I’ve been meaning to write something about my thoughts on the filming process and choices of The Office, but today I stumbled across this video about it, and it says it more eloquently and has more to say than I ever could.
My take would have been on the shortcomings of the choice to film it as a documentary, and how it constantly breaks its own rules – see the imaginary camera section in the video. Or the actual logistics. Each character must have at least one, if not two crews following them at all times. Imagine how that would look in the office itself, and how impossible it would be to keep each crew out of every shot.
But to see the camera crew and the camera itself as a character in the show is a much more interesting read, and I wonder if this intimacy with the audience is what has made the US version of the show so endearing and long-lasting. I’ve only just finished a re-watch, and seeing clips from the show makes me want to watch it again already.
It’s a nice observation that only Jim’s vox pop’s are addressed to the camera too.
