On the set of “Barry and me” for a FOCAL internship

Film sets are frenetic workplaces. In the first months of this year, were no exception the Valais and Ticino sets of Barry and me, Markus Welter’s family film set to be released in cinemas north of the Alps in early January. Yet these spaces, seemingly chaotic at first glance, are exactly what is needed to learn how to take one’s first steps in the world of cinema, a world that is inevitably new to anyone encountering it for the first time.

This is the case for Patrizio Laloli, thirty years old and originally from Vallemaggia, who after studying sound engineering and music production in Berlin, almost by chance discovered an entirely new professional field and ended up falling in love with it, also thanks to an internship offered through the Stage Pool of FOCAL, the Foundation for Professional Training in Film and Audiovisual Media, with which the Ticino Film Commission collaborates.

From recording studios to film sets. What led you to make this transition?

“After returning to Switzerland following my studies in Berlin, I decided to try new paths. I have always been passionate about films and TV series, and since my brother was already working in the audiovisual field, the transition was easy. My first experience was on the set of the series Winter Palace, initially in the art department. Then one thing led to another. There, I met a girl who was doing an internship through FOCAL, and I became interested in this platform. I signed up, and it happened that Atlantis Productions in Basel contacted me - they were looking for a boom operator for an internship on the set of the film Barry and me, and had seen my profile. I worked with them from the start of filming in Valais in early February until the wrap last March in Minusio.”

What was your first impression of the set?

“Initially very chaotic (laughs, ed.). When you’re taking your first steps, you don’t even know where to stand! You don’t want to get in people’s way or block the cameras, or position yourself badly and end up accidentally in the shot with your shadow because you’re standing in front of the light. During the first week, everyone was very busy. Things improved from the second week onwards. My supervisor explained to me that these were very special shooting conditions, since we were outdoors, it was often snowing, and there were adverse weather conditions with strong winds. Everyone, from the director to the cinematographer to those managing the set, was therefore working in a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary situation. At first, I thought this was the standard!”

How would you assess the experience of this internship?

“It was a good exercise of confirmation; I was able to verify whether what I had learned over the past years was correct. I’m referring to microphone techniques, sound recording quality, and so on. For the most part, all of this was confirmed. Then there are, of course, the specific aspects of working on a set. The production sound mixer has their own workflow and working method, so it may take some time to adapt, but then everything works very well. An internship like this is extremely useful to understand whether you can have a future in this field and whether the profession truly interests you. I would do it again. After Barry and me, I tried to find out about the possibility of working on other productions through FOCAL. Another positive factor is the contacts that are made on set with colleagues: if you commit to building a network, it becomes much easier to find further job opportunities. Of course, knowledge of multiple languages also plays an important role. My goal now is to work in the sector.”

Going back to the set of Barry and me, what were the most intense moments?

“In Ticino, it was impressive to shoot in the historic building in Minusio, chosen as a location, where we filmed the dinner scene: a scene packed with technicians and actors! In Valais, I would point to the moment when we shot with a real wolf, brought from Germany by two specialised handlers. Everyone thought it was a classic Czechoslovakian wolfdog, which is a dog that looks very much like a wolf. Instead, this nine-month-old animal arrived on set, twice the size of a wolfdog. We shot a scene in which a piece of meat was given to it. The problem was that we had to shoot it four or five times, and taking a piece of meat away from a wolf is not exactly easy. When it growled, we turned pale, and everyone realised that it was a real wolf and not a dog!”