Director: Sam Esmail
The Title / Font
Whilst the same font is used for the title throughout the series, for each episode Sam Esmail uses a different shot with the title placed over it as the title sequence for the show. This is used as a way to establish that episode's and the show's overall tone. Here are a few examples:
His inspiration for doing this comes from movies. Esmail said "I love how a film opens. It's almost always the best part about a movie: The first images of whatever I'm about to watch fill me with awesome anticipation." [1] This inspiration is evident in Mr Robot as the title helps to set the scene and ominous atmosphere for the show, much like many films do. For example, many of the Harry Potter films start with dark, stormy clouds which is foreshadowing of the dark story ahead. The title for Taxi Driver (a film which inspired Sam Esmail) is dark orange and appears over smoke / car exhaust whilst the ominous musical score plays. This technique is closely mirrored in Mr Robot as the bold red title is layered over the top of the image and the (usually ominous) non diegetic musical score.
Esmail's biggest criticism of other TV shows is that the titles are kept the same and don't reveal any new information, therefore they're more likely to be skipped as they are considered unimportant to the plot of the story. He wanted to subtly reveal to the audience tiny glimpses of information in the title sequence which is why each underlying shot is carefully selected. The shot represents the tone for the entire episode so it is critically important that the correct shot is selected.
The font of the title is the only thing kept consistent through the title sequences of the show. Due to Esmail considering the show to be similar to the 70's / 90's paranoid thriller genre, he selected the font in line with this in order to allude to the show being of that same genre. The red colour boldly suggests the essence of danger and sinister atmosphere of the show, helping to serve the purpose of placing the show into the drama / paranoid thriller genre.
The Visual Style - Colour, lighting and mise en scene
Mr Robot was shot on a Red camera using Cooke S5s lenses. [2] The choice of lenses was due to the roundness of them. They help to accentuate curves and details in people's faces. The main character's eyes (and a lot of other characters apart from the sinister executive Wellick) have big eyes, the lenses help to accentuate this to make their eyes look large and bulbous. This adds to the unsettling nature of the drama.
The main colours used within Mr Robot are dark and cool toned, this helps to add to the hostile and ominous atmosphere. The darkness of the storyline is reflected in the darkness of the colours that surround the characters and the dull exposure of the scene. The All Safe office (workplace of main character Elliot) is given a very simple colour palette. The whites are dull and grey toned, there are no obvious bright colours and the colourist took a lot of magenta tones out of the images from the room to allude to the 'cold, sterile, distant corporate environment'. [3]
The dull, gloomy colour palette also work to highlight the cynicism of Elliot's perspective. This dark colour palette, combined with the lighting techniques, helps to create shadows across the characters' faces. This contributes to the sense of underlying mystery that runs throughout the series.
The Visual Style - Camerawork and Editing
Mr Robot uses very distinctive camerawork and editing, a lot of which breaks common conventions that are typically followed within both television and film.
Films and television often stick to the rule of thirds. However, Mr Robot completely demolishes this and instead opts to use quadrant framing (specifically lower quadrant framing).
The camerawork seems very unbalanced and unnerving as the characters are often placed in unusual and unnatural positions on the screen. For example, much of the time the characters are placed in the lower left or right of the frame. This help to provide a sense of disorientation and imbalance, feelings which are associated with the main character Elliot throughout the series as the events unravel before him.
This type of angle and camerawork style helps to isolate Elliot within the scene. The character is known to suffer with social anxiety and finds it difficult to communicate with people. Therefore, positioning him in a lower quarter of a frame helps to reflect how the character is feeling in the situation by making him look small with a lot of space around him. This makes the negative space around Elliot much more noticeable and even overpowering which helps to reflect and emphasise Elliot's emotions of loneliness, distrust, powerlessness and suspicion.
Another disorientating aspect of the camera work is the lack of eyeline match. During conversations, characters are often placed at the side closest to the other character whom they are talking to (as opposed to the opposite side of the frame). This means there is no sense of orientation for what the character is looking at. This helps to show how disconnected the characters are from each other, they do not know where they stand in relation to one another. This also reflects the disorientation of the characters, especially the main character Elliot who is struggling with his anxiety but is also overcome with adrenaline due to the events of the series. However, this is also disorientating for the audience, they are not able to step into Elliot's POV due to the unnatural camerawork and editing. There is a lack of continuity which adds to this disorientation, keeping the audience distant from the characters whilst also allowing them to feel similar emotions of disorientation to Elliot.
The lower quadrant framing leaves large amounts of headroom above the characters, suggesting that a great weight is hanging over their heads. It works really well with the large amount of voice over and internal dialogue within the show. The space helps to echo their thoughts and show that their mind is somewhere other than the action occurring within the frame. This is also why a short depth of field is frequently used. The background is blurred because it is unimportant, the audience only needs to focus on the small amount of positive space / where the character is within the frame and the voice over / internal dialogue which is occurring simultaneously with these shots.
The director also chooses to use the camerawork in order to convey the positions of power within scenes. In Mr Robot, the position of power frequently changes within the scene as were watching it and this is all mirrored in the camerawork. In this scene with Elliot and his therapist, the therapist begins in the position of power, hence her centred position within the frame. However, once Elliot reveals that he has been hacking her / spying on her, the position of power changes. The position of the camera on Elliot changes from that of a high angle shot / a shot that places Elliot as a very small character within the frame, to a more centred shot, before becoming a low angle shot - a shot type that conventionally suggests power and dominance. The opposite happens to the therapist. She begins in the centre of the frame, before being pushed into the right hand corner of the frame and then finally turning into a high angle shot looking down on her. This makes Krista look vulnerable and weak.
The Sound Design
The sound design for Mr Robot helps to reflect the dark mindset of Elliot. The composer of the music said "the electronic score is pretty dark, paranoid and tense in mood". [4] This perfectly sets the tone of the show as a dark, paranoid thriller / drama. Elliot's passive aggressive nature, mixed with his kindness and destructive behaviour is very difficult to convey all at once, yet the score seems to encapsulate all of these feelings at once.
Often, the non diegetic sound / ambient sound fades out quite quickly if it is not integral to the scene. For example, when Elliot is walking along the street, there is often no sound from the atmosphere, just the diegetic musical score. This, along with the camerawork, creates an unnerving atmosphere and works to heighten the isolation of the character (mainly Elliot).
The sound design is also often rhythmic. This can be seen in the prison break scene with the use of helicopters and sirens. This helped to emulate a sort of pulse along with the barking of the dogs and the shouting.
How has this influenced my work?
By conducting some research into Mr Robot and discovering the unconventional camerawork techniques, it has made me realise that I do not need to conform to the typical camera techniques such as 'the rule of thirds'. The position of the camera can be used creatively to help convey the emotions of the characters and set the tone of the piece. Although this can be done with the angles, it has made me realise that it can be further emphasised by the position of the camera.
Mr Robot has also influenced me in my decision for the title sequence for my piece. The colour of the title works to suggest the mood of the entire piece. The bold red in the title for Mr Robot suggests the sense of danger that is present throughout the series. I aim to use a light red in the title sequence for my recreation of Love Actually to suggest the love and affection Mark holds for Juliet.
[1] Brunner, R. (2015) Are these gorgeous opening images the key to ‘Mr. Robot’? Creator Sam Esmail explains. Available at: https://www.fastcocreate.com/3050196/are-these-gorgeous-opening-images-the-key-to-mr-robot-creator-sam-esmail-explains (Accessed: 24 February 2017)
[2] Collins, S.T. (2015) How Mr. Robot Became One of TV’s Most Visually Striking Shows. Available at: http://www.vulture.com/2015/09/mr-robot-visually-striking-cinematography.html# (Accessed: 24 February 2017).
[3] Altman, R. (2016) Encore colorist Laura Jans Fazio goes dark with ‘Mr. Robot’ - Randi Altman’s postPerspective. Available at: http://postperspective.com/encore-colorist-laura-jans-fazio-goes-dark-with-mr-robot/ (Accessed: 24 February 2017).
[4] Desowitz, B. (2016) ‘Mr. Robot’ Emmys 2016: How score and sound explore Elliot’s splintered psychology. Available at: http://www.indiewire.com/2016/08/mr-robot-emmys-2016-score-sound-1201718757/ (Accessed: 24 February 2017).
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