A closer look
That frantic camera jerk whenever Steve Carell says something deeply offensive isn't just a stylistic quirk. Cinematographer Randall Einhorn explicitly designed the visual language of the show to mimic a sloppy, underfunded documentary crew constantly caught off guard. By intentionally missing the start of a punchline and compensating with aggressive, poorly-focused snap zooms to a character's bewildered face, the camera itself became an active, wildly judgmental participant in the comedy.
