The Art of The Docudrama

My plan for Tuesday night was to watch The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, but the episode was on until 11:20 and admittedly that is past my bedtime. However, I did get a chance to watch it the next day, and it was definitely worth the wait. In case you have no clue what I am talking about, here is a video to get you interested.

Blame it on my age, or ignorance, or a mixture of both, but I really do not know much about the O.J. Simpson case; so when I found out FX was releasing a docudrama miniseries about the case starring Cuba Gooding Jr., John Travolta, and David Schwimmer, I was all for it. The camera work and acting blended with the dramatic reality of the entire case made for great and informative television. It is almost too good to be true, but fact checkers across the internet have found the majority of the series' portrayal accurate. 

From a documentary production standpoint I took a lot of notes as well. Sure, a lot of the shots would not be realistic to achieve in an actual documentary, but the episode actually contained a lot of oners and handheld shots that would be possible in a documentary. A lot of times documentary shots tend to be a bit stagnant, but cinematographers can definitely (and should) study docudramas to find some inspiration for more dynamic shots. I wish I could find a clip online to explain what I am talking about, but I guess you'll just have to watch American Crime Story and see for yourself. 

Cinematography of Hoyte Van Hoytema

Hoyte Van Hoytema is a cinematographer from Sweden, who went to the National film school in Lodz. Now working in the United States, his work is seen in big hollywood movies such as Her, Interstellar, and The Fighter. In some of his work he discusses using a real earthy color palette such as in Interstellar, he plays off of the natural green of the crops when in the farmland setting. His approach is also clearly seen the opposite when he creates the futuristic world of Her, utilizing LED lights to make the look and color of the film - a soft and intimate, near-future setting. His work is stands from Digital on the alexa in Her, to film in the Imax camera with custom made lenses for Interstellar. In each, there is significant camerawork and several handheld sequences.

This is an interesting video which is worth checking out, selling a little of Imax, but it is important to see some of the huge Imax reels, and the handheld work of Hoytema with the Imax camera.