"Sunday Morning"
Interview with Award Winning Filmmaker Nicole Gunther

by Keira Rakoff

(May 8, 2003) Nicole Gunther is a Larchmont resident who has made an extraordinary film. "Sunday Morning" won first place in the Fourth Annual Westchester Film Festival, held at Regal Cinemas at New Roc City on March 13. Gunther is only twenty-two and has already directed, written, and set the lighting and sound for her own film.

She is a 1998 graduate of Mamaroneck High School where her favorite classes were in the Art Department. She especially remembers art teacher Jon Murray who was always willing to stay long after school and in the evenings to assist with her college portfolio. At Manhattan’s Cooper Union College, she majored in art and graduated in May 2002. "You could really make happen all the things you wanted to accomplish," she said of her college experience.

"Sunday Morning" was based on a script written by Gunther’s aunt, and the aunt appears in the film. Nicole wrote additional scenes, and through her directing “made the film her own.”

Nicole found the film project to be "A real learning experience.” She said, “I learned more from making this film then any class. I had to learn how to work all the lights, and the camera angles, and all the equipment, the budget, everything!" She self-financed the film, which was her Senior Thesis project, but was fortunate to rent equipment from her college. She could not afford to pay the actors, but by putting up signs in Manhattan acting studios, she attracted over thirty auditioners. She spent four months working on the film, although only two days for the actual shooting.

"There were a lot of difficulties, because I still had class and we had to work around the actors who had other jobs. But it all came together nicely in the end," Nicole said with a smile.

The film focuses on a little girl, around seven years old. She is Italian-American and dreams of becoming a nun. She only sees the world in black and white. One Sunday morning, her married uncle brings his girlfriend home to meet her parents, a very touchy situation for the family. The climax of the story involves the interaction between the young girl and the uncle's girlfriend, who are alone together in the living room. Nicole hopes the film portrays not a life altering event, but a subtle change in the way the two characters think about life.

Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the film, Nicole revealed that making any kind of movie is "A LOT of work."

"This film was perfect for me to make because it took place in only two rooms. You need so much equipment just for one shot that having it in only two rooms made it much easier". That isn't to say there weren't complications. "The equipment is quite old and accidents do happen .We had problems with the lights, and the circuit breakers broke. Plus, the tripod broke, and I had to hold up the camera (which weighs fifty pounds) for part of the film." That wasn't easy since Nicole is an extremely slender woman and there were no strong helpers available.

In fact, except for the actors and actresses and one or two friends who came around for moral support, Nicole was on her own. She chose all the music ("I have a lot of Bach, but very slowed down as to create a type of atmosphere.") the lights, the shots, and all the actors. She even did her own editing of the film.

The work paid off for her when the film was shown in its full form. "I got to show it in a little auditorium to all my family and friends, which was really great." Nicole's mother added, "It is a beautiful film, really just beautiful." Right now the film isn't showing in theatres but Nicole has hopes of it appearing in Queens at an “open night.”

"If I had more time, more money and more equipment, I would change some things,” commented Nicole. “But I am just happy that I made it. That is what you really have to do. Just do it any way you can. And maybe it is better that I didn't have 50 million dollars to work with. Because you really need to know what you can do first, before you have all that money to make it. It feels really good knowing that this film was all mine. All of the scenes are shown the way I want them to be shown."

Does she have any advice for future filmmakers? "Make sure to have good sound. Some filmmakers don't really understand the importance of great sound. They will just put in any old pop song and think that will make the movie good. You have to feel like you are there in the movie, not like you are watching the movie. My music was quieter because I wanted a quieter feel for the movie, but still powerful at the same time."

Keira Rakoff is a Sophomore at Mamaroneck High School.