Okay, this is a very specific post about a very specific show, but I have to get something off my chest that’s been sitting there for the last three weeks (and no, it’s not my cat Walter, although he can often be located on my chest when I’m watching TV):
I don’t think the actor who plays Winston (Lamorne Morris) has been filming the show at the same time as the other actors.
Now, this is a very minor detail, but it fascinates me, because the producers are somehow pulling it off. However, I think it’s hurting the show, because it’s the dynamic of all 4 main characters that makes the show work.
I didn’t realize this until last week, but Winston has had no physical interactions with the other characters or even shared the same frame with any other character over the last three episodes (including tonight’s). He’s had three subplots that keep him separate from the other characters: He stole his girlfriend’s cat in episode 1, then he waited at a restaurant for most of episode 2, and then he had a cat-related date with a woman in episode 3.
But the producers have been clever to include some scenes that make you think Winston is there with the other actors. For example, at the end of tonight’s episode (this isn’t a spoiler in any way), Jess is in the bathroom with the other roommates as they talk to Winston, and Winston is in the door frame. The camera cuts between them, but never do you see Winston in the frame with other characters. It’s because they’re not there.
It’s even more conspicuous in a scene where all the roommates hang out in the living room. There are several shots that include a blurry image of Winston’s head or shoulder in the foreground, or a blurry roommate with Winston in the background, but it’s a body double, not Winston himself. The angles are so selective–never is there a clear shot of the entire room as has been done in past episodes, and never does Winston interact physically with the other actors.
In all likelihood, Lamorne Morris had a scheduling conflict and had to film his scenes in advance. I’m just fascinated by how long and how well the producers have kept up the ruse. Has anyone else noticed this?
To a certain point, I’ve noticed Winston has been off doing his own thing more often this season, but the tricks you mentioned work pretty well to give the illusion that he’s in the scene.
Do you think the storyline of Marshall being stuck out of town this season on How I Met Your Mother is also due to scheduling conflicts? And what do you think about how they’ve included him on the show so far (such as this week’s use of technology to include him)?
I suspect something like that is happening with Marshall, but a producer claimed in a recent EW article that Marshall wasn’t written out of the scenes due to scheduling problems. I find that pretty hard to believe, though.
He’s also just a Winston hologram, like Tupac.
Ha! I understand that reference.
I honestly barely notice when the TV is on anymore. The other day I was frightened by voices suggesting I take medicine, when I realized I’d left the TV on and there was one of those five-minute late-night infomercials about the sad purple dot bouncing around a bucolic landscape.
They may very well be doing something like this. I’m surprised they’ve not come up with a show with each member of the cast filmed entirely separately from the others.
That would be really amusing to have a show where none of the actors share the same space but he audience never knows it.