Television Style » Chapter 4: Style in an Age of Uncertainty

Chapter 4: Style in an Age of Uncertainty

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4.01 The pilot of ER begins with Mark making his way down a cluttered hallway with a visible ceiling.

Fig 4.01

4.02 ER: Mark’s path is obstructed by diegetic maintenance men, replacing “practicals.”

Fig 4.02

4.03 The space of the emergency room, with its four-walled sets, is established as the pilot begins.

Fig 4.03

4.04 Director Ken Kwapis manipulates the 180° rule in a complicated ER scene where Luka works on an injured girl. This shot initially establishes the orientation of the axis of action.

Fig 4.04

4.05 Kwapis cuts to a shot on the left side of the gurney, but then cuts back…

Fig 4.05

…to the girl’s mother at the door to the room, where, in a multiple-camera set-up there would be no wall (and, in a sitcom, there would be an audience).

Fig 4.06

4.07 An overhead shot is also atypical for multiple-camera productions.

Fig 4.07

4.08 Kwapis returns to a tight shot of Luka at the head of the gurney, but then cuts to…

Fig 4.08

…a reverse angle that breaks the axis of action and reveals three walls of the set.

Fig 4.09

4.10 ER’s signature style is built on swirling Steadicam shots. In this one, the camera arcs 360° around Kerry and a patient showing all four walls of the set.

Fig 4.10

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4.16 The Steadicam shot ends close to where it began its journey.

Fig 4.16

4.17 An actor portrays a production assistant on the fictional film crew shooting a documentary in the ER. He checks a surveillance camera and…

Fig 4.17

…wipes it clean.

Fig 4.18

4.19 In one of ER’s numerous “walk-and-talk” scenes, the camera is on a slight high angle, favoring Mark…

Fig 4.19

…but it is Elisabeth who does most of the talking as they move down the hall.

Fig 4.20

4.21 The ER walk-and-talk scene above starts with a low-angle establishing shot, showing, once again, the ceiling.

Fig 4.21