Mr. Robot: The Art of Framing 

Criminally underrated show.

This is my favorite TV show. Every episode feels like a movie.

Season 4 is a magnum opus for cinematography !

Mr. Robot is such an anomaly considering how garbage the other shows on USANetwork are.

I disagree that the framing adds comfort. If anything I think it adds a note of claustrophobia, or paranoia. All the empty space never seems right, because it's not conventional we always think something is wrong which makes us (the viewer) more anxious. I think it makes the viewer feel more like a voyeur, that we are in the empty space secretly watching.

I discovered how Mr Robot just isn't for everybody, I recommended it to so many people and literally nobody even finished the first season, they got "bored". It's sad, but maybe this level of beauty and complexity can be too much for some people to even appreciate.

This channel is criminaly underrated

No one talks about this show, it is so good and Idk how people don't talk about it more!

rami looks like a hexagon bless him

this series went from great to a masterpiece - the finale is superb

Spoilers: They stuck the landing and the series ends really well IMO.

I think the cinematography accomplishes more than what you said. Two more things to be precise. One, it helps drive in the mind of the viewer the broken psychic of Elliot. This is achieved exactly through weird framing, broken framing. Secondly, all these shots where the characters are framed in the corner actually expands our field of vision and makes everything look deeper and more real while simultaneously hammering a constant "This isn't right" feeling. Your eyes are instinctively drawn to the face and the landscape behind that face is forced in your peripheral view which accomplishes all of the above.

Amazing work man!

This show deserves SO much more recognition

Reading the comments on this video it looks like people were generally displeased with season 2 which for the life of me I can't comprehend. Season 2 was a completely breathtaking spectacle to anybody who has more than just passing interest in the series at all. I see people saying the same thing about the later seasons of Breaking Bad, which in my opinion were the most important and most wisely directed, so I guess u can't rely on popular opinion for an objective, profound artistic review.

Please, now that the show has come to an end, I would really love to hear you talk about it again.

God I love Mr.Robot

Don't worry. Season 2 is amazing as well. However, if you are looking for a conventional mode of storytelling (intro, problem, climax, solution, conclusion each episode) and speed -- you will not find that in Season 2. S2 drove me bonkers and got me irritated at first because I had been used to something else for so long while watching television shows. I expected the usual; but this show is anything but the usual, because it is trying to communicate ideas that scurry beneath our conscious minds, but ideas that we are too afraid to unearth and confess to. Only when I realized that truth did I finally come to appreciate all of Season 2 for what it was. The cinematography was still amazing in S2 and the entire season arch is meant to be a character development of Elliot and society at large (whom Elliot is symbolically representing). I hope you enjoy it and catch up before S3 begins to air! Again great video and great analysis!

The cinematography and framing in this show is unlike any other I've ever seen in my life! I've never seen a show/movie that consistently places character's heads down in the bottom corner of a screen the way Mr Robot does. It's incredible.

I feel the framing of almost every scene shows the uncertainity of that particular character and the situation they're in. The emptiness in the framing represents the void in the character's head because of not exactly knowing what's happening. IMO cheers! great work :)

Season 2 was initially troublesome but Season 3 acted as the payoff for what happened before so I think going through Season 2 was definitely worth it

I'll never say it's underrated, I'm just sure it's a masterpiece

I love this show so fucking much. In my opinion, this beat Breaking Bad on my number one list. Mr. Robot’s tone is so immersive that it’s scary and relatable. How one idea can turn to shit.

Pretty much perfect show. Everything you're just like "why is this here?" in S1 pays off in S2 and the S2 twist is awesome as well.

Great video. Did you ever finish the show? Final season just ended. One of my favorite shows ever

You absolutely have got to see season 2, the cinematography evolves SO much in the second season, every episode gave me at least one scene that just left me breathless. truly impressive work from Sam Esmail, dramatically as well as cinematographically, can't wait for season 3!!!

goodbye friend!

I need another video on this show after the finale!! Absolutely moving and I’d love to hear your thoughts about it

take a shot every time he says cinematography

The Leftovers next, please?

Season 3 will blow your mind

Outstanding show! Thanks for this analysis =)

i binged watchwed mr. robot just so i could watch these videos without any spoilers :)

It definately is the best fucking series I have ever watched!

Mr. Robot isn't underrated, it's adored. :-)

Still my fave tv show. I love everything about mr. robot.

beautiful!

Make another episode about the whole show!

I actually thought the framing had less to do with the inclusion or focus on society, and more about framing the characters as "outsiders" to society. You can make an animated film like Ghost in the Shell or a sequel like Blade Runner: 2049 and interject many quiet scenes of the world around the characters to include society and the world as a major theme. You don't need the off-kilter framing of Mr. Robot to do that. The framing is about creating an uneasy tone, and about painting the characters as unstable outsiders. The entire show is about what it's like to feel like an outsider but still hold onto the connections and relationships that keep us apart of it. The main character is fighting with this question all the time. Destroy society as an outsider or protect society because of his love for the people inside of it. Everyone considers themselves an outsider in this show as well, even the FBI agent investigating them. (though that character introduction doesn't come until season 2) The framing is also about tone. But breaking the convention of the comfortable rules of thirds, it gives the viewer a sense of unease. That something is "off". And in this world, everything is off, everything is off-balance, and things are always about to be flipped upside down. It's a sense that nothing is stable.

I watched the show and since I did, I refuse watch anything else. I am so obsessed with this lovely masterpiece.

3:55 - 4:06 This was one of the best camera shot in season 1. It's original a bit longer than in this video and at the end of the shot the title "Mr. Robot created by Sam Esmail" in red pops up. The zoom out, the light, the contrast, the frame - everything perfect.

About 6 months back I was binge-rewatching Mr. Robot, and during/immediately after that I fell into one of the worst depressive periods I've had for quite a while. I get bouts of unexplainable, unpredictable anxiety riddled with panic attacks that last for maybe 3-5 days before promptly vanishing, and I've never had one since that felt quite so cut off from reality and filled with despair and a sense of pointlessness like the one I had with Mr. Robot fresh on my mind. I don't know how much of that came from the show, but I feel like it definitely got to me on a psychological level in a way that very few, if any other tv show or movies ever has. For that period, the only song I could listen to was the instrumental of Daydreamin' that's played in the first episode of season 2. Everything else just grated, but I could have that on repeat. Basically, I think it's a very intense piece of television and the cinematography definitely plays a great part in making it what it is.

Look at this five-year-old gem I just found. immediate follow the way you mentioned Breaking Bad, Louie and Mr. Robot all right in the world like that. I didn't necessarily consciously love them for their cinematography. But 3 truly great shows all around

Dang I was expecting to learn about why conversations are always with the speaking character on the far side of the shot, looking off camera to the short side. [......>] [

This popped up in my recommandations, while waiting in an airport (because of a flight delayed) and for once, pretty good recommandation RU-vid algorithm overlord ! I love Mr Robot, and this video is great, I think you captured the essence of this part of the show and is well explained to those more about cyber security than framing and cinematography (which is my case) Just subbed and am going to watch what you've already uploaded

Mr Robot certainly breaks a lot of framing conventions but all the negative space certainly isn’t supposed to be “society” (what does that even mean?). The show breaks these conventions to symbolize the characters emotion in the scene. You say that the characters emotions don’t matter so much?! Eliot is the most important part of Mr Robot and so are his emotions. That opening shot? That isn’t of New York City, it’s of the shadowed and out of focus corporate executives that serve as the shows invisible villains. That shot of Tyrells head? That’s to show how small he is in the world, not how big society is around him (...?). The rule of thirds was only used in the pilot? Literally half of the entire show uses the rule of thirds, just in a different way than a sitcom e.g. giving a character almost no looking space to make them seem trapped within the frame or putting a character much further away than convention but still in a third. This was a pretty wack video essay, not gonna lie.

Definitely one of the best TV series I have seen in my life. I don't watch a lot of movies or series anymore because I find them repetitive and boring but Mr. Robot brought completely fresh style in amazing way with things like plot, acting, cinematography and sound design.

Please make a cinematography video on Breaking Bad

Quadrant framing was the reason I loved mr robot even more.

My first time watching a video from this channel, thanks man. As a budding but dedicated hobby photographer and a longtime and dedicated Mr Robot fan, this video was so enjoyable. Gonna check out your channel page now.

I was fortunate enough to see this first hand being hired to be part of the show since season 2. It was fun to see things get changed up last minute and still work out in the final product. For the most part, you are supposed to be there with Elliot and it is brought forth when he breaks the wall and starts talking to the viewer as if they were right there with him.

2:54 While this makes sense, episode 1 was made by a completely different cinematographer that the rest of the series. While talking about it, the current one said that that in job interviews people usually ask if he's able to replicate a look of a different show, but this time he replied "Mr. Robot will be the show others want to replicate".

And it will be deleted on prime video too in a few hours😢

This is one of the best shows ive ever seen thsnks btw explaining about the cinamatography of the show

ugh didnt know there would be spoilers in this :(

Season 4 cinematography is top notch

Cinematography in Hannibal show is brilliant

Lovely Brendita Vanety Gomez®

this channel, imo, is one of the most interesting and underrated shows on the internet. you're killing it! so mad that you don't have more subscribers. your video essays are fantastic and edited beautifully.

Very interesting video. I like your argument that the city/society is a character, but I think the intention of the framing is that WE are a character. Elliot addresses us in his internal narrative. We are his "imaginary friend" that he talks things out with. As another commenter noted "it makes the viewer feel more like a voyeur, that we are in the empty space secretly watching." I know you haven't seen the second season yet, but there's a scene where elliot addresses "you" (us) and asks "Can you see it?" Then the camera pans around the room as if we are in the world, looking around. The framing throughout the show accomplishes a feat of both immersing us in the world by making us a character, and also making us aware of the fact that we are watching, that we are an audience being addressed.

I didn't realize it until now but the color theme, his bulbous eyes, and the cinematography are what drew me in.

most iconic tv series, i fucking love this show

Dude, you should check out Hannibal, another genuinely brilliant but underrated show.

Make again this please... your video is so good ❣️❤️

He mentioned tv shows which have good cinematography: Breaking bad, ... , and Mr Robot. what's the second tv show he mentioned? I didn't hear that clearly!

I heard about this show for the first time roughly 20 seconds ago. I'm very interested to see what it's about since I've heard good things.

Are there any shows similar to Mr. Robot? I mean visually?

Season 2 is as good as season 1. It's awesome!

The ad for this video was mr robot

The cinematography highlights the loneliness of the characters... Even when being around other people they still are alone... And more in Elliot's case... He seems to be distracted more than he is actually paying attention... Yes he hears the people talk... But would rather be just staring at nothing and be enwrapped in his own mind

I missed this show when it first came out, i came at the end of season 2 and binged watched the whole thing in like 3 days. The first thing I truly noticed was the lack of using the rule of thirds and i loved that. It’s like they want you to focus on the main characters and their lives but also look around and see how the rest of the city is affected by their actions.

The show really influenced me and my last two years of high school it helped me kind of just try to be myself instead of trying to pretend, I got to give the show credit for helping me try to be me

Great work man, you should watch Westworld, the cinematography is amazing

tell me you watched the last season pls!!!

with season 2 the art was better than the actual story by a long shot. It is shot in a unique way. They took a year off so I'm sure this season won't be nap inducing.

beautifully written essay :) loved this

Watch Halt and Catch Fire. The aesthetics are CRAZY good.

They are using the rule of thirds , all is very conventional what changes is the purpose , in this show they want to use to add discomfort And claustrophobia

Everybody knows mr robot and breaking bad are the best shows ever.

I also love the fact that the show sometimes uses wide shots... like the one in season 3 (spoiler alert) of the shooting in the diner where Cisco gets killed... that was pure wonderful cinematography! I like this show very much, both for his contents, and for the amazing way it’s done... And of course for Elliot’s characterisation

I actually didn't love this video. It's not that I disagree with your point. I'm no cinematographer, so I'll take your word on the idea that Mr. Robot conveys ideas and themes with unorthodox framing. However, the way you presented the idea makes me feel, well, underwhelmed. For starters, the way you present the video has some problems. It's clear that you are straight reading from a script. Now, there's nothing wrong with having and using a script - being prepared is a good thing! - but the result is a flat and emotionless presentation of the subject. While it is clear that you are passionate about film study and the show, it appears like you are not so passionate about recording your take. Instead of just reading off a college course essay, you want the audience - in this case, me - to feel like you are having a conversation with them. Like you are talking to them in person. I also have a problem with how you presented your argument. You didn't use and explain examples. Now, I get that you purposefully chose the shots that you montaged in the video. But, as a person who doesn't know a lot about cinematography but is a little familiar with the first season of Mr. Robot, I can't really use those shots unless you explain them specifically in relation to the shot. For example, you mention how the characters don't fill the frame of the screen and how that means something, all while parsing through a few shots from the show. (2:21) But I don't understand what that means. I look at the shot and think "Well, he's taking up a lot of space. What's the difference between this and "filling the frame?" Often, these are shots with Elliot in the foreground, so that feeling is heightened because he's (relatively) close to the camera and in focus, further confusing me about the idea that it's not about him. What would be helpful would be for you to take a second and let a scene, or just a couple of seconds, play out, and then take a deep dive and explain all the things in there that make your point. There are a couple of points around the 4:00 mark where you give some examples, but you breeze through them. You need that explanation taking it apart and going into detail about what's going on. You don't need a ton of tiny clips to make that work. You only need a couple of examples with a lot of explanation in them. The final thing that is missing here is a reference point. At 2:46, you mention the rule of thirds as a big function of framing in conventional cinematography. But you never explain what the rule of thirds is. That is the reference point for how I understand your point that the unorthodox method of framing in Mr. Robot creates a compelling idea and theme. If I don't understand your reference point, I don't know what about a shot is unorthodox, nor what makes it compelling. I just know that a shot is somehow different. Without a deeper understanding, I can't engage with your point, precisely because of that lack of understanding. I need a deep explanation at the start to put the rest of the ideas in the video into context. I hope this is helpful. I like your channel and I've subscribed and I'm looking forward to your work in the future. p.s. Couldn't the odd framing of Mr. Robot be a function of characterization, rather than a broader point of society? An off-angle or subversion of the rule of thirds can create a filling of foreboding and, in the case of this show, make us think that, say, Elliot is isolated, disconnected, and depressed. Rather than make a statement of society, this is a statement about who Elliot (or other characters) are and informs the audience about what to expect. Anyway, Cheers!

I'm so glad I finally found a video talking about Mr. Robot's cinematography! I've always found it so different yet interesting and love the style, particularly how they frame headshots ( the heads at the lower portion of the screen usually cut off by the neck or upper torso and the rest of the screen taken up by the environment such as a wall etc) Great video!

we need an update before s4 comes out, i love your content Karsten & mr robot

Nice effort but sadly I believe it's incorrect and you kind of ramble on and over-explain your theory. Truth is, the framing is mostly to create a sense of unease, paranoia, suspense, etc. (and sure you could dig deeper into mental illness). But it's a pretty fundamental reason to use this framing for this show, considering the main character and story. "It uses uncomfortable framing as a way of offering the viewer comfort in the terrifying world the show lives within". I find this line contradictory and basically a misunderstanding of filmmaking.

You have to be alone to reach the conclusion

TRUE !! the cinematography is very good for drama hacking series, because most of tv series (specially action) didnt give a shit about cinematography. And hacking in this series looks realistic,not just some nerds clicking keyboard but sam esmail show us the prosses

The main thing I really disagree with in this video is that it's not about Elliot. While Mr. Robot wants to deliver a good story with a handful of well-written characters, I'd say the main focus of the story is Elliot's emotional journey, what he experiences, and how it changes him as a person. This is basically exemplified in fhe latter seasons, but I think it's pretty obvious in Season One also. We are an observer from the perspective of Elliot. So yeah.

Should I watch the show first or it doesn't spoil the show? 🤔 p.s. great videos and Stanley is one of my favorites! Can you make a Quintin Tarantino best movies 🎬 video? 😀😁🤩

I feel like this video didn't aged well. After 4 seasons, this is about Elliot, always has been. It doesn't reflect the society in the background, it reflects the overthinker, multilayered personality disorder that Elliot has. It provides emotional depth and loneliness. It is a crazy good show.

Okay, you got me! I am gonna watch Mr. Robot! I had my eye on it for so long, but never got myself to get interested, due to me not knowing anything about cyber hacking aswell!

Yeah, this show is cinematographically incredible. In the latest season (Season 4, the last one) we've recently had 2 very special episodes one of them was mostly silent: 405 Method Not Allowed and the latest at this point in time was "film noir" which is my favorite (I acted in a film noir for a school project but that's beside the point): 407 proxy authentication required. I thought that last one was brilliant more so than the silent one.

The cinematic treatment keeps me off kilter. Forcing me to pay attention to detail... Not a mindless fu*k... I, as the viewer, have to pay attention. Makes me nervous.

great video!!! I've always appreciated Mr. Robot's cinematography. I thought it was unique and special, and yeah it does convey a feeling. I've always wondered what kind or what type of framing they follow and how it sets up the mood.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Se6ftrRd5KM.html, I should say, thats not my video, jsut a similar video someone else posed a year ago... might be worth a watch, im not sure if this guy who made this video has seen the other one, nor do I know how many differences between the 2

It broke every rule of composition and cinematography and made it compelling. Loved it!

Never seen any series or movie which break the rule of third as consistently as this one. The characters are placed at the corner of the screen and they are faced away from the empty screen space. Because of this each frame seemed incomplete. It was as if we are not allowed to see the whole canvas but only a piece of it. It also created a sense of uneasiness and anxiety throughout the series. Whenever i see a frame i had a feeling of "something is not correct".

Mr Robot isn't an imaginary friend, he's an alter. But other than that, nice video.

This show is a masterpiece

Very underrated show I just started watching 2 months ago from seeing the ads for the final season I’m caught up already and I’m pissed lol

You should watch the movie Comet from the same director, Sam Esmail, the cinematography is amazing just like Mr. Robot and really complements the story of the movie, despite having bad reviews I think it was a beautiful and amazing movie to watch.