Imagination for All Ages A deaf protagonist and a story set in two time periods were just two of the challenges director Todd Haynes and I faced on Wonderstruck. By Ed Lachman, ASC with Jon D. Witmer and Benjamin B *|* 30 October 2017 B ased on Brian Selznick's partially illustrated youthoriented novel of the same name, Wonderstruck masterfully interweaves the stories of two 12-year-olds in two separate cinematic languages and time periods: Ben (Oakes Fegley) in 1977 and Rose (Millicent Simmonds) in 1927. Rose was born deaf, and Ben becomes deaf following an accident. Both children run away to New York City, tracing the clues within their personal histories to find what they're missing and longing for in their lives - for Rose, her estranged mother ( Julianne Moore), and for Ben, the father he's never known. "Deaf culture is a visual culture," says Selznick, who also authored the film's screenplay. "Even their language is visual. That got me thinking about how I would approach Rose's American Cinematographer