Locked In: One Take Immersion in Prestige TV

Innovative staging has become a trademark of prestige tv over the course of its history. The recent adoption of the one-shot-film has been the latest development on this front.  What previously has been used in a heavy handed way to elevate awards-oriented pictures in the eyes of the Academy has found a more natural fit on Television, where more time can be allocated to character development. Adolescence uses this singular approach to filmmaking to immerse you in the interconnected moment to moment goings-on of all sides of a homicide investigation and the subsequent ramifications. Subtle mannerisms and reactions are foregrounded as we follow the lives of Jamie, a juvenile murder suspect, and his parents, as well as the law enforcement and state employees tasked with piecing everything together. 

Adolescence places us immediately in the middle of a series of whirlwind events from the very first scene, this immediacy is then consistently reinforced by how the staging keeps each setting claustrophobic and any action close at hand. The costumes are understated but true to character. By the third episode of the series, the characters and proceedings have come to an emotional head. Any artifice has been stripped away and all that is left to be revealed are the raw emotions and grievances that have driven the actions of the young Jamie. This is reflected in how sparse the set dressing is.

Everything that is present is strictly functional. On one side of the table is a psychologist and several nondescript computer screens that serve to get across the cold weight of the institutions bearing down on Jamie. Nothing of note is behind the boy. A sandwich and hot chocolate are on each end of the table, serving as reference points that help to get across the geography of the scene as the camera moves. The stop-start speed at which the camera moves seems to mirror the emotional escalation of the scene. In moments of vulnerability characters are shot from a high angle, and conversely they are shot from a low angle when they are driving the discussion. Often characters are shot in profile to gradually reveal a character’s emotional state over the course of a pan shot. The bright lighting outside of the interrogation room takes on a sickly heavenly glow that still serves as a respite from the very real intensity of the interrogation. We pull out as our character's argument develops into a potential physical altercation.

Never allowing it’s intensity to let up, the program continues to use staging to great effect in the series' climactic episode. After an arduous family outing, our family is driving home, when they receive an important phone call from Jamie. The boy announces suddenly that he is going to plead guilty. Rather than show the emotional fallout in full view, we the viewers are kept at arms length by never being given the catharsis of a full front facing shot. In stark contrast, every scene of our core family on the road up to this point has been shot from outside the windshield facing the characters directly. By keeping this initial emotional episode at a distance, it makes the following scene where the parents discuss this development hit that much more resonant.

Following the characters for such long stretches makes exposition seem less forced, as it is always sandwiched into digressive dialogue that fleshes out the characters in a naturalistic way. Throughout the series a productive balance and relationship is struck between scenes of kinetic action and long drawn out dialogue scenes. The momentum of an action scene carries into the dialogue scenes and vice versa, as there are no cuts that force the viewer to reorient and settle themselves. This provides the action scenes with more dramatic weight and keeps you on the edge of your seat during the dialogue scenes. Every scene is imbued with a certain live-wire immediacy. Managing this feat without causing the show to feel formless is an impressive accomplishment. At no point does the camerawork not feel motivated or deliberate and the execution of the choreography and general organizing that each of these episode-length shots necessitates is a massive accomplishment on the part of the director, cast, and crew. 

In a time when the viability of ambitious, high production value series has been brought into question, the artistic and ratings success of as formally daring a program as Adolescence bodes well for the future of Television as a boundary pushing medium. Ever-prescient themes such as our increased interconnectivity and how this plays into family and community life are weaved into the form, as every character has only an unsent text or a fluid camera move down a flight of stairs keeping them apart. This one-shot form also makes the show immediately watchable and immersive, resulting in a program that truly excels on all fronts, which explains its widespread acclaim and awards recognition.

(Writer: Ben Borchardt, Photo Editor: Hannah Perez, Producer: Tomás Whitmarsh)