This is Us: Season 1, Episode 17

A new television series on NBC called This is Us has been picking up a lot of popularity and press. It stars both former Hollywood hits such as Milo Ventimiglia (Gilmore Girls) and Mandy Moore (A walk to Remember) and up and coming stars such as Chrissy Metz (who was in a season of American Horror Story) and Sterling Brown. When looking online, there are mixed reviews. Some, such as myself are completely drawn in by it and tuning in every week for the next episode. While others are not so fond of the series, calling it a “true Mount Everest of bullshit” (slate.com). To sum it up, this show is about a family: their past, their present, and their relationship with each other and with others.

It is an emotional show but some argue that rather than giving the audiences a “good cry” they are just giving them an “easy cry” instead. Because there’s a large difference between making an audience cry with a death or a cute romantic moment and then really touching the audience. In my personal opinion, this series has had me real crying plenty of times. As the show progresses, you cannot help but to get attached to the characters and begin to see yourself or others you love in them. This is done through the director`s choice of visual story telling. They use a few techniques that make it more personal for the audience such as the point-of-view shot, close-ups, and juxtaposing shots. I am going to focus on one scene to explain these. I will include a video below!

Nothing is more important right now. Share this moment of brotherly love, presented by @Chevrolet. #ThisIsUs pic.twitter.com/vrFkYe6LWh

— This Is Us (@NBCThisisUs) February 15, 2017

This clip shows Randall having a panic attack at work and calling Kevin to tell him he will not be coming to the play`s opening night. The first thing that really puts you into Randall`s shoes to connect more with him is the point of view of the camera. It’s a point-of-view shot meaning that you see what the character sees. The camera shows where Randall`s eyes are going: looking at his hands shaking, trying to look at his work on his monitor but it appears blurry, and then staring at the four clocks on the wall ticking back at him. This shot gives the audience an inside view into what it is like trying to cope with a panic attack. The close up shots are used “to express moments of intense emotion” which this scene does. It switches between images of Kevin, who is usually seen as the self-absorbed brother who usually is quite rude to Randall. But in these scenes you can see the emotion in both their faces. Letting the audience so close to the emotion gives them more of a connection. We can see Randall trying hard to keep it together and not cry and we can see Kevin being frustrated then realizing something is really wrong. But probably the most important technique is the juxtaposition of scenes. One scene being the present and one being when they were both teenagers. In both scenes Randall is having a panic attack and in both scenes Kevin has the opportunity to help. But this time he wont make the same mistake. He says that he is “thinking what my dad would do” before we are shown a scene of him running to Randall`s side. This juxtaposition is used to deepen the theme and Kevin`s character development.

I think the mix of those techniques did a great job of a) showing what panic is like and b) making the audience feel they are a part of this family. Personally, that scene meant a lot to me. It just brought me back to the time I had a panic attack and was huddled in the corner of my balcony and was calling my closest friends to please come help me or the time I was in the corner of a bathroom, unable to control my emotions. It just really hit the spot with me. How they do the shots makes the emotions seem so real to me. When watching the first 16 episodes, I still felt very connected to the characters but when watching this episode, I was more aware of how the editors may be making that connection.

This is Us hits on a lot of big topics such as: weight, race, death, adoption, family ties, mental illness, and career pressures. A major way these themes are portrayed is through the use of time in the episodes. The show is centered around Jack, Rebecca, and their triplets Kate, Kevin, and Randall (who is African American/ adopted). In the show, there are scenes from before the triplets were born, when they were babies, when they were teens, and then the present when everyone is all grown up. I will briefly describe two examples of using the passage of time to portray theme that I saw in this episode. First off a fair warning I will be disclosing moments from the show so you may not want to read on if you plan on watching it! Randall`s biological Dad William had been living with the family and just passed away last episode so in this episode it would switch a lot between scenes where William was still there and after he had passed.

One of the opening scenes had a slow horizontal pan across the room where William had been staying. In this pan it transforms back to when he was there. In both times, Randall is standing in the door way. This shot is called a match cut. It creates a connection between the past and present by matching the two scenes “so smoothly that there seems to be no break in continuity as far as time and space are concerned, although there often is” (Anatomy of Film).  The slow pan indicated the slow passing off time that William faced as he battled with cancer. It just shows the audience how easily life can change. In another scene they showed Randall reading the letter that William for the family. As the letter is read, the filmmaker uses a form dissolve in which as the letter is being read is slowly becomes not Randall, but William with the letter. It switches from Randall to William`s voice reading it as well. I think this was a strategic way of showing that people have impacts after they die and are never really gone.

Overall I think this show does a great job of using different strategies to manipulate how the audience feels. Each shot and each transition is chosen very carefully but to the viewer looks so natural. It looks like we are just watching this family`s story through the highs and lows. Thanks to the work of both the directors, writers, editors, and actors.