The “Monsters Among Us” episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX Networks) earned cinematographer Michael Goi, ASC, ISC, his fourth career Emmy nomination–his second for American Horror Story and his third in collaboration with series co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.
Goi’s initial American Horror Story nomination came for the “I Am Anne Frank: Part 2” episode of American Horror Story: Asylum in 2013.
As reflected in these two Outstanding Cinematography Emmy-nominated episodes, American Horror Story literally is a distinctly different show from one season to the next, which is a big part of what makes the series so creatively innervating for Goi.
“Every single season of American Horror Story is entirely different in terms of storyline and aesthetic,” related Goi. “That’s part of what keeps the project fun and fresh for me. It’s like doing a brand new series every single year. Freak Show has been especially gratifying from an artistic standpoint. Ryan and I brought different visual influences together for Freak Show. He liked the feel of the Douglas Sirk movies of the 1950s [i.e., All That Heaven Allows]. I was interested in the influence of Japanese color cinema from the 1950s. We worked together to develop what the look of Freak Show would be. We had both seen shows previously about carnivals and freak shows, and we very much wanted to depart from what had been done in the past to create something new.”
Goi affirmed that film has lent itself best to the innovative look and feel of American Horror Story over the years. “Everything is film on the show–35, 16mm, Super 8. Film is really an integral part of the whole process of how the look of American Horror Story is created. The thing about film that works for me and the show especially is that I can create all these different looks, flashbacks, points of view in camera when I shoot. The post department is typically slammed for time–and so too would I be as a cinematographer if I had to supervise creating a look in color timing. But when you don’t have to create those looks in post, you can save time. Film gives us the ability to hone in on what that look will be at the time we shoot it. Wardrobe, makeup and the production design departments all chime in. It works well for the show to shoot on film.”
Cinematographer Michael Goi, ASC discusses his work on American Horror Story and Glee while visiting the University of New Orleans. (source: Kodak Motion Picture Film YT Channel)
Goi first worked with Murphy and Falchuk on Glee, the series the prolific duo co-created with Ian Brennan. “I had already interviewed for American Horror Story’s first season but they had already kind of settled on another cinematographer,” recalled Goi. “But I got a call for another interview with Ryan for another series he created, Glee. It was only about a three-minute interview. I discussed my love for musicals, particularly MGM musicals, Vincente Minnelli, moving on to my admiration for All That Jazz and the modern direction that Bob Fosse brought to the musical. Ryan said we were on the same page and I got the job, shooting four episodes of Glee. Then John Aronson had a commitment to do another show so he left American Horror Story. They came and asked me if I would be interested and I wound up taking over the second half of the first season. Then I went back to Glee for two more episodes, moved onto Ryan’s pilot for The New Normal, did my last episode of Glee and eventually came back to American Horror Story which Ryan created with Brad [Falchuk].”
As alluded to earlier, Goi’s other Emmy nomination for Murphy and Falchuk-created fare came in 2012 for the “Asian F” episode of Glee. Goi became an Emmy nominee for the first time in 2008 for lensing the “Stole a Motorcycle” episode of My Name Is Earl.
Other honors for Goi include four ASC Award nominations, two of which were in 2013 for Murphy shows: the pilot for The New Normal, and the “I Am Anne Frank: Part 2” episode of American Horror Story.
Goi expressed gratitude for getting the chance to collaborate regularly with Murphy and Falchuk. “As every cinematographer working in this business knows, you can go through an entire career, work and be productive but never achieve artistically what you know you can do,” related Goi. “What Ryan and Brad have done is enabled me to have ideas in my head and put them on the screen. Ryan is an intensely visual person, a man who has a huge memory when it comes to different kinds of visual influences. Ryan enables me to go at a project and to simply go do it. There’s no huge committee process. I can text him and say I think this sequence should have desaturated color, and if he agrees he says, ‘great, love that, that sounds right, do it.’ He enables you to put your ideas into motion. As a cinematographer you hope to get the chance to work with people like Ryan and Brad who encourage your artistic contributions, and help you to reach the pinnacle of what you aspire to do as a cinematographer.”
The opportunities Murphy and Falchuk have extended to Goi go beyond cinematography. Last season, Goi got the chance to direct and shoot the “Magical Thinking” episode of American Horror Story. And Goi is scheduled this season to direct two more episodes, which he will also lens.
Noting that every one of his Emmy nominations has been “an absolute thrill,” Goi noted that this time around he’s particularly gratified to be in the company of fellow nominees whom he knows well. Those other nominees in the Outstanding Cinematography For A Limited Series or Movie are: Jeffrey Jur, ASC, for Bessie (HBO); Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC, BVK for the “Night 1” installment of Houdini (History); and Christopher Manley, ASC, for The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe (Lifetime).
“It’s great to be nominated alongside Jeff [Jur],” said Goi. “He got me started shooting on TV. “And I’ve come to know and be friends through the ASC with Karl Walter Lindenlaub and Chris Manley. We’re all friends and all genuinely happy for each other to have been nominated.”
Goi is a board member and a past president of the ASC.
This is the 11th installment of a 14-part series that explores the field of Emmy contenders, and then nominees spanning such disciplines as directing, cinematography, producing, editing, animation and visual effects. The series will then be followed up by coverage of the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony on September 12 and the primetime Emmy Awards live telecast on September 20.
