Why does The Pitt feel more real than anything else on TV right now?
Last year, The Pitt exploded onto the scene and immediately became the breakout phenomenon of the year, winning Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Guest Actor and Best Casting. An extraordinary feat for a show in its very first season. What is it about The Pitt that draws us all in so completely?
The Pitt leans heavily into a style of filmmaking that has only gotten more and more popular, especially since The Office. It’s called: Documentary Realism. A style of filmmaking where narrative, scripted, stories are told using documentary techniques. Otherwise known as verite filmmaking. It takes the elements of documentary filmmaking that make scenes feel more real and in-the-moment. Increasing our emotional investment in the world and the characters. Comedies and sitcoms like The Office, Parks and Rec, Modern Family and Abbott Elementary all utilize this format.
In The Pitt, the hospital is not just the backdrop, it’s the whole world. We only learn enough about the characters personal lives to learn why they care about the patients. Other than that, all the drama and plot is focused on what is happening in the world of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Once we’re in the hospital, we never leave the hospital grounds. We never hear or see anything happening outside that tiny universe. They immerse us in this world of the highest intensity where nothing else in the world exists.
The Pitt Season 2 streams on on HBO Max, with new episodes each Thursday.
