Randall Einhorn makes scripted comedy feel observed rather than arranged. We like the way he lets us notice awkward behaviour for ourselves, though The Office shows that a documentary approach cannot always disguise an actor trying too hard.
Fi1m perspective
In The Office (2005), the camera seems to notice a colleague's disapproval just as we do. Randall Einhorn, both a director and a cinematographer on the series, helps make these encounters look unplanned alongside fellow cinematographer Matt Sohn. We value how much this approach lets a look do without explanatory dialogue. Editors David Rogers and Dean Holland deserve their share of the credit, giving the reaction as much importance as the remark.
We found Steve Carell's neediness painfully funny in The Office, because the disapproving faces around him make his efforts to win approval look so exposed. With no canned laughter, we are left to judge his behaviour alongside his colleagues. The series' borrowed beginnings and occasional overplaying still matter. A camera that appears to have arrived by chance cannot make every performance feel unforced.
That way of filming has a practical history. Einhorn worked as a cinematographer on unscripted programmes including Eco-Challenge, Survivor and Fear Factor before joining The Office in 2005. From the late 2000s, he moved towards directing scripted single-camera comedy, with Wilfred (2011) becoming a sustained assignment: he directed all but three episodes of the US version. His handheld camerawork carries that earlier experience into fiction, with the crew apparently responding to whatever happens in front of it. He positions cameras so that we sense activity beyond what they can quite see.
On Abbott Elementary (2021), his work as a director and executive producer continues that interest in documentary-style comedy. His collaborators there include Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern, both showrunners and executive producers. His method uses multiple cameras while preserving the impression of a single documentary crew, keeping equipment out of sight and avoiding conspicuous staging. It is a demanding way to make a programme look casual, and it gives us something worth watching beyond whoever has the next line. Start with The Office, and give the people listening as much attention as the person speaking.
Biography
Randall Einhorn is an American television director, cinematographer and producer. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he began his career in the late 1990s working on reality series including Survivor, for which he received two Emmy Award nominations.
Einhorn is best known for his work on The Office (2005), where he served as cinematographer and directed 15 episodes. He also directed the web series spin-off The Accountants and episodes of series including It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Wilfred, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Fargo and Abbott Elementary.
