In a Craft Roundtables interview, cinematographer Ashley Connor explains how “The Chair Company” leans into sinister, conspiratorial visuals—pairing a darker ’70s/’80s thriller look with Tim Robinson’s louder comedic voice. The half-hour HBO Max series is now
Ron stumbles into a world that doesn’t just feel off—it feels watched. That’s the tone “The Chair Company” builds for its characters, and it’s the visual attitude cinematographer Ashley Connor says she worked hard to deliver for the half-hour HBO comedy.
Connor’s goal was sharp, sleek imagery that still landed with a straight face. On a comedy budget sized for a half-hour run, she focused on making the show look dangerous enough to match the story’s conspiratorial pull—and clear enough to make the humor land harder.
“Tim can play stronger and louder than the rest of the world, and we didn’t need to put anything on top of that. I think we needed to bring it down and bring it a little darker,” Connor told IndieWire as part of IndieWire’s TV Craft Roundtables series.
That decision shapes the way “The Chair Company” moves through shadow. Connor describes a darkness rooted in ’70s and ’80s thriller DNA, along with specific cinematic inspiration. The show’s look. she says. takes cues from films like “Klute. ” while its suburban streetlights resemble those found in “Prisoners” and evoke the atmosphere of any David Fincher film.
Connor also ties the visual choice directly to how the show’s comedy can breathe. “We knew that we wanted to take the comedy much more seriously. and if the visuals could kind of ground it in a more serious container. then Tim’s and [showrunner Zach Kanin’s] voices could kind of play a little louder. So we really tried to embrace kind of a ’70s, ’80s thriller look,” Connor said.
For viewers, the result is a comedy that doesn’t blink first. It commits to the sinister, conspiratorial elements of Ron’s world, then lets Tim Robinson’s performance—already bigger than everything around him—hit with extra impact because the image refuses to overplay it.
“The Chair Company” is streaming on HBO Max.
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The Chair Company Tim Robinson HBO Max Ashley Connor Zach Kanin Craft Roundtables cinematography thriller look Klute Prisoners David Fincher