The Succession Character You Never See

One thing I love about this show is the absolute lack of flashbacks even though a lot of the past is referenced

For those who don't know,Connor Roy was interested in politics at a very young age.

It also adds a level of voyeurism. We wouldn’t normally be in these high-class parties or top-level boardrooms. It makes it feel like we’re peeking in where we don’t belong.

The camera style always feels to me like paparazzi or someone trying to steal a glimpse of this powerful family and this sense that they are not quite supposed to be there and the extension of that feeling is that we the viewer shouldn't be seeing it and that its almost a privilege! Such a great show and a hadn't even realised season 3 had started until I saw this video!!

When Kendall gets approached by Logan’s security at the buffet after the wedding was amazing. They made him look so tiny in the room. You knew he knew he got caught killing the worker. The camera did an amazing job.

The camera work is very similar to sketch comedy camera work, which makes sense with how funny the show is.

It definitely feels like improvisational acting which makes the characters feel so real.

I've always said that Succession reminds me of Arrested Development, and this just solidifies their framing and active camera similarities!

Thank you for using Mindhunter as an example, Mindhunter needs the attention. Such an underrated show

Man, you make me think of shows I already love in whole new ways.

I have never felt such empathy for characters I find so reprehensible. I would never want to know any of these people in real life. In the first episodes of the first season I found the dialogue and situation compelling enough to keep watching. But now I find myself feeling right along with them, understanding why they do what they do even while viscerally disliking their actions. This essay really helps me understand how the creators achieve this balance. This is huge because I’m not someone who typically likes antiheroes. I usually can’t get over my disgust of the actions enough to care for the protagonist. Somehow this show got under my skin and “tricked” me into sympathizing with objectively morally reprehensible people. I don’t know much about cinematography, but it seems to me from this essay that this method took me deeper into their world before I even knew it. Thank you so much for this analysis!

I love when someone talks about this show. Whenever I think about how good it is, I just wanna cry. You know what I mean?

my favorite thing about this show is no flashbacks. they have to deal w the consequences of the past without showing us what happened — keeps it immersive

I just discovered Succession prior to the premiere of season 3. I binged the first two seasons and now I'm waiting every agonizing week for the next episode. What a gem of a show, wish I found it sooner.

The creator of Succession Jesse Armstrong also co-created British comedy Peep Show that is filmed entirely through POV but this POV changes regularly- likewise the camera, or maybe the editor, exists as another character in the show. Well worth a watch

I think that’s why I love the dinner scenes and the crash zooms as the crash zooms serve to force the audience to think how will this character react or scheme having now received this information.

Man, can we also talk about the score, tho? I can't think of a work that's more adept at cueing the audience in on the precise emotional tone when it whiplashes between the darkest of comedy and sincere pathos.

This is such a fantastic analysis! I absolutely love the cinematography in this show, yet don't have a deep enough understanding of cinematography to know why I like it so much. This really helped me, and increased how much respect I have for the art of these camera ops.

So interesting. I think the character you never see is YOURSELF as an observer in the room. The cinematography does this brilliantly. Thanks for this analysis.

The rocket blowing up behind Roman at the press conference at 5:24 will always make me loose it 😭