To highlight the emotional state of the characters, the film was shot in long takes, close-ups were avoided, and a score was not used. In Mungiu's mind, this would "keep a proper distance from the subject and be honest with the story". Cinematographer Oleg Mutu opted for a minimalist approach, lighting the backgrounds to display items common in 1987 while attempting not to distract from the characters too much. Mutu and Mungiu had previously developed a formula of lengthy takes and medium shots with the director's first feature film, "Occident". With "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", Mutu used an Arriflex 535. Mungiu found the dinner scene to be the most difficult to shoot, as including a large number of actors in a long take made it difficult to focus. It took 17 attempts over five days to complete the scene.