6. Portrait of a Place: Queen City Pool and Pool House

5. Pre-production planning for Portrait of a Place

Originally I wanted to do my Portrait of a Place assignment at The University of Alabama Arboretum. This did not work as I originally had planned due to a rainy weekend. I decided that Queen City Park would be a great place to go. This park originally was built as a swimming pool and bathhouse. It was built originally in 1941 and included the art deco fountain pictured below. I've always been fascinated by the desolate look of the area and I wish I could have seen it when it was new and still full of life. I am very happy with this choice and felt that I was able to do a better job here rather than attempting to film at the arboretum on the planned day of filming.

I had originally planned specific shots for the arboretum, but I had to start from no planning once we arrived at Queen City Park, but I think we did a great job considering the circumstances. If I would have had planned shots we could have got done quicker. I guess I learned to always plan for desired location and also plan for a backup location.