Trisickle Magazine

Interview With Director Jaime Snyder

As a child I don’t recall having many imaginary friends, I did although have a lot of in depth conversations with my toys mainly concerning the art of making delicious fake tea and about social niceties, how we should collectively be nice to Barbie because it wasn’t polite to make fun of toys whose heads occasionally rolled off. The only true imaginary friend was a family friend who still lives in our home today and unfortunately for him he was our scapegoat. Yes, it was Bob that broke your frame and tried to hide it under the carpet. I’m terribly sorry but I’ll have a word with Bob because he’s the one who shrunk your cashmere sweater, didn’t wash the dishes, was smoking behind the bushes and yes, he is definitely the one who punched the kid next door in the face. Even with all the trouble Bob caused and his continuous lack of dishwashing he is still very much part of our family today.

There’s A Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake beautifully explores the necessity of imaginary friends and how they help us grow and come face to face with certain realities. Based on a children’s book written by Hazel Edwards, Director Jaime Snyder brings to life a heartwarming tale of a young girl who has to choose between growing up and keeping her imaginary friend. This delightful short film brings together the complex beauty of imagination within the struggle of growing up and having to leave childhood behind.

Joel Sharpe (left) and Jaime Snyder are producing the official short film based on the book by Hazel Edwards (right).

In your final credits you mention this story was based on a book, what initially attracted you into turning the book into a film?

Yes it’s based on a picture book of the same name, written by Hazel Edwards, and has just reached it’s 30th anniversary, as of last year. I pulled it out a few years ago from a box of childhood memorabilia and felt a connection. I don’t think I would have fathomed an adaptation had it not been for learning Edwards lived about 40 minutes away in Melbourne. I hadn’t really expected that the book had been written in Australia. It was this link that got my imagination going, and so I contacted her with some ideas for a re-imaging of the story. I figured others must share that childhood nostalgia too, and so the idea was to make a film for those who had grown up with it too. The Where The Wild Things Are adaptation was a big influence, but even that film was only in its early stages when we began this project. It was the first film I had been inspired by before it had even been made!

Tell us a bit about the creation of the Hippo, what was the biggest challenge you faced?

We were always solid the Hippo had to be done for real. As in, the challenge was to take this endearing childhood picture book and put it in a real life setting; in live-action as opposed to animation. So this meant building something to literally put on the roof. It certainly helped that we were naïve about the task at hand, as it allowed us to ask anyone and everyone for help in doing so. We were down on our luck for quite some time and even considered giving up entirely, until we met with the Creature Technology Company for advice. These are the guys behind the worldwide arena spectacular Walking With Dinosaurs, so we figured they might have some connections with people who would consider lending a hand – keeping in mind we didn’t really have any money. It was then to our great surprise one day our films’ producer Joel Sharpe received an email from Creature Technology Company offering to take on the Hippo themselves. A once in a life time opportunity; CTC designed, built, transported and puppeteered both the full-scale and miniature animatronic elements of the Hippo. Deluxe Melbourne were tremendously generous in helping out with the CGI for some shots of the Hippo’s eyes, which really brought him to life. Funnily enough, to answer your question, I’d say the most challenging part to produce was not what was seen, but what was heard. None of what you see of the Hippo would be effective without sound, and that was a very long process indeed.

The relationship between Zoe and her parents is a bit strained, part of this being due to Zoe’s imaginary Hippo friend, what did you want to result from this?

Much of what results of Zoe’s relationships with her parents would play out long after the film is finished. Nothing is resolved between them. She makes only a very simple choice to take control, and take her time. Despite everything with her parents, the Hippo is allowed to co-exist in their world as long as she needs him, and that’s her choice. The time restraints of the short film medium forced us to prioritize what we’re saying in this story, so naturally there’s a lot that has to be implied or left up to the audience.

We can see that Zoe’s mother emphasizes on her age and wants her to grow up. Do you feel that today children grow up too quickly?

That was actually one of the biggest changes to the book. I imagine the girl in the original story was about four or five years old. You could see her parents didn’t have any problem with her having an imaginary friend. For the film, Zoe is a few years older, and the Hippo is now weighing down on the relationships within the family. Her parents don’t recognize or look for an underlying purpose to the Hippo’s presence, and therefore see it as a construct of her immaturity. I wouldn’t necessarily say children grow up too quickly these days, but we overvalue children who are mature beyond their years. Every child grows up at their own pace and it’s important families foster that process.

How does imagination balance out between being a child and an adult, what do feel we have to let go in order to become an adult?

It would seem imaginary friends always serve some kind of a purpose. I was quite inspired by Lars And The Real Girl, a film that also suggests an imaginary friend is a person’s unconscious attempt to compensate for something lacking. I’m no expert, but I imagine the older you get the more detrimental to ones health the escapism becomes. The film is but a vignette of where Zoe is in her life, but I would like to think she would be able to let go of the Hippo eventually – once she is ready. I think there’s a level of acceptance that he can’t stay forever. Eventually she will have the independence to tackle her struggles on her own.

Which character did you relate to most?

On a personal level I’m actually quite detached from all the characters. It’s strange to talk about this story, as more and more I realize how little it applies to me. Having said that, it was of course important I relate to Zoe the most, as she is our protagonist. The characters are all progressions of those in the book, and I just did my best to put myself in each their shoes.

How long did the writing and then filmmaking process take? What was the best outcome?

From start to finish I’d say the film took about two and a half years to make. We were learning a lot along the way, and didn’t have the money to do things quickly. The whole thing was quite an educational experience, but we were keen on applying what we learnt to the film itself, rather than hitting ourselves over the head in retrospect. That’s why it took so long. Of course, we’re still very much learning from our mistakes long after the film has been finished, but at least we can do so while being tremendously proud of what we have created.

Which was the scene you enjoyed filming the most?

There’s a scene where Zoe is pushing the Hippo up a ladder and onto the roof. That was heaps of fun to direct, and came out exactly how we intended in the finished film. It was the challenge of making the Hippo feel immensely heavy, while allowing Zoe to confidently help him up the ladder too.

Knowing what you know after this experience what would you change or do differently?

If I had a second chance of doing it over, I’d say I would have put less pressure on myself to include so many references to the book. I kind of couldn’t help myself. Instead, I would have focused on interactions between Zoe and the Hippo in a more raw, real-time manner. I’d say the audience probably spends a lot more time wondering what on earth is going on than I originally intended. It can sometimes prevent you really getting immersed in the story.

How would you describe your style as a filmmaker? Who has influenced your style the most?

It was literally a few days ago that I realized I’m a style over substance kind of director. The substance within this film took a very long time to develop, and admittedly began as a way to gel several scenes together. As in, I went into this film with a bunch of ideas for moments from the book that could really pop on screen, and then faced the challenge of putting them all together. It was a backwards way of doing things, but I feel with the amount of time I spent letting the ideas mature, everything came together in a fairly cohesive way, that allowed for some depth in what was happening. But it doesn’t come naturally for me. More alternative directors like Roy Andersson, Spike Jonze, Jim Jarmusch, Vincent Gallo, and Michel Gondry really inspire me.

Any plans for future shorts or features?

I’ve just released a new music video for the London band Elephant (http://www.pocketbonfire.com/videos), which is something entirely different from Hippo. I’ll also be directing a local film festival in Melbourne to take place early next year. But I’m sure it won’t be long till the next short film crops up. It’ll be some time till I’m ready to direct a feature.

Where can our readers view your film next?

One of the neat things about having our international premiere at EIFF is that we’re now receiving invitations for other festivals around the world. Our next screening will be in August at MUFF (Melbourne Underground Film Festival), and there’s some talk about the Discovery film fest (Scotland) later this year. Others are yet to be confirmed. We’ll be listing any forthcoming screenings on our website, but beyond that it’s really tricky finding ways of getting it out there. Once we’ve finished the festival circuit, I’m sure the film will end up online also.

Who and what was your imaginary friend as a child? And would you now reconsider into having a Hippo as your new imaginary friend?

I actually had to ask my parents whether I had an imaginary friend as a child, because I have no recollection of ever having one. Apparently I didn’t. He’ll kill me for this, but my older brother had one called Tiger Eye. But we had a very healthy upbringing, and I very much doubt we had anything to compensate for. Unless they’re paying rent, no large mammals are going to be living on my roof, I’m afraid. All we have are possums on our roof, and even they drive us crazy.

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