, Andersson’s films are several tableaux single shots, which always lean towards the absurd and surrealism, delivered with a dark humour. Interestingly Andersson’s rarely casts professional actors. As he says himself: “ I’ve been collecting characters for years now [...] I meet them in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and I also send out researchers”. This will be an aspect I’d like to try in Belleville. My only fear is that being a young, inexperienced Director I need the support of an experienced cast to get the performance I desire from them. This is Andersson’s way to be true to the subject matter of his films...
“paintings, are in deep focus and that makes you very curious, you become an active spectator” (Roy Andersson)
His latest film, You, The Living (2007) is an exploration of the “grandeur of existence”.
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FILM JOURNAL EXTRACT
05/10/13
scriptwriting
22 . Belleville
The script is constantly changing. I keep asking myself in where will I place the audience within this film? Am I writing something ambiguous or plainly frustrating? What do I want the audience to understand and take with them? I also feel that the script is more and more about my relationship with my father, which is difficult to portray. I think I’m on a quest of subtlety. This was one of the most challenging aspect of being writer/director.
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Structure The scriptwriting of Belleville was thorough, hard to finalize and went through 7 drafts. The difficulty was to create a structure based around 6 different stories taking place at the same time. With Belleville, I realized that editing was important at this early pre-production stage and if I wanted the film to work I had to plan how the 6 narratives will be intercut. The transition between sunset and sunrise was something I was particularly looking at to construct the stories and develop the characters. Before sunset, everything is normal in a sense, it’s part of a suburban daily life but after sunset, from twilight to night, we shift into a more private, secret world till sunrise comes and we start a new day again. In the scriptwriting I was trying to reflect these golden hours transitions within the characters’ arches. Upon finalisation on the script, an actor’s reading truly helped me realize of the distinction between ending and resolution as well as defining the themes of this film which is something that I still can’t firmly grasp.
24 . Belleville
Theme During a script session at university, we were suppose to identify with our film’s theme. In my case, it was extremely difficult to explain Belleville’s theme because of the film’s nature as an art film. Upon exploration, I realised that my theme lied in a juxtaposition of the first and final scene of Belleville: Dave’s sleep in front of a televised Formula 1 and his funeral at the end. This juxtaposition is what Belleville is all about, the film explored the theme of life, family and endurance. Dave originated with two Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s photographs of his own father. The power of these photographs made me want to explore it within Belleville. Ultimately I adapted it to the story of my own father who has watched televised Formula 1 every Sunday for many years. He falls asleep alone on the sofa, as the cars round and round the track. The repetition in my fathers action and the repetition in the sport, to me, reflects a perspective on life: we in a sense round the track of life until it ends. Though a grim thought, diCorcia awakened a fear of seeing my own father asleep in a casket one day. This approach of identifying the theme with photographs only reflected the whole process of my filmmaking. It was an unconventional approach but I realised that this was why I was encountering so many frustration about the script. I therefore adopted the process to write every visual narrative I wanted to see in the film, why they exist and what they metaphorically represented. As a director I learnt to follow my instincts.
Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Hartford (1979 & 1980) diCorcia photographed his dad in both pictures, only with a year interval between them. These two pictures begins and concludes diCorcia’s project A Storybook Life.
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Dialogue At the 4th draft of the film’s script, I was still having difficulty to get the dialogue right. I instead wrote the subtext in square brackets. My intention was to have extremely subtle conversations between Hal and Stanley. This was further explored with improvisation with actors prior to the shooting as I was having difficulties to write the natural and subtlety of the dialogues. With improvisation and collaboration of my actors, I wrote down ideas that would help me develop the script and it also made me realise that the more the conversation was about ‘nothing’ the more I would get that feeling of ambiguity I was looking for. The script gives nothing away whilst in many aspects reveals everything about the characters. .
26 . Belleville
The event During the scriptwriting I had several discussions about the mysterious event of Belleville. At this stage, Hal and Stanley’s digging at night felt like something that needed an explanation. Potentially it could be the element that would join all of the characters of Belleville. At its climax, Belleville depicts Hal & Stanley digging up a hole at the lights of their car. The mystery around this hole started up a very difficult discussion because of the different propositions to the digging: an actual murder, a water pipeline story…I found myself infuriated by this conversation, because I wasn’t able to give an answer to the reason of the digging. Later in the writing, I felt Belleville wasn’t about any event, Belleville was about a place in which characters didn’t have to be linked by some ‘pipeline story’ but by the place itself. When I wrote the scene of the digging, I wanted it to be more about a feeling rather than an explanation… I think this scene is an allegory of my own amnesia towards home. Something that can’t be explained, but perhaps, felt.
Hal & Stanley The digging scene and its expectation in the previous scene was difficult for people as the film didn’t show a clear explanation to it. These are 3 screen grabs from the film.
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By the final draft of the script, I had 8 characters: Hal, Stanley, Dave, Roger, Nora, Danny, Alex and Lolita. These characters didn’t always exist from the beginning, they didn’t even have names: Hal was ‘Old Man’ in the earliest drafts. I named my character after Stanley Kubrick’s films as a homage.
characters
While I was particularly looking at the world outside of the photographs, I started to develop characters directly from the visuals. For instance, many of Crewdson’s photographs and more importantly his chachters inspired me to create Hal and Stanley, they would meet in Hal’s car, for privacy, and would wait till the night to drive into the woods to dig a hole. This action is important because it has various precedents and conclusions that the audience will never know whilst laying down a dark, mysterious and striking visual action. Roger was present since the first draft of the script as a retired man who is bored. Larry Sultan’s photograph conducted Roger’s story: Roger feels disconnected to the world around him, becomes a homebird and starts
28 . Belleville
an uninspiring golf hobby. Out of boredom and perhaps depression, Roger would sneak out to throw shoes on Belleville’s telephone lines, shoes that would appear in the other character’s stories. The character of Lolita came the latest, she was inspired by Amy Bennett’s painting of suburbia. Lolita felt like the weakest character to me till I realised that she was actually the strongest one. Metaphorically, she is the only to leave Belleville, she is the one that moves into the light of a sun patch in her launderette’s floor, I wrote this as an allegory of escapism. Wendy was an important character that I later decided to delete. She was supposed to be waiting on the same car park that Danny was, as a companion. She was meant to reminisce an aspect of my childhood, the specific longing of seeing my mother once every month as she was living in London and me in France with my father. Ultimately, I felt Wendy’s presence was a topic I didn’t wish to explore any further and I didn’t want to make this film about that particular aspect of my childhood.
Photgraphic Inspiration My characters were inspired from photography. On the left are photographs by Larry Sultan, Cindy Sherman and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. On the right are the respective characters of Belleville: Roger, Lolita and Dave.
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Characters Breakdown One of the first characters breakdown I scribbled. Here I write comparison between Old Man and my father: “scared of change but would never admit it”.
30 . Belleville
Mom & Dad As Belleville is linked to my childhood, on this page I was listing visuals and thoughts linked to my father like “Formula 1” and “Whisky” while I linked my mother to the presence of trains in the script.
Finding Roger Larry Sultan’s photographs of his own dad playing golf was the inspiration behind the character of Roger.
Scriptwriting Nastassja Kinski in Paris, Texas was an inspiration for the character of Lolita. On this page I was reflecting on Joseph Campbell’s quote about telling the truth by showing the characters’ imperfections.
LOLITA
also known as Laundry Girl
Lolita, 32, is a launderette owner. She always has been in Belleville and finds it easy to dream off.. The character is very receptive to the world, she likes to watch trains at night. In the film, she is the only one who metaphorically escapes Belleville.
DAVE
also known as Man at Window
Dave, 55, begins and concludes Belleville. He
has strong physical features: tall, a large stomach, dark hair and a bushy bear. Dave has been aged greatly over the years of his life. It is a routine for him to fall asleep in front of the television, he is a Formula 1 fan.
ROGER Roger, 72, is newly retired and lives with his wife Nora in their last home. Roger finds it difficult to adapt to this new life and takes up a golf hobby to perhaps forget that the end is soon. Roger experiences the very innate fear of disappearance.
HAL
also known as Old Man
Hal, 45, is an industrial engineer. Uncomplicated character, Hal has been living his life the same way for a very long time. He has lost his enthusiasm and youth through the routine of his life and the daily glass of whisky.
NORA
also known asRoger’s wife
Nora, 60,has a more mature perspective on her retirement than her husband. She understands what Roger goes through as it happened to her after she got married. She tries to get Roger to accept the situation. Nora used to be a beautician, she likes to look after herself.
Characters Breakdown Vignettes Characters Breakdown for 6 of the 8 characters of Belleville. These were used for casting and for the crew to understand what kind of ‘faces’ I was looking for.
ALEX
also known as Skater Teen
Alex, 18,is the reminiscence of vintage 1990s
skateboarding and what it represented for the teenagers who grew up with it. Alex’s life only exists when he is skating the suburbs of Belleville. Alex is partly inspired by the kids in Spike Jonze’s Scene from The Suburbs.
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Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2001 has been the start of my cinĂŠphillia.
32 . Belleville
Kubrick’s films have been my deepest awakening both in cinema and in myself. I found in almost every Kubrick films the most striking visuals and as I grew as a film practitioner the obsession with Kubrick became a genuine inspiration in my filmmaking.
stanley kubrick
Stanley Kubrick has always been a model as a film director. I always tried to apply his perfectionism, directorial control and authority when I am myself directing. The way it took risks but evaluated every single one of them is a lso something I tried to achieve with Belleville. In A Life on Pictures, the documentary on Kubrick’s life, Kubrick replies to Malcolm McDowell on the set of A Clockwork Orange that he doesn’t know his style, he doesn’t know what he wants, only what he doesn’t want. I feel the same way about my own directing.
‘the man that stayed silent, whether he was being applauded or Dumped’ (Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures)
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Fundrais
BELLE
ing
VILLE
Money Talks Belleville’s fundraising was one of the most exciting part of the project. It consisted in making a Kickstarter campaign and to reach our goal of £4500 within 25 days. The DoP and I built on the video, contents and graphics of the page. As the director this process forced me to put Belleville on words, to categorize its style and story, something that was still difficult at this stage due to the unconventionality of the film. Throughout this period, I became a graphic designer for the film and went from finding a logo for Belleville to designing a website. Our aim was to make Belleville a sort of brand and was available on various platforms: Kickstarter, Website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Though not directly linked to me directing the film this process of ‘selling’ Belleville and designing the graphics helped hone the project more professionally and gave it character. Belleville was no longer a personal vision within my head but was now taking a physical form. This really enthused me within the project. By the end, Belleville raised an unbelievable amount of £6 579.
1
2
1 Belleville Designs
A series of posters that I designed to be printed but also to be the virtual identity of Belleville during preproduction. These logos appeared on Kickstarter, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
2 bellevillethefilm.co.uk
Belleville’s website Home Page.
3 Kickstarter Campain Video
3
Two Screen Grabs of Belleville’s Kickstarter Video fearturing Joe & myself. 4 Fundraising Event A fundraising night with band and DJs to help us cover the extra costs of the production.
4
385 followers tweets 57 69 backers photos 25 Media From top to bottom: Facebook, Twitter, Kickstarter and Instagram pages. Belleville . 37
I found auditioning a tricky part of the my role as a Director. I usually become very apprehensive in working with actors and I think it is something I potentially will never be comfortable with.
auditioning
We were casting for 8 characters and had quite a lot of responses from casting sites such as Casting Call Pro and Starnow. However, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the responses we had. I was looking for “real faces” as this film was very visual. Even though there wasn’t much dialogue in the script I still wanted real actors who would be able to embrace the expressions and movements of the characters I was writing. It wasn’t until submitting a casting call on Spotlight that I found the “faces” I was looking for. It felt like an instinctive feeling when I met some of my actors for their roles. For instance with Lou for her role of Lolita, she was naturally a fragile and quiet person which was an aspect I was looking for in the character. When I met Jenny for her Nora role, she talked a lot about how some aspect of the character’s life was reflecting on her own real life. I am glad I went through the standard casting process as opposed to Andersson’s ‘real’ approach as it helped me develop both a sharp eye and taught me the literally practicalities of casting. Both things which will put me in good stead professionally once graduating.
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A Major Influence Raymond Carver’s book, Where I’m calling from: Selected Stories, was recommended by my actor Padraig. As I read it I became hypnotized by Carver’s style of writing, his short stories and especially how he concluded them. Where I’m calling from is a series of short stories all taking place in American suburbia, the characters and stories are all different from one to another and they simply tell the story of life. As he described himself “inclined towards brevity and intensity”. I found in Carver’s stories an influencial aspect: 3 of the stories I’ve read prepared the reader to expect something really dark to happen in each of them, something almost unnatural but they always end in the most normal, innate and human possible way. The analysis brought me confidence to explain and descibe Belleville to my actors in this Carvesian way.
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40 . Belleville
rehearsing
With the same apprehension, I found the rehearsing uncomfortable and challenging for me. I think I get uncomfortable when people are ‘acting’. It is also difficult to describe what you’re looking for to an actor as it is so subjective and subtle. My best acting session was with Padraig (Hal) and Ben (Stanley). They were the most enthusiastic and flexible about their role. My method was to improvise with them a lot. I learned a lot with them. For instance I realised that my explanation about a character can be really confusing in the preparation of their roles so I started to “stop the talk” and exercise quicker. When they improvised I became more direct upon things I didn’t like. I realised that there wasn’t any wrong or right about the interpretation of the characters and that the only thing that is “right” was my instinct upon it. I also realised that I shouldn’t be scared to upset actors. I therefore became more controlling with my actors but it took time to get the characters the way I wanted them to be as I needed to go through a lot of improvisation and exercise to discover what I wanted. The hardest rehearsals I had was with Jenny and Hugh for the characters of Nora and Roger, and the difficulty of getting Nora’s dialogue where I wanted it to be continued to be difficult on set.
The problem was that Jenny was too dramatic and wanted to convey too much feeling over one unique sentence. Because the film in his form was not allowing us to have a lot of character development it was important that Jenny understood that. I tried to tame down her performance so it appeared more naturally. Because Hugh didn’t have any lines it was difficult for Jenny so I asked Padraig to improvise the scene together to try to get it right. On Padraig’s behalf he really enjoyed it but I think it really confused Jenny and it was hard for her to adapt to this new persona of Roger via Padraig. It was almost a greater shock when Jenny had to act with Hugh at the end. I found working with Jenny the most challenging part of the rehearsing. She was really determined to get where I wanted her to get but we never achieved this. With the rehearsals I realised that I was not totally embracing the working relationship with the actors but this was not a negative point, I’m glad I’ve come to peace with it and I know that I much more enjoy working with non actors. I would still work with actors in the future but I would like to balance it with non actors just as Roy Andersson does. I believe I’m more interested in movements and “faces” rather than dialogue; one day I would like to work with dancers and athletes on a film project.
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While shooting, I took the time to write every evening a diary of the day. I will include this in my portfolio as I think it reflects well my work as a director on set.
directing on set
42 . Belleville
Before shooting Belleville, the longest shoot I’ve ever directed was of 2 days, and this was for Backyard Oasis. Jumping into a 9 days shoot as the next step made me feel totally unprepared and I was worried that I would not be able to be on top of things for the entire shoot.
The 9 days of shooting was truly intense and perhaps both the most rewarding experience I have ever had and the most in-depth directorial insight I have obtained. Reflecting on it, working closely with my DoP and Editor on set was essential to get Belleville where I wanted it to be, we usually made decisions on shots and composition together and I learnt the importance of a creative crew and teamwork.
When returning to London, I noticed how much those 9 days changed me: I was observing, analysing and evaluating everything I was seeing, making a lot of eye contact and speaking slowly and articulately as if still on set, still hyped, still directing.
When I would reach an impasse, I learned to let go the “planned” so the unexpected would take over, the film would start to “breath” again.
On Belleville, there was a gargantuesque amount of pressure that sometime it was hard to enjoy the work I was doing but ultimately this was contrasted with the amount of excitement and power in what we were doing. It was a great experience.
From top left to bottom right Stills from the shooting days: Looking at the composition of the frame with Joe and the 1st AD (Day 1), next I was rehearsing positions with Jenny (Day 1), final changes to Hal & Stanley scene (Day 4), a surreal snap from the digging scene (Day 2), rehearsing and discussing with Lou which way she should lay down (Day 6), discussing lighting changes with the DoP and Gaffer (Day 6). Belleville . 43
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
“LESS IS MORE”
“first shot is everything”
“embracing the unexpected”
Jenny (Nora) was challenging to direct: she would get overly anxious and destabilized about any slight changes in the scenes. Overall, I think we got what we expected from each scene, the Golf scene was the strongest in my opinion and I felt satisfied from it, both with the acting and the composition. I need to alter my control over the actors movement. Tomorrow with Padraig and Ben it is essential that the acting doesn’t become clockwork: I must not restrain them. During the make up, Jenny explained to me that actors are paranoid people because they’re constantly being rejected. It was hard for Jenny that I wasn’t satisfied with her acting and several times, she would say that she wanted to make it real, that she wanted to satisfy the director.
The filming of the digging scene was amazing and involved a lot of work in placing the car between trees, digging the hole and setting the lights.
Hal & Stanley’s scene was very interesting for me. I sat down for a while with Padraig & Ben in the car to discuss the roles and we decided upon improvising as an exercise. Listening to them, I could see that it was natural for them to talk to each other as father and son. I wanted it to be a simple conversation.
“Working with Jenny was one of the most insightfuL experience I shared with an actress. she really changed my way of approaching actors while working on a scene” This first day of the shooting week was a good learning experience. I learnt to make more intuitive and quick decisions as it is important to go with the flow and be playful with the actors’ movements. I want to make the film simple”.
“it was the most surreal scenes I’ve ever had the “During a take, Ben finished chance to make” the conversation on Both Padraig and Ben were great and collaborating with them was a great “Nothing changes” which pleasure. Although this scene didn’t have any dialogue, they did a great truly meant something to job in the pacing and movements. I realised that actors make unconscious expression or movements which don’t look natural to me. me. there was a certain “magic” with improvisation”
“I became very simple in my descriptions, more objectivity and less subjectivity is sometimes better to get what I’m looking for” Only one shot for this scene made me realise how close to perfect it needs to be.
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What was really difficult for me that day, was that I didn’t feel like I was strong enough to grab the unexpected aspect of a shoot and I wish I was able to embrace the full potentiality of a location. So far, it has been extremely difficult to enjoy the filming…I have no idea if what we have is good or not, if the story is there, if it makes sense… I was very lost. Joe and I decided to look at the rushes together. At the end of the day, it was dark when we had to pack up. I stayed till the end to help my crew to pack out the lighting and camera kit under a massive storm.
“I felt responsible for them and their spirit, I wanted to stick till the end with them”
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
“it’s all luck”
“LEARNING TO TRUST MYSELF”
“taking advantages of the chaos”
Start 5am. The first scene we shot was one of my favourite, it was almost perfect and I was really glad we managed to film on time. The crew got much more organised and we were efficient. This time I was unsatisfied with the improvisation with Padraig and Ben, I think I got myself very confused as I was trying to remember what was said in the previous scene we shot on Monday. Therefore the content of the conversation was a bit poor, nothing too bold in the story was said in case it didn’t fit the previous conversation between Hal & Stanley.
Today we shot Dave’s first scene which is the first scene of the film. Due to yesterday’s success, I felt relaxed and confident in my directorial role. Some of my decisions where questioned by the crew but I learnt to trust myself and to be inflexible on choices that I felt had to be a certain way. After the takes, the crew recognized that I was right:
“I fell in love with our location Zeneka, a derelict industrial parking on our first scouting. It has so much character to itself and I insisted on Joe capturing it.” Danny’s scene was really enjoyable to do, it was also the first time I ever work with Harry, a child-actor and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Harry was very attentive and cooperative. Danny’s twilight scene was amazingly beautiful, the lighting and set design was at its best. We got extremely lucky during this scene shooting as one of the gardening company on the site started a fire next to the parking we were filming. The smoke creeped in the shot and it was beyond expectation.
“The scene became dreamy and bizarre, like a Crewdson photograph.”
“the shot was better, clearer and stronger in the way I chose it to be”
This experience made me realise that “I am the director”, I am the one that holds the film together and almost the only one that “knows” how things should be.
“WE WERE ALL on a learning curve today”
Today we shot in a 1960s Art deco launderette at the Barbican Centre in London. The location was great and we got really nice footage out of the day. The day was though chaotic as we had restricted lighting and restricted time. Working with Lou, the actress for Lolita’s character, was however very simple and forward. We rehearsed on the set while the lighting and production design was setting up and we were trying to get Lolita’s emotional arch the right way. The hardest feeling to establish was the feeling of escapism and it has to be really subjective. We managed to get it right and Lou was telling me that her process was to gradually empty her mind, to try to get the closest to a certain unconscious void.
“When I didn’t have the solution I simply had to ask Lou what was the problem? Why did she feel stuck in her performance? Then I’d understand how to find a solution, how to give her an “escape” Belleville . 45
inspiration & results
46 . Belleville
Philip-Lorca di Corcia | W, March #14, 2000. Belleville Screen Grab #1 The ‘Joe meets Fanny’ shot of the film. I particulary like this shot as it represents the DoP and I’s collaboration on its most successful form. Belleville Screen Grab #2 One of Hal & Stanley scenes. Gregory Crewdson | Beneath the Roses, 2003-2007.
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48 . Belleville
Gregory Crewdson | In a lonely place (2005). Belleville Screen Grab #4 The twilight scene of Danny. This shot was particulary magical as one of the gardening company on site started a fire which smoke started to creep into our shot. Belleville Screen Grab #3 One of Roger & Nora’s scenes. Gregory Crewdson | In a lonely place, Plate #17 (2005).
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post-production
Narrative
Experimental
Editing is one of my favourite phasesin making a film because it allows experiments with the footage. Furthermore, editing is the process that lets me rediscover and especially fully understand the story I wrote.
Belleville as an experimental film, first originated with the funeral scene we had. Essential to the story, Dave’s funeral is the resolution and final shot of the film and was the most important scene of the script. The scene we filmed wasn’t working on several levels: set, shot and lighting were the main problems. Therefore, André mirrored the shot horizontally and the funeral became abstract and essentially subjective. From this point, I started to think that Belleville was a sort of photographed film and that the editing could transpired the idea that the viewer was journeying through a photo-book, reflecting the original photographic inspiration of the film. This idea leaded us to split the images in two on the screen.
Upon reviewing the rushes, I realised that the story I spent 4 months writing was not the story of the film anymore. The reasons were that the story of Roger wasn’t captured the way it should have been, the last scene of Hal & Stanley never got made because of production problems and some shots were, in my opinion, unusable. Naturally, I was upset that it didn’t “work” the way it was supposed to, I couldn’t figure out what was the new narrative of this film and I became defeated. However, I realised that being negative and over critical was not the solution to the problem. By exploring the solution, André and I decided to do a first edit following the script. The aim would be to understand what exactly the problem was and how to fix it. This leaded us to start a second edit of Belleville as an experimental film.
Throughout the editing, we had several screenings to our fellow classmates as an audience and this was both painful and beneficial to understand what was the effects of the edits. The several screening we had made me realised that the audience opinion is the one that counts. The screening of the split screen film was perhaps the boldest and most courageous thing we ever done as a crew as the screening raised many arguments and opinions within the audience. Finally, some aspect of the experimental version did work beautifully but because Belleville was not meant or shot to be in this format, this version of the film stopped here and I decided to re-edit the narrative version and to make its unknown narrative and visuals work together.
50 . Belleville
Rushes Notes Next: When watching the whole of the rushes I wrote down the good and bad shots but especially the one that were unexpected and beautiful.
Final Cut The addition of sound design to the film was the element that tied up the narrative of the film together and I think the sound was the transformation and experimental aspect I was looking for. Editing Day Below: A breakdown of the two types of edit we had: the experimental and conventional.
The final cut of Belleville found its meaning and intensity in the transition between stories: yet disconnected stories and characters, they became connected with the transitions of sounds and the intercut of the images. Finding the pace of the cuts was essential, it really created the mood I was looking for: an uncomplicated and bizarre sunset to sunrise suburbian story. I think the final edit made me to look at another angle the shots I thought were unusable and to accept their imperfections. As much as the technicalities of a shot can become overwhelming, I found that concentrating on the feeling initiated by an image or a juxtaposition of images was the method I felt that was right to conclude Belleville’s editing.
Experimentations Next: Two screen shots of the experimentations we did, the subjective funeral and the split screen.
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conclusion
52 . Belleville
Over 9 months of making Belleville, I learnt as a director to not be afraid of my own decisions, even if they are wrong. I need to trust my instinct and the self confidence I am still growing. I think I have developed myself into a stronger film director with a vision and style, a stamp of integrity. This development is accompanied with the overcoming of my innate fear of failing. With this film, I have learnt how to write more narratively, to work with actors more efficiently and to allow a project to evolve by itself. Belleville was not what I envisioned but it actually has become something that has acquired layers, intensity and maturity.
However, with all the mistakes I have made I have learnt from them and it would have never happened if I didn’t take a certain amount of risks and challenges throughout this project. In my next project, I want to continue my development as a young director sticking to the style I have explored and created with Belleville. I can see and understand now a few mistakes I can avoid for the future (casting, writing...).
I hope this portfolio has worked as a working journal, a book which honestly portrays my specialism as a young female director. It definitely I have also learnt to change the way I work within a team and a crew, helped me reflect on what I did and what the film was truly about. from pre-production to post. I would also change a lot in my dircetorial role: I was always making decisions that would at some level please I also hope this portfolio highlighted my skill as a designer and as a the crew and those decisions were lacking in directorial integrity that project conductor. damaged the film.
The Belleville Crew From left to right, front row to back row: AndrĂŠ Fonseca - Editor Julia Rockwell - Producer Fanny Hoetzeneder - Writer/Director Joseph Guy - Cinematographer Ailsa Tapping - 1st Assistant Director Laura Little - Production Designer Leo Winslow - 1st Assistant Camera Alex Rice - Gaffer Max McGechan - 2nd Assistant Camera Simone Hendry - Art Direction 2nd Assistant Beatrice Mason - Production Assistant Alice Humphreys - 2nd Assistant Director Lou Macnamara - Art Direction Megan Nixon - Make up & Costume Artist Mark Minors - Spark Tanya Boyarkina - Sound Recordist Hannes Wannerberger - Sound Designer Stephanie Wilson - Photographer on Set Elliot Arndt - Production Design Assistant ...and the missing ones: Alberto Balasz - Best Boy Kit Wilmans Fegradoe - Sound Mixer Canavan Connoly - Art Direction 1st Assistant Alex Yoonjoo Her - Production Runner
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thank you
54 . Belleville
Sal Andersson for your guidance and friendship, David Hoyle for your cherish of the film, Jaime Peschiera for your excitement and trust, Alice Ralph for your designed genius, Tom Ralph for your support and inspiration, and Patrick Uden for your honesty.