Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1544119
D U S T B U N N Y | P E R S P E C T I V E 7 7 The production built nearly all of the interior sets on three soundstages outside Budapest and also built at three amazing locations which we were able to enhance dramatically, in order to propel our narrative and meet our budgetary constraints. Budapest's Tropicarium shark tank enabled us to build a dim sum restaurant directly onto the windows of the aquarium. This meant that the director, Bryan, was able to reveal the story's intriguing neighbor, who is a highly trained assassin, as the predator that he is. As he sits in the booth of the restaurant, and the shark circles behind him on the other side of the glass, the similarities between both species become abundantly clear. We built our tearoom set directly under the beautiful ceiling of the Kalenföld Power Station, a leftover reminder of the Cold War. Chinatown was built onto an existing art community's labyrinthian maze of structures, a very useful foundation to build upon. A. CHINATOWN STREET FILM STILL. B. CHINATOWN ROOFTOPS. BUILT ON STAGE AT ASTRA FILM STILL. C. CHINATOWN ROOFTOPS. SET PHOTO. D. CHINATOWN DRAGON PARADE. ILLUSTRATION.BY SAMUEL MICHLAP. E. DIM SUM RESTAURANT. BUILT ON LOCATION, RIGHT NEXT TO THE BUDAPEST AQUARIUM'S VIEWING WINDOW FOR THE SHARK TANK. FILM STILL. F. TEAROOM. BUILT INTO AN EXISTING LOCATION. FILM STILL. E F The production scouted rooftops in Budapest for the scene where Aurora tracks her intriguing neighbor from high above at the beginning of Dust Bunny. The prevailing danger of shooting with a crew and a young actor, along with the intensive labor and time needed, made it an obstacle to build and modify a set so many floors up from the ground. We finally simplified our approach and built the rooftop safely on one of our stages. Cinematography and visual effects played a huge part and were instrumental in breathing life into both the Chinatown exterior and rooftop. The fifth floor of Aurora's apartment building, where most the action in the film occurs, was built on stage. This allowed us to cheat the entrance into Aurora's building's ground floor and then take an elaborately ornate elevator to the fifth floor. The design of the vestibule, along with the staircase and elevator, were inspired by the incredible design of Hungarian architect Odon Lechner's Hungarian Government Treasury. The immensely