Abbott Elementary, The Office, Parks and Recreation director, producer and cinematographer Randall Einhorn

Multihyphenate producer-director-cinematographer and all around
talented guy Randall Einhorn is currently the executive producer
and director of the award-winning ABC show, Abbott Elementary.
Randall began his career in series television first as the DP of
The Office, then became one of the most frequent directors of the
series. He got to know the mockumentary style intimately, and
carried it onto many other shows such as Parks and Recreation, The
Muppets, and Modern Family. Quinta Brunson, show creator and star
of Abbott Elementary, was a huge fan of The Office and pitched her
idea to executive producers Randall Einhorn and Patrick Schumacker.
Randall immediately knew that the mockumentary format would work
well as they followed the everyday drama of teachers in an
underprivileged elementary school in Philadelphia. They began
shooting the pilot in August 2021, working with kids who were
mostly non-actors and hadn't been inside a classroom for an entire
year due to COVID. Working with kids made everything harder, but
also made everything better, and Randall emphasized that they would
have a good time every day. The children were so happy and excited
to see each other and to be in a classroom, even if it was a set.
On Abbott Elementary, Randall wanted the teachers to be treated
like heroes, so they chose to use ARRI cameras and Angenieux Optimo
Zoom lenses. The classrooms look inviting, with wood, warm earth
tones and bright light coming in from the windows. By contrast, on
The Office they would “dirty up” the frame to make it seem more
spontaneous, as though something unexpected was actually caught.
Randall would pan to someone, purposely defocus, then bring the
actor into focus, to make it seem as though it was just caught. For
Abbott Elementary, the camera crew keeps everything mostly in
focus, but they will make a conscious effort to keep a piece of
doorway in the shot, for example, to imply that people are having a
private moment with the cameras hanging back. Randall feels that
there's an honesty to using a long lens and backing up so it would
look like the actors are having an intimate conversation. Randall
naturally developed his mockumentary shooting style after working
on reality and extreme sports shows. Executive producer Ben
Silverman saw his work and thought his verite style would work well
for The Office. Randall met with executive producer Greg Daniels,
and they hit it off. Since he'd never worked on scripted shows
before, Randall broke lots of rules that were considered “normal”
for series television on The Office, such as operating himself and
pulling his own focus. Blocking and planning the camera placement
ahead of time was also essential- the camera crew would never put a
camera where it couldn't or wouldn't be. He also figured out how to
add to the improvisational comedy through the camera's movement and
focus. Randall would keep one eye on the eyepiece and another on
the actors to see who was going to improv. He'd lean in with the
camera on an actor, stepping in closer to make a moment even more
awkward. Unlike the British version of The Office, which was always
carefully rehearsed, they would just shoot the scenes and
reactions, in true documentary style. Randall's company, Sad
Unicorn, has a multi-year first look deal at Warner Bros. and he
will continue executive producing and directing Abbott Elementary.
Abbot Elementary is in its second season on ABC and Hulu, and
season three will likely be delayed due to the writers strike.
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