American Cinematographer - April 2014 - 80

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5 Park City Standouts

Blue Ruin
Director/Cinematographer:
Jeremy Saulnier
Building from a beach bum's
existence on the Delaware coast to a
climactic volley of gunfire deep in the
woods of Virginia, Blue Ruin charts a
course that's darkly hilarious and bonechillingly suspenseful, with the occasional detour into shocking violence.
The action begins when the reclusive
Dwight (Macon Blair) sets out on a
mission of revenge as his parents'
murderer is released from prison.
Directed, written and shot by
Brooklyn-based filmmaker Jeremy
Saulnier (Murder Party), Blue Ruin was
awarded the Fipresci International
Film Critics prize in the Directors'
Fortnight section at the 2013 Cannes
Film Festival and has since been shown
at Toronto, Rotterdam and numerous
other festivals. It screened at Sundance
in the Spotlight category.
Asked about Blue Ruin's varied
tonal landscape, Saulnier says, "The
vibe I wanted was very much like No
Country for Old Men, but I wanted to
explore new territory by 'miscasting' the
lead role. Instead of a stoic badass,
80

April 2014

[Dwight] is a very confused, frightened
person who is totally inept at these
masculine pursuits. I also referenced
Michael Mann's Thief [for its] gritty
atmosphere and procedural detail; it's so
grounded in realism, you buy it."
Saulnier notes that he didn't have
the luxury of "a defined preproduction
period, but there was absolutely a
defined 'daddy-has-to-be-finishedmaking-his-movie' period, and that was
before the birth of my third daughter. I
sought funding for a proper budget
with more sustainable wages, and I
failed, so this was primarily a selffunded film. We did some Kickstarter
crowd funding, but that was less than
10 percent of the budget."
Given his constraints, Saulnier
decided early on that he "needed to own
the camera. Then, if I wanted to capture
a sunrise or a sunset, I could get in my
minivan and shoot it myself. I tested a
few cameras and was immediately
drawn to the Canon [Cinema EOS]
C300. We recorded 1080p HD to
onboard CF cards at 50Mbps [4:2:2]. I
didn't want to be tethered to an external
recorder. With a backpack kit, I could
go out for a weekend and just shoot.
"I operate the camera as well,
American Cinematographer

which can take a toll on my ability to
function as a director, but that's why I
designed the script to compartmentalize production elements," he continues.
"I wanted a very precise, active
approach to camera placement and
framing, where we're telling the narrative through the shots and making
important revelations with the camera,
but when it gets to the intense dialogue
scenes, the camera takes a backseat and
we let the actors shine."
Framing for a final aspect ratio of
2.40:1, Saulnier eschewed filtration and
used a set of Canon L Series EF-mount
primes, a 24mm f1.4, 35mm f1.4,
50mm f1.2 and 85mm f1.2, as well as
an L Series 16-35mm f2.8 zoom. "I
tested a few more cinema-friendly
lenses, but I decided that focus pulling
was not as important as the speed of the
lens. The C300's native EI is 850, and
we only rarely stopped down more than
T2. The ability to dig into waning available light helped us move incredibly
fast.
"To balance the formal camera
techniques, I wanted a naturalistic
approach for the lighting," he adds. To
that end, Saulnier worked with gaffer
Rommel Genciana and key grip Carlos

Blue Ruin photos and frame grabs courtesy of Radius-TWC. Photos by Jolie Ruben.

Dwight Evans (Macon Blair) has been living out of his Pontiac Bonneville when he sets out on a quest for revenge in Blue Ruin.

American Cinematographer - April 2014

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