Foglie al Vento is a colourful and quirky illustration studio in the centre of Piacenza in Italy. It’s a place run by three wonderful women who celebrate the bonds between people through art. Their studio with its iconic dotted wall is where the sweetest dreams and fairytales come to life.

I decided to make a film about them as part of my project to give visibility to local artists and business which I try to promote with a strong human side such as Foglie al Vento.

Alessandra, Anna and Giulia welcomed me into their life for a few days. I witnessed their friendship and seeing the love they have for their work was key to understanding the core of their business.

We first chatted to get to know each other and based on that I then storyboarded the video. The filming had been organised over three days to capture the main aspects of their business which are portraits and illustrations for children’s bedrooms.

The care they put in their work and the excitement and love they feel each time they work together are their biggest assets. This, to me, is what makes them really stand out.

This was a formative experience from both a technical and human side. Directing people, who are not actors, in their own place is not always easy but it was a good practice of making people feel comfortable in front of the camera. Another technical challenge I had to face was the use of available light. The studio was beautiful and it had many sources of light but it was quite dark in certain areas.

Something I struggled with was the focus. When there are many people and many things happening organically I had to be ready to film everything and to switch the focus from an object to the other. I did my best but unfortunately some clips were not on focus.

Every first Sunday of the month there’s a big market in the street where their studio is located. It was a good opportunity to film the interaction between the illustrators and the people passing by their shop.

On the second day of shooting I filmed them in the studio while they were illustrating some portraits for their clients. My idea was to film a dynamic interview to make the viewer feel like they were actually seeing the business from the inside.

Lastly, I went with them on location to film them decorating a child’s bedroom with a unique design.