Arrested Development - The Cinematography Behind a Comedy Icon

         Arrested Development is an American Sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz in 2003. It follows the Bluth family, a large family with various marriages and divorces, and all of the members leads strange, extravagant lifestyles. Sometimes compared to The Godfather, the series revolves around Michael Bluth trying to live up to his father, George Bluth Sr. and all of their various business interactions and hilarious wrongdoings.

         When a viewer, avid or not, watches an episode of Arrested Development, what do they commonly take note of? The comedy would be first and foremost in my mind, or how much an episode can make them laugh! Secondly I'd imagine the writing or the script would be next in importance. Thirdly, the casting comes to mind, which many find perfect for each character represented. In the end, there seems to be one main topic that many overlook, and it is one that is KEY to such a series and how its comedy works. That topic is it's cinematography!

         A series with such dry, unassuming comedy as arrested development needs certain types of camera movement and angles to help with such comedy. The series employs a documentary style of cinematography, similar to shows such as "The Office" or "Parks and Recreation". These shows all feature camera work as if there is a team of cameramen documenting each scene, with frequent zooms and shaky camera work. This does add an element of realism to the show, but it also adds to the humor itself, which may seem like an odd notion to some.

         There are countless numbers of times where a character is revealed because they were only slightly out of frame, whereas if they were shown in frame during a substantial "joke", their reaction as well as the audience's reaction would not be nearly as big. Introductions of characters are often done in similar ways, where the camera whips to the side to reveal that a character had been there all along. Here is an example, using screenshots that I took from the show itself (merely for educational purposes!)


In these three frames from the first episode, you will see Michael Bluth talking to his mother Lucille Bluth, and the subsequent introduction of his sister Lindsay Bluth. The scene, before Lindsay's introduction, seemed to only include Michael and Lucille as in on the conversation. Suddenly, the camera whips to the side to reveal Lindsay, who has seemingly heard the entire thing.

         This type of camera move is often employed in Arrested Development for both expository and comedic effects, which is something lost on the average viewer when thinking about how the camera acts within the show.