American Cinematographer - April 2009 - 14

Right: Wunstorf lines up a shot. Below: A laundry hamper from Ikea serves as a poor man’s space light. “Ikea is a great resource, especially when you’re working with a small budget,” notes Wunstorf. of the house exterior. At the beginning of Patiences, we see the woman’s hand in close-up as she retrieves a key hidden above the house’s front door, then we see her feet stepping across the threshold. Once inside, she slips off her shoes, cues up an LP record on a turntable, and fills two flutes with champagne — all actions we see in close-up. She settles in, and only then does the camera find her face. “We don’t reveal her face until about 10 shots into the film, but it wasn’t written that way,” says Wunstorf. After a pause, he muses, “I think it’s the way it was meant to be shot.” The filmmakers also had to improvise for a scene in which the woman leaves the house and lies out on the balcony. Again, it was too cold to shoot this outside, and there was too much background to avoid, so the scene was set up inside, with the woman on the bed, against the blown-out window. The shot became the poster image for the film and is one of Wunstorf’s favorites. Because there is no dialogue, the filmmakers had to find a way to help the audience relate to the solitary character. The camera, operated by Brett Manyluk, follows her from a distance as she bides her time, maintaining an observational stance. “If you want to create a sense of loneliness, you need to keep the camera static and removed,” says Wunstorf. “I’m a big fan of Gordon Willis [ASC], and his work features a lot of tableaux; the camera is never moving unless it’s supposed to be.” Working in the standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio, “we rarely shot wider than a 25mm or longer than an 85mm,” he adds. “Directing was a bit terrifying and intimidating,” he observes. He devoted a lot of time to preparing for the new role. To gain tips on directing actors, he enrolled in Judith Weston’s “Directing Actors” workshop in Hollywood. “You spend three days acting, so you get to appreciate what it’s like to be an actor,” he explains. As far as shooting, once he found the locations, the plan was simply to come up with a shot list and stick to it. “I’d made a shot list a year in advance, and I modified it a bit for the locations,” he recalls. “During shooting, you usually realize there’s a shot you don’t need, but overall, the shoot didn’t deviate much from what I’d planned. It also helped that I was working with a great team.” In particular, he cites Matt Vest, who served as co-production designer (with Rachel Livingstone) and chief lighting technician. “Matt was my MVP,” says Wunstorf. “He has an eye for what looks good on camera. Some people are purely technical, and some people are just visual, but he was able to help me with both. Plus, he just has good taste.” The production’s footage was processed at Studio Post and Transfer in Edmonton, and Wunstorf supervised the photochemical finish at Vision Globale in Montreal. Patiences had its premiere at the 2008 St. Louis International Film Festival. I 14 April 2009

American Cinematographer - April 2009

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