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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

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The TV series American Horror Story certainly lives up to its name, but not through just the usual ooga-booga knee-jerk scares of the genre. The F/X Network show's horror element arises in large part out of human flaws and foibles, manifesting not just mortal dreads, but serious fear as much for one's soul as for one's life.

Genuinely disturbing in a way not often seen since Twin Peaks debuted more than two decades back, it follows the Harmons, husband Ben (Dylan McDermott), wife Vivien (Connie Britton) and daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga), who have moved from Boston to Los Angeles for a new start after infidelity threatened to tear the family asunder. But their new home carries a long and deadly history of death and violence, and many of its former occupants—well after shuffling off this mortal coil—still haunt its halls, their undying obsessions playing out against the turmoil of the living inhabitants.

Created by Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee), the series pilot was shot in an actual Los Angeles house, the more-than-century-old Rosenheim Mansion, for both exterior and interior scenes of the Harmons' new abode. The remainder of the series, while still using the location for exteriors, relies on mansion interiors built on stage. While longtime Murphy cinematographer Christopher Baffa, ASC, shot the initial installment, John Aronson (Red Tails) was responsible for the next several episodes, with Michael Goi, ASC, (The Mentalist) coming aboard as director of photography for the rest of the season.

The current camera personnel are a mix of Baffa and Aronson's crew and Goi's own regulars. "When I signed onto Glee, Baffa and I alternated episodes," Goi explains, "so I was using Baffa's crew, which were already in place, and that proved to be an efficient working methodology. When I came over here, John Aronson had taken some of his people to his new project, so there was opportunity to bring in a few of my regulars [including B-camera/2nd AC Betty Chow, B-camera/1st AC Brice Reid and camera operator James Reid] from past shows. It makes for an interesting blend; some of the veterans who have been with the show from the beginning already know the ins and outs of how things work on these sets and stages, which was a great advantage for me coming in from outside."
The idea of the house as a nexus for ghosts/afterlife reflects Stephen King's The Shining, and Goi sees similarities, though the current story line is "a little more Rosemary's Baby, what with the creepy neighbors and the pregnancy." [In the pilot, wife Vivien has sex with a rubber-suited figure she mistakes for her husband, which makes for an uncomfortable question of paternity down the line.] "I have a real affinity for horror movies," admits the cinematographer, "so this show was a good fit for me from the very beginning. All the elements that people traditionally respond to in horror movies and anthology series are there, such as seeing some shocking murders, but Brad and Ryan are bringing their own personal brand, as well, which includes characters who are quirky but complex; nobody's completely good, but nobody yet seems to be completely evil, either; there's potential for redemption."

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