Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru Breaks Down 40-Take Long Shots

Cinematographer Tudor Vladimir Panduru told a Jakarta World Cinema masterclass that a single Cristian Mungiu scene can require 20, 30 or even 40 takes before every element clicks into place.

Panduru, whose credits include "Graduation," "R.M.N." and Mungiu's latest film "Fjord," spoke at length about the demands of plan-séquence shooting — one scene, one shot, no cuts. "With Cristian Mungiu's work, he usually shoots plan-séquence, one scene per shot. There is no editing, no cuts," he said. "We end up shooting 20, 30, 40 takes sometimes to reach the best outcome."

The session was moderated by Benh Zeitlin, the Oscar-nominated director of "Beasts of the Southern Wild," who said he took the chair because "we hope to work together someday." He praised Panduru as a cinematographer who could "bring a dimension to your work that is beyond your personal imagination."

How do you keep a crew fresh through 40 takes?

Panduru's answer: trust, and individual discipline. He said Mungiu manages to keep everyone fresh through the grueling repetition, but added that the responsibility lies with each person on set, because shooting means living the moment together.

"It's also a matter of trust. When you get to work in this kind of style, everybody gives a bit of himself into that process, so there's a moment of synchronicity," Panduru said. "We don't shoot 30 takes because the takes are not good. [The one that works] needs to have all the elements get together so you have the best outcome of everything."

The masterclass traced his career chronologically. Panduru trained under Oleg Mutu, Mungiu's cinematographer on "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," and met Mungiu while still a trainee. "Graduation," only his second film as a cinematographer, made his name internationally.

The camera in Mungiu's films, Panduru said, stays deliberately low-profile and avoids steering the audience, because viewers are "smart enough to understand what's going on there." Zeitlin framed Mungiu's films as valuing "directness and truthfulness" while criticizing "hypocrisy and dishonesty." Panduru agreed, noting Romanian cinema's roots in social issues: "I'm just trying to help him tell that."

What did the scene breakdowns reveal?

Several defining sequences were screened, each followed by a technical breakdown:

• The 20-minute town hall take in "R.M.N.," holding more than 100 people in a single frame
• A long shot alongside a sailing boat in Hasan Hadi's "The President's Cake"
• Two scenes from "Fjord"

The biggest revelation concerned "R.M.N.": the daytime town hall scene was actually shot at night. "You're basically using the focus pulling as a way to edit and also reframe in the same shot without having the camera moving at all," Panduru said of keeping 100-plus figures in focus.

"The President's Cake," an Iraqi children's fairytale, demanded a different visual language from Mungiu's austerity. Its natural landscape let Panduru build scenes more creatively, using running jib arms and wheels — techniques he carried over to "Fjord." Zeitlin said he spotted the connection immediately: "I was like, I have to talk to the cinematographer."

On "Fjord," a family gathering that appeared shot at "magic hour" prompted Panduru to explain how he blocked the natural light from outside to buy more time for the performances. The closing clip showed a long take following star Renate Reinsve from searching on the ground to jumping into the sea.

"It was really important to have the entire arc of the scene of the emotional trajectory of the characters, [so] it was really important for Cristian not to cut in this moment," Panduru said.

He jumped into the freezing sea alongside Reinsve himself, calling it the most straightforward approach — though the hardest part was synchronizing with the actor mid-jump. "And the second, while I was doing [it], if I lost the camera in the moment of the jump –" he said, to audience laughter. "I had a really great team of grips who were supporting me in the water and also outside the water."

On choosing projects, Panduru said collaboration should rest on shared values, and ruled out action films — "or maybe only if it's something that has a social drama behind. Everything relates to affinities." With "Fjord" now screening and his toolkit expanding beyond Mungiu's static frame, the question is where those affinities take him next.