Foreign Contenders: Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada Dissects Romanian Society Through a Confined Epic

TECH BOX 

Camera 

CP: ARRIRAW Alexa Studio XT. For reasons that are having to do mainly with the number of takes… I mean, I said to myself that with this camera I can shoot as many takes without putting in danger the budget of the film.

Lenses 

CP: Cooke S2 32 mm. For at least two reasons: The first reason, regarding the light or the texture of the image, is that Cooke S2 helped us counterbalancing the coldness of the digital camera. And the second, regarding the format of the image, the 32 mm helped us to avoid all kind of distortions susceptible to undermine the perception of the audience and to alter the “true to life” feeling.

Film

CP: No, for the reason I mentioned above. The start-up budget of the film was something like 800 000 euros, so we could not afford to shoot it on film considering the length of the shoots and the number of takes.

Lighting 

CP: Most of the time natural light combined with Kinoflo tubes and some Arri HMI. The idea was to restore the atmosphere of the dinner that took place after the funeral of my father and consequently to help the spectators experiencing the condition of a witness that is caught inside the event that is unfolding in front of their eyes.

Processing 

CP: Technically speaking I don’t have the ability to compress all the details in a short answer…I just tried to do whatever I could in order to put together all the pieces of this puzzle that is called Sieranevada without altering the texture of life, the real life, as I experience it.

Color Grading

CP: I’m afraid my answer to this question is not going to be different than the previous one… If you wish to get an answer that is covering the technical aspect of the matter you should ask Barbu Balasoiu, the DOP of the film.

Shooting Days 

CP: 42 (35 in the initial shooting schedule).

Budget

CP::1 400 000 Euros. As it was a coproduction, Bosnia, Macedonia, Croatia, France, Eurimage and Arte financed it via the European accord regarding this matter. But again, for a proper answer to all this questions that have to do with money you have to ask Anca, my wife, because she is the producer of the film.

Locations 

CP: 12. MM

Pages: 1 2 3