Capturing a realistic romantic comedy, especially one that balances scripted and improvised moments, is no easy feat. Yet director of photography Adrian Peng Correia and editor Maura Corey walked that line with aplomb in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, despite having never met in person.
The 10-part series revolves around an agnostic sex podcaster (Kristen Bell) and rabbi (Adam Brody) who fall in love only to have their relationship tested by faith, family and friends. Creator Erin Foster loosely based the show on her own life and wanted to mix scripted and unscripted performances from the leads and supporting cast, including Justine Lupe and Timothy Simons.
With that remit in hand, Peng Correia used anamorphic lenses to create a cinematic look and cross-shot the production to capture all of the spontaneous and authentic moments he might have otherwise missed with a single-camera setup. Things like Brody attempting to open a wine bottle during a dinner party scene, a group hug at the hospital, or the basketball montage that Corey eventually added — and set to Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.”
“The show was so fun to shoot because you never saw the same thing on the same take. The actors were wonderful in terms of repeatability, but you never knew where it would end,” says Peng Correia. “If you give actors that freedom, they don’t need to worry about hitting marks or whether the camera is on them. They can just play.”
He adds it was a wild ride given time constraints (each episode shot over five days with only eight hours of production a day), and there were many times they almost blew takes laughing at unexpected riffs or turns.
“If you don’t have multiple cameras you’re not cross-shooting that stuff, and then you have to track all of these moments that work that are happening off-camera,” he says. “And you have to manipulate them and try to recreate them again and again. The surprise and immediacy, even though these actors are professionals and amazing, gave an electricity to this set.”
POV in Nobody Wants This
Ultimately, Peng Correia’s goal was to deliver everything he could to editing so they could further craft the story from any character’s point of view. Because of that, Corey says the footage she worked with felt engaging and real. In addition to the dialogue, there were plenty of non-verbal moments she was able to play with to help create more chemistry and comedy. Coming from a reality background, Corey went over all of the available footage, then cut it together from the script and her gut.
“A perfect example is when they’re at dinner and Brody’s character says how much he loves her, and her show, and that her work is important,” she says. “They were cross-shooting at that moment and Kristen took a big bite of bread. That stuff is what makes the human moments of comedy feel real but also cinematic.”
Another essential piece to creating that cinematic feel was the show’s overall look, with backlights and the anamorphic lens, which captures a wider field of view. The creatives wanted to produce whimsy and romanticism against the Los Angeles background, showcasing the places not normally featured onscreen while avoiding romantic comedy tropes.
“We wanted to make sure it felt like real people with a complex. They have problems, but it’s not depressing because it’s funny and these people are supposed to be falling in love,” says Corey.
“Tonally the show is smartly put together and doesn’t feel aggressive,” adds Peng Correia. Even if you watch older romantic comedies like While You Were Sleeping or Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, they have a certain grit and texture to them. We tried to build some of that into the show as well.”
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Grounding Nobody Wants This in Reality
It was also important to Corey not to over score the series, or needle drop just for the sake of it. She relied on ambient music and background noise to help ground the core relationship in reality, but then broke in as needed.
“It’s a fine line we walked, especially when it came to music,” she says. “We wanted it to fit the characters or come with a commentary. A lot of these romantic moments can come through as just dry and sweet, and these conversations are happening around you, and that’s where the crackle can come in.”
One of the biggest challenges during filming and editing was capturing what was, on the page, described as “the greatest kiss of their lives.” Creating that moment required a cocktail of anticipation through editing and various camerawork, including Steadicam, wide shots and closeups. The final product included a purple light surrounding the characters to create a sense of heightened reality and the musical use of “See Her Out (That’s Just Life).”
“When we saw it on the set that day we were terrifically excited. We had cross-shot all those moments and then we just let it go, knowing they would put it together in a way that made it feel bigger than the sum of its parts. And it was,” says Peng Correia.
“I was scared, because it says ‘greatest kiss of all time,’” he adds. “But then I watched it and I was quietly looking around like, ‘That’s pretty freaking great, right?’ It was really exciting to be a part of creating something like that and then to see it put together and realize it’s much more than what I thought.”
Nobody Wants This is now streaming on Netflix.
Main image: Adam Brody and Kristen Bell in Nobody Wants This. Photo by Saeed Adyani, courtesy of Netflix.