“The exciting thing about a mystery is that you do a lot of withholding, and in the withholding of information you’re actually drawing the audience closer,” says Only Murders in the Building cinematographer Chris Teague. “It’s that feeling of peering around a corner and seeing something for the first time.”
Only Murders in the Building follows three true crime aficionados – Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) – as they attempt to solve a murder that happened in The Arconia building. Season 2 starts with the death of Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell), which leads the trio to be brought in for questioning as the prime suspects.
“Season 2 does really carry on a lot of what Season 1 sets up from a visual standpoint, but what I have to give John Hoffman a lot of credit for is he knew we would need opportunities to introduce new visual ideas into the show,” says Teague. The story introduced new spaces, including a secret passageway that stretches across the building and a trip to Coney Island. “All these sets and set pieces allowed us to expand our style and explore our style in a new space, which helped make the show more visually interesting and exciting.”
For shooting a mystery, Teague says it’s all about knowing when to give information and when to withhold it. “Maybe [mysteries] are similar with other genres, but its always about understanding where the audience is coming from and how the audience is perceiving the scene that you’re creating,” he says. “In the first season, seeing Tim Kono’s body on the ground and seeing it from our main characters perspective initially, and how shocking that is, connects you to what they’re all going through.”
Click the video above to watch the full interview.