A pop-up gallery offering a behind-the-scenes look at Netflix’s “Train Dreams” is set to open in Los Angeles next week.
The gallery exhibit, titled “Train Dreams: The Visual Journey,” features art and still photography curated by filmmaker Clint Bentley and cinematographer Adolfo Veloso. It also features an immersive projection experience featuring never-before-seen footage set to the soundtrack of an audio experience released in partnership with Calm earlier this year. Visitors are invited to step beyond the screen and experience its visual language, stepping into the expansive landscapes and intimate moments that define Train Dreams.
“Train Dreams” stars Joel Edgerton as Robert Greiner, a lumberjack and railroad worker living in the Pacific Northwest. Set in the late 1960s, Bentley asked Veloso to be the director of photography for the film.
The images are rich. The tall green trees stand out against the clear blue sky, but Granger’s life changes forever when a forest fire burns through the forest. Suddenly, the palette turns ashen and gray, reflecting the aftermath. Veloso’s image is one that lingers long after the film’s credits roll. In one scene, there’s an epic moment when all the tall trees are sawn down in the name of progress.
Last year, Veloso told Variety’s Inside the Frame that “99 percent of the movie used natural light.”
Bentley said in a statement, “I’m really excited that people can experience the world of film in this way. Adolfo and I put a lot of thought and care into how we transferred the world and images of the script to the screen. A big part of that was trying to show the exciting world of Washington State from a fresh perspective. Having ‘Train Dreams’ on display in a gallery like this should be a truly special experience for those who are able to do it.”
Director Veloso said, “It’s actually really amazing and satisfying to have a gallery of stills from the movie, because we shot this movie with stills in mind. It’s almost like we found a box full of photos and walked through the images. We wanted it to feel like we were peering into pictures of someone’s life, as if we were trying to understand who they were. Our entire visual choices and visual language came from that idea, trying to evoke the feeling that we were studying those pictures in an intimate way.” “It’s really cool to take some of those images from the movie and put them in a gallery and bring it back to the original idea. Hopefully it becomes a similar experience to watching a movie and piecing together who that person was through the photographs,” he added.
“Train Dreams: The Visual Journey” opens on February 25th at 8250 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046, with a private preview event hosted by the filmmakers. It will be open to the public on February 26 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free and tickets can be booked here. The first 100 customers will receive a limited edition 35mm poster signed by Bentley and Veloso, and other merchandise will be on sale throughout the day.
