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112 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 7 In one of these dream sequences, Langdon had several visions during a walk through Florence, but rather than using an Italian/European architectural backdrop, I tried to enhance the confusion of his state of mind by placing him in a nondescript street that didn't feel like either Europe or America. It had to seem normal at first glance but as the sequence progresses, you began to notice odd things: the cars were all black; signage blended in with the tonality of the buildings themselves; road workers in the middle of the road were using pikes, like those in Botticelli's map; the costumes were all dark navy and black. These subtleties are peppered into a seemingly normal, contemporary landscape that grows more and more bizarre as Langdon's mind goes deeper into his confusion. We tried to keep as much as we could in-camera, even building sidewalks so background performers could go about their daily business while—snarled in the sidewalk's concrete—real people were rigged under the sidewalk set pieces with their bodies inverted and their legs sticking up through sculpted concrete slabs as if they had broken through as depicted in Botticelli's map. This location was challenging to find because of the complete control that was required. The most appropriate location was only going to be available on weekends, so it was shot over two weekends which required the set to be built and dressed overnight twice, with very limited prep time. Above: The crew setting up to shoot the exterior of the cistern set, built in a parking lot across from the film's production offices in Budapest. The first two films featured high-profile locations and this one was no different, as the story flowed through various historical landmarks. It required access to the Battistero di san Giovanni (Baptistery of St. John) in Florence and although the production was granted time to shoot there, we ended up building our own interior font area which allowed more flexibility when filming, and could be taken back to Budapest for close-up work. Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice allowed only extremely limited time to shoot and only on the exterior balcony, so we took photo reference and re-created the interior back at the studio to make the transition through the church, using a combination of some set pieces and plate work, that would lead to a dusty decaying crypt location in Budapest. A new floor was put down that had been replicated photographically from the original one in the Basilica, and an altar and ornate railings were added and dressed with religious artifacts throughout the space. Other settings were best addressed by built stage sets. That was the case for La Soffita, an attic set, supposed to be high above the magnificent Hall of the Five Hundred in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The actual attic space, however, was old and restrictive and it would have been impossible to use, so it was painstakingly re-created so the action could work and the camera department could operate more effectively and safely. Models were made so everything could be pre-choreographed for camera