If you watched the edge-of-your-seat series ‘The Chair Company’ on HBO recently, you might still be wondering whether it is a comedy, a thriller, a dark satire, or a mixture of all three. ‘The Chair Company’ follows Ron, played by Tim Robinson, who investigates a conspiracy after an embarrassing incident at work.
The show received rave reviews by critics (the New York Times called it “bizarrely funny”), while simultaneously garnering a lot of chatter online about the genre-mashup, and the strange mixture of paranoia and “dysfunctional masculinity” (Rogerebert.com).
The visual aesthetic runs the spectrum from drab and mundane realism (think “The Office”) all the way to a “surreal [David] Lynch-ian nightmare”, according to a review on Decider.com. And this captivating visual style was all thanks to the talents of Ashley Connor, the sole cinematographer on the series, a rarity in Hollywood to see a woman helm all episodes of a major platform show in this particularly male-dominated role.
As the cinematographer, Ashley’s vision helped shape much of what you see on screen, adding layers and character to the overall plot. While the show is technically a comedy, Ashley wanted to move away from a classic glossy look associated with the genre and took inspiration from Michael Mann, Alan J Pakula, and Sidney Lumet films to push the 70s and 80s thriller aesthetic, as she wanted the visuals to reflect Ron’s heightened emotional state.
Nominated for a 2019 Independent Spirit Award for Josephine Decker’s ‘Madeline Madeline’, Ashley is known for her genre-spanning features, allowing her to bring that breadth of experience to the HBO series. She has served as the lead DP on several television shows including Prime Video’s ‘Night Sky’ starring Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons, and HULU’s musical comedy ‘Up here’, directed by Tommy Kail.
On ‘The Chair Company’, Ashley used longer dolly zoom shots and designed lighting that emphasized unease to allow the audience to watch Ron unraveling in front of their eyes. To further emphasize that, she also often opted for close-ups for the camera’s proximity to Ron to echo his subconsciousness. The end result is that the audiences see a suburban father and office worker descend into the world of conspiracy theories while the mundane continues to exist around him.
Nearly every episode of the show introduced new spaces and characters, allowing Ashley to play around with the look and push boundaries.
Now that the series is available to watch in its entirety, we had the chance to speak with the cinematographer to learn more about her craft, her creative process on ‘The Chair Company’, and the advice she would give to other up-and-coming or aspiring cinematographers (especially young women) about how to create a viable career path in the film industry.
Where did your cinematography career begin, and what inspired you to pursue this career?
After graduating from film school at Ithaca College, I moved down to New York City. I had studied a lot of experimental film and sort of split my interests between 16mm experimentations and shooting films for other people. It was also a time when DSLRs were just getting on the market, and I was lucky to cross paths with an inspiring group of NY filmmakers who welcomed me into their fold. I was shooting a bunch of micro budget shorts and music videos ,and that sort of seeped into working on longer form projects.
Who were your film inspirations growing up, and whose work left a lasting mark as you began your own career?
I always say, I consider myself the child of my two favorite cinematographers: Robby Muller and Agnes Godard. I grew up loving movies, but I think when I got to film school, my mind was opened to different kinds of storytelling. I remember the first film we were shown at college was Hollis Frampton’s Lemon ,and it blew my mind right open. Other significant viewings that have shaped my approach to cinematography were Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar and Carlos Reygada’s Silent Light.
You are the sole cinematographer on HBO’s new hit series ‘The Chair Company’. What was your creative process in approaching each episode and working with the two directors and creators? What is the collaboration process like before everyone gets on set?
TV is its own unique process. I initially pitched my ideas to pilot director Andrew DeYoung. We connected on approach and aesthetics fluidly, and I think that was really in line with what Tim and Zach wanted for the show. We wanted the cinematography to reflect Ron’s emotional journey into obsession, so our concept for the season was to try to keep as perspectively bound to Ron’s experience as possible.
Tim, Zach, and the writing team gave us really rich and specific scripts that were exciting to break apart and dive into. Working with Andy and Aaron Schimberg was so fun because I really respect them as filmmakers, and we can share references really easily with each other.
How did you approach the visual aesthetic of the series to make it look different to typical comedy TV series, and which styles did you draw inspiration from?
We were really inspired by 70s and 80s thrillers, and a lot of the films we were looking at came from those filmmakers. We share a love of Sidney Lumet and William Friedkin, Michael Mann, Alan Pakula – you get the vibe. We wanted the look of the show to take itself seriously. We felt the more serious we took the images, the stronger the comedy would play.
I’ve shot a lot of comedy in the past, and it can be hard to design interesting coverage when actors improvise, but Tim and Zach really like to keep it to the script, so for me, I was able to lean into more stylized coverage. We wanted the show to move, so we were always focused on pacing and energetically matching Ron. Lots of dolly zooms, lots of handheld running.
In what ways was your craft pushed to new heights while working on The Chair Company? Can you share some aspects that challenged you?
Comedy shows, in general, don’t get the most robust budgets, so it really took me being present and on my toes to creatively problem-solve some of the typical difficulties faced on set. There’s that old saying where you can solve problems by throwing money at them, but when you don’t have that option, it can be really freeing to just use what you have.
I didn’t have the gear to do certain larger lighting setups, so my gaffer, Matt Atwood, and I would approach the night work by leaning into what the location had to offer. A lot of times that would influence the blocking, and we would amplify and shape from there. A good example of this is the final scene of the pilot.
We were shooting in a very large parking lot that we wouldn’t have been able to light ourselves, so instead we used the preexisting lighting as a strong base and were able to accentuate with a few well-placed floor units and one lift with a few units on it. We designed the entire chase so that the moments of light and darkness helped tell the story and made it quicker for us to relight between shots.
The percentage of women cinematographers in the industry generally is still nowhere near equal, according to many years of data that has been tracking the stats. In your experience, what are some of the fundamental barriers, and how can they broken down?
I think in many ways, being a woman was very beneficial at the start of my career. Female directors wanted to work with more women behind the camera, but these were predominantly micro to no-budget films. Where I see a major limitation is in what sort of projects I get offered or considered for – my male contemporaries definitely have more access to better content by more established directors, and I see the way they move up in budget to be much more fluid.
Women aren’t asked for certain types of films, so it can feel isolating. And to top it off, a lot of female identifying directors still want an older, more established male DP to guide them. Men in power make them feel more comfortable, and then the older established male directors are barely calling on women. I also see this movement where the best female DPs quickly move into directing because you can side-step a lot of this disappointment and frustration.
Things are far better now than they have been in the past, and I’m grateful for every woman who dragged themselves across the hot coals in order for me to walk more easily. We’ve just gotta keep on keeping on and hope it continues to change.
The impact of the “male gaze” or the “female gaze” in film and TV is talked about quite a bit. From your perspective, can you share why it is important to have more women in the field, and any underrepresented folks behind the camera in the industry?
I think that as artists, we all bring a unique perspective to the work we create. For me, that goes from the images I make to how I build crews to how I treat actors – it all feels representative of my process. My process is my own, and it’s related to my experience in the world – I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a body, I am a man, I am fluid – it’s all present and unique. The more diversity of voices we have, the more diverse our narratives will become, and to me that makes the future so exciting.
What do you love most about your work today?
I can’t believe I get to do something I love and be paid for it – that to me is so beyond dreamy. I’m a very lucky person. This year, I got to shoot a heartwarming movie about Sally Field being friends with an octopus called ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ (out next year), then immediately jumped into the dark and mysterious world of ‘The Chair Company’, the two sides of my filmmaking brain represented by two very different projects made for a really creatively fulfilling year.
If you were to give advice to someone, especially a young woman aspiring to follow in your footsteps, what would that be?
Keep going. The hardest thing in this industry is to be surrounded by rejection and failure and to keep showing up for yourself and your art. We need you!
Watch all episodes of ‘The Chair Company’ on HBO Max. See more of Ashley Connor’s work by visiting her website.
