Porsche Awards 2013 Winners: Charlotte Rabate

Second place Traditional category

Charlotte Rabate

Durex Playtime (test)

I got into directing quite unusually. While I was doing my undergraduate studies at the London School of Economics, I made my first short film (a very odd one) and loved the whole process. I’ve been writing short stories since I was young and watched a lot of TV and films, and I enjoy how films can completely make you disconnect. I remember tearing up while watching Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. That’s when I realised that I wanted to make people cry – and eventually make them laugh too.

I took inspiration for this film from when I would throw water balloons at my brother. I would often get frustrated because they wouldn’t break as they were too strong. The spot took one crazy and intense day to shoot. We had three weeks of pre-production where we had to find a location, costumes and the kids. Oh, and the condoms, too. I went to the NYU healthcare centre and embarrassingly had to grab as many as I could. The lady at the reception was a bit suspicious but wished me a good weekend…

We had many shots to capture in very little time, and I had to keep the kids entertained and involved. They were wonderful. One of them didn’t know what a condom was and kept saying, ‘This is a very strange balloon’. I called it the ‘special balloon’. The girl at the end who gets hit by the water-filled condom was wearing an expensive jacket, and we didn’t want to ruin it. We hadn’t tested from what height the condom wouldn’t break so we tried it on my producer who, obviously, got completely soaked first time round. The best part is that we caught it on camera.

As for directors that inspire me, I love Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay (director of We Need to Talk About Kevin) especially her early work such as Gasman and Ratcatcher, which both have young protagonists. She is very successful at capturing childhood and I admire her aesthetic; the use of long lenses and the composition of her shots. She is always a reference for my films. Stanley Kubrick is also one of my favourites. The opening of A Clockwork Orange still gives me the chills and I love the quirky details, for example, how the droogs drink milk in their white ensemble. Genius!

I definitely want to pursue the commercial path and make feature films. I just finished writing my first feature script, a coming-of-age story about a chubby 12-year-old boy falling in love in Lebanon in the 1960s. I’m thrilled to win this award – the commercials selected in the past were all amazing so it’s an honour. It was great to meet the other directors, and I was really impressed with their work.

French, aged 24

NYU Tisch School of the Arts