The kitchen of the “Choo Choo Train” is one of the three large sets that the production designer Antonello Rubino conceived and built at the Nu Boyana Studios in Sofia for the film The Land of Dreams, the debut work of the young director Nicola Abbatangelo.
During the film, we often see the establishment’s kitchen where the protagonist works as a dishwasher. The space had to function both during the day and at night. Since it was necessary to switch from a nighttime lighting setup to a daytime one (and vice versa) very quickly due to the tight shooting schedule, I opted for predominantly bi-colour lighting, taking advantage of the versatility of the Skypanel S120s.
Six lighting fixtures were suspended on trusses placed above the hypothetical ceiling of the set, aimed “rain-style” (i.e., directly downward, perpendicular to the floor), and positioned in specific points (as indicated in the lighting plan) to cover almost the entire set. On the other hand, the perimeter was lit exclusively by small practical chandeliers, fitted with 60W incandescent bulbs.
Each Skypanel S120 was mounted with its provided Snapbag: in nighttime setups, we added the egg-crate to narrow the beam of light, while in daytime situations, we removed it to allow the light to spread as much as possible.
Outside the large window at the back of the kitchen, a 6,000-watt ARRI spotlight positioned 2-3 metres beyond the window’s edge and aimed quite low provided daylight, assisted by two 2.5-kilowatt discharge spotlights positioned similarly on the two side windows. In the daylight setup (such as in the scene in question), the spotlights were filtered by full-grid cloths placed over the windows where the light hit.
Normally, in the nighttime setup, I would have used smaller discharge spotlights, bounced and filtered, to create the “moonlight” filtering through the windows. Unfortunately, due to space constraints in the soundstage, we didn’t have enough distance between the windows and the studio wall, so for the nighttime scenes, I opted to recreate the moon with the same spotlights, appropriately worked with ND gels (in addition to the full grid cloth already in use for the daytime setups).
The scene in question is a daytime one, and the dialogue between the protagonist (Caterina Shulha) and the restaurant owner (Stefano Fresi) takes place under the arch that separates the kitchen entrance from the cooking stations. In this scene, the two rows of Skypanels above the cooking area are dimmed at different intensities to achieve the right contrast ratio on the characters. Stefano Fresi’s close-up was shot without any additional lights or “kick” as the Skypanel behind him provided a nice backlight, and the one mounted above the counter illuminated his face. For Caterina Shulha’s close-up, however, an Astera Titan placed behind a 1×1 frame of Full Frost 216 helped increase the contrast ratio on her face.
This suspension setup was designed and implemented primarily to give the director the freedom to move with the camera without field limitations, so as not to rely solely on the Steadicam (though much loved by Nicola) and to avoid long waits between setups, optimising the extremely tight schedule imposed by the production plan.
In conclusion, I find it important to add something that may seem obvious but has a significant impact on our work as directors of photography: a beautiful set design greatly aids our work. The sets built by Antonello Rubino for the film (such as the one in question) were already designed with excellent photographic potential, both in terms of the number of practicals and in the choice of colours and textures. This film is a clear example of how one of the best allies of a director of photography is, without a doubt, the production designer.
