Edgar Wright's first work as a 'professional' Director came with his 1996 TV Series 'Asylum'. He wrote this with David Walliams. Edgar directed each episode and this was also his first time working with Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. This work is really different from any of Edgar's other work I watched while researching into him and I didn't actually feel like I was watching his work but this was when he was still developing his directional style and talent as a Director.
Brief summery of series
Asylum is a 6 episode, mini series, about Dr Lovett, a mental health doctor who runs an Asylum. Far away from any towns or cities. Simon Pegg plays Simon (himself in a way) and is a Pizza Delivery man who is tricked into staying at this Asylum. It turns out that the patients at this Asylum have been tricked into staying there and from that have become insane rather than being like that before entering the asylum. Asylum was made 10 years after the old Victorian Mental Asylums had begun closing down and the Mental Health Act 1983 had been past, giving mental health patients the choice of care rather than being taken and locked up in Asylum's. This series jokes and makes light of that idea that patients wouldn't be allowed to leave and would be trapped here and drugged into staying and locked in cells and in some cases would become insane from the treatment of the asylums.
Edgar's directing
Edgar's choice of actors was key for this series. All the actors in the series were British comedians and this was also a way of giving them a chance to perform as they each had their own stand-up routines and from this series they all went on to become big names in comedy. This series was sort of like a way to give everyone a chance in the industry. The actors a chance to show their stand-up comedy, the band a chance to perform, Edgar a chance to direct and Edgar and David a chance to write in comedy. But as well, the directions of the characters has been chosen well. This would have been such a sensitive subject back in 1996 that Edgar chose to have the actors act very over the top. The comedy in this series was classed as dark and with the actual Mental Asylums only being closed a few years previous. Edgar chose to make these characters over the top to help with the comedy and make it much more entertaining. As well, this works for the series since we expect comedy. But the choice of their actions not only was the choice of Edgar, but the choice of the actors. Their routines were written by each individual comedian and would work with Edgar to block out and decide how this would be acted and filmed. Each needing to go with the idea of them being a mental patient. So at times I would argue that Edgar doesn't actually have Directional control. Each episode, Edgar and the comedians would works around how they were going to perform their routines. Some would act out a full routine as if it were a comedy stand up performance.
Others would make it more like an interview where they would tell one liners and get the jokes in that way.
Camera and editing
We don't see Edgar's classic directional style of the close up montage in this series. In fact, the camerawork seems almost, experimental for what had seen of Edgar's work. The camera is either stationary or handheld, but this will all depend on what is happening without the scene. If the scene is calm and nothing exciting or not much movement is happening we'll have the camera stationary and still. But at times where the action gets more exciting or the speed of the scene increases, we'll suddenly cut to handheld footage. This tends to be with the group sessions through the series. As well, Edgar is a big fan of cross fades through the edit. We'll always have a shot of the camera moving down the corridor of the asylum while fading between signs like 'no escaping' and sections of the asylum. This is always reminding us that we are in a mental asylum and playing on that old fear of the long and horrifying corridors in the original mental asylums.
Another technique that Edgar chose was to have footage of the 'patients' in their cells but have it so it's like we're watching them through CCTV. So there wouldn't be sound with it and it would be in black and white.
Lighting
The lighting with this series is key. Although this is a comedy show. The lighting choices have been done with the classic style of horror in mind. When all the friends are together, lighting is bright, almost colourful and brings emotions of happiness or calm to the scene, which helps bring out the laughter.
However, with scenes where we'd see Dr Lovett (the villain of this series) we'd get a slightly darker lighting to help show us this villain and with scenes here, the comedy can become very dark so this helps to create that atmosphere. But not too much that it takes away from the comedy of the programme.
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