Single Camera Production

Sarita Chander

INTRODUCTION

• There are two types of camera formats; single camera and multi-camera. A production using single camera format is generally used with just one camera and is mostly used in dramas, documentaries and comedies.

• Each shot and camera angle is taken by the one camera unlike a multi-camera format, where there is a camera for every angle and shot needed in a particular scene, which they are then switched to show these different perspectives.

• The choice of camera format can depend on what is been filmed such as the genre. In the 1960's, single camera format was popular amongst several comedy series such as 'The Addams Family' & 'Get Smart' and more recently 'The Office' and 'My name is Earl'.

• Multi-camera setup is a method of shooting television programs and films. Several cameras are set up in different angles and simultaneously record a scene. In a general set up, the two outer cameras shoot close ups of the characters whilst the middle cameras shoot the 'master shot' which captures the overall action in the scene and shows the surroundings.

• Single camera production is a mode of production where one camera operates at a time and the shots are done in the most economically efficient order. Single camera productions are not live and include a lot of editing and takes.

• "The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, is a method of filmmaking and video production. A single camera—either motion picture camera or professional video camera—is employed on the set and each shot to make up a scene is taken individually.

• As its name suggests, a production using the single-camera setup generally employs just one camera. Each of the various shots and camera angles is taken using the same camera, which is moved and reset to get each shot or new angle. The lighting setup is typically reconfigured for each camera setup."

FORMATS AND GENRES

Series: A Series is one that has a set number of episodes and gives during certain times of the year. Even though a series may have a definate end to it. The story might continue into series two.

A few examples of series dramas are, Skins, Desperate Housewives and Waterloo Road.

Serial: A serial is more like a soap, where stories are continuous and it doesn't run for a set amount of episodes, but continues all year round.

A few examples of serial dramas/soaps are, Neighbours, Eastenders, Coronation Street and Doctors.

GENRES (EXAMPLES)

Sci Fi - Doctor who

• Single camera techniques: Doctor Who has shown examples of single camera techniques used when The Doctor is having a conversation with his sidekick, Rose. This shows proof of the use of single camera techniques as there are edits of over the shoulder shots showing the conversation.

• Sound: The sound includes lots of sound effects to help the scene match the sound (diegetic sounds), and there are use of sound tracks to emphasise emotions within the shot. E.g slow music for sad scenes and energetic music for fast/hyper scenes.

• Lighting: The lighting included within Doctor Who were natural and background light for normal/outside frames to help set the scene, but in action scenes there is use of special lighting, such as coloured lights, filler, key and back lights.

• Camera angles: The camera angles that were mostly used in a Sci Fi drama using single camera techniques are long shots and high angled shots. This is so the drama fills the scene and all of the effects and action is shown in the frames.

Comedy - Miranda

• Single camera techniques: Miranda shows use of single camera techniques because when the protagonist is making a joke, she talks directly at the audience to engage them in the program. To signify that she is talking to the audience, the camera angles shift to show that she is jumping out of the context she is in, to talk to the audience. This effect uses editing and single camera techniques.

• Sound: The sound effects that are included within a comedy sitcom that uses single camera techniques are canned laughter when the protagonist does/says something funny. The other sound is regular voices that are included within the scene (diegetic).

• Lighting: The lighting used are normal background and key lighting to let the audience know that they are with the characters in the program and the program is not staged.

• Camera angles: Most of the camera angles included are mid shots, to capture the motion and emotion of the characters, so they can fully understand what is going to happen.

Teen dramas - Hollyoaks

• Single camera techniques: The use of single camera techniques are shown in a teen drama when they switch from different storylines. This is proof of single camera production because the camera uses editing to switch characters/settings/storylines.

• Sound: There is use of diegetic sounds included within the frames to make the scene sound natural and they include use of music in the background which relates to the mood of the environment. e.g. slow music for emotional scenes.

• Lighting: The lighting used are natural lighting to help the audience feel as if they are within the drama and scenes. This helps the audience get into the story and get the full emotion trying to be portrayed.

• Camera angles: There are various camera angles used within teen dramas as they try to capture all the emotion and action happening in the scene. Some examples of angles used are over the shoulder shots, mid shots, long shots, panning and tracking, etc.

Crime - CSI: Miami

• Single camera techniques: CSI: Miami shows use of single camera techniques when it uses editing and takes in showing a surrounding environment in a crime scene. There are different camera angles and shots taken to show the surrounding of a scene and they are joined together using editing techniques to show the audience what is happening.

• Sound: The sound used are natural diegetic sounds that are included within the scene and it included backing music tracks to create emphasis on the situation created. It includes dramatic music to build suspense and fast music to create excitement in action scenes.

• Lighting: The lighting used is darker and mainly back and filler lights. This is because it will create tension and suspense, which is the type of emotion they wish to portray.

• Camera angles: The camera angles used are close-ups and mid shots to show the emotion of the scene to the audience.

NARRATIVE/STORY

The different narratives used in single camera productions:-

• Linear – a story line that runs start to end in chronological order• Non- linear – can be made in anyway possible including random orders,

flashbacks or flash-forwards. This type of narrative structure can be very effective when making a film, as you may want to reveal the end of the story before you begin to tell the start.

• Flash forwards – opposites of flashbacks; they are used to show the audience a section of the future that is important to the story line

• Realist narratives – are story lines that are believable by that audience because they appear real, or are based on a true story that has happened in the past

• Anti-Realism – a narrative that is blatantly not realistically filmed, and used a lot of after effects

• Some modern examples of single camera productions are ‘Scrubs’, ‘Malcolm in the Middle’, ‘Spaced’, and ‘My name is Earl’. This is all because they don’t require much drama or linear story telling and it’s cheaper.

TECHNIQUES OF SHOOTING

Extreme Long Shot

• An extreme long shot is used to show a large amount of landscape around the character(s).

• An extreme long shot would generally be used when the focus would be to show landscape, show distance or being alone.

Medium Shot

• Medium shot (MS) - The 'waist up' medium shot is ideal when the subject is speaking or delivering information and the fine detail isn't needed. It's also useful when people are gesturing with their arms. The problem with medium shots is that they don't show as much detail as a close up, but they introduce more of the background. This can be distracting.

Close – up ShotClose up shots typically contain just the face and shoulders of a subject, with a little head room above. This prevents 'floating head syndrome' as the shoulders suggest to the brain that there is a body below! These shots are the most common of all as they can convey a real sense of emotion and help the audience to connect with the subject.

Bird’s Eye View Shot A Birds – eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans and maps.

EDITING

• Continuity editing – where a scene is edited so that the scene transitions properly and doesn’t leave the audience confused and lost.

• A single-camera job will involved editing, and it's hard to estimate how much editing will be required. But, generally, editing time is several times as long as the material that's being edited:

1. You watch the unedited material, take notes, and decide which bits to use (this takes at least as long as how long all the material is).

2. You edit them together (this takes as long as each clip lasts, plus the time involved in finding the right bits).

3. You check the edits as you go along (either taking as long as each clip lasts, or just checking the beginning and ending moments).

4. Sound editing is done separately than video editing (so this takes as long as each sound clip takes).

SINGLE CAMERA VS. MULTI – CAMERA PRODUCTION

Advantages

it allows creative control to interpret the script, are easily editable and allow the producers to shoot quicker, in one location, e,g. in a house.

saves travels costs for the production teams and works out cheaper.

reduces the cost of the whole production, is that this type of format puts the product makers at a benefit. This is because, as single camera shots tend to cut individuals out in close up shot, conversations, this means that only one person is required and another actor can be used in place of the original co-actor for the meanwhile. By doing this, producers will save money and actors time, as they will only pay them for the scenes they do and when doing a large production, involving many big actors, production expenses can be large figures. Therefore, if the team can replace large actors in the meanwhile, they can save themselves a lot of money and also be able to shoot for the other actor, whenever they are available to shoot.

Advantages

process is much easier, quicker and efficient than the previously mentioned format as it is in real time. This is because the lighting does not have to be changed, sets do not have to be set up again and more so and continuous shooting can be done, using the range of cameras.

No actors are involved in multiple camera productions.

due to the set-up of the cameras, the shots can be mixed live and edited from different cameras for a better impact. As in a multiple-camera format set-up, the two outer cameras are used for close-ups and the two inner cameras are used for long and medium shots, it can be quiet hard to use all of the footage collected by it, therefore the director can pick and choose the shots as appropriate.

Single camera Production

Multi – camera Production

WHY WE USE MULTI CAMERA AND SINGLE CAMERA:

The reason why we use multi camera is because we get a range of shots and view points and while we edit them later we can use any scene we like to get the way we want the scene to be. Multiple shots get a whole range of certain scenes because we edit the shots together where as single shots you cant edit and just get that one main bit, so the difference is when we edit the scenes we’ll be able to put them nicely and have a lot to edit rather than just one while we use multiple cameras.

SINGLE CAMERA VS. MULTI – CAMERA PRODUCTION

Disadvantages

because there are less cameras there is less footage captured and that it is more time consuming and expensive, compared to using multiple cameras.

As there are less cameras capturing the footage, it means that the important shots may not be captured and that causes the producer to go back and re-shoot the whole scene.

Disadvantages

the tools such as microphone and lighting rigs cannot be hidden, whereas they can easily be hidden when using a single camera. This is because the dimensions and area of space that a single camera captures, if very little, compared to the amount the multiple cameras cover, and it is hard to not show an element which is on show, despite its purpose of being present.

Single camera Production

Multi – camera Production

COMPARISON TO OTHER TYPES OF PRODUCTIONMULTI CAMERA PRODUCTION

ENG – ELECTRONIC NEWS GATHERING

Multi camera is for shooting films using many different cameras. The cameras are set up in different places in order to gain a variety of shots, so you get all the angles and view points.

Electronic news-gathering (ENG) is a broadcast news industry description of television producers, reporters and editors making use of electronic video and audio technologies for gathering and presenting news. The term was commonly used in the television news industry in the 1980s and 1990s, but it has since been less frequently used as the technology has become ubiquitous.Electronic news-gathering can involve anything from a lone reporter taking a single professional video camera out to shoot a story, to an entire television crew taking a production or satellite truck on-location to conduct a live news report for an outside newscast.

COMPARISON TO OTHER TYPES OF PRODUCTION

These cameras are very small heads which are designed to be operated by a remote control, even though they are small in size they are very capable of high performance which is sometime larger then ENG and EFP types.

electronic field production cameras are very similar to studio cameras in that they are used primarily in multiple camera switched production configurations but not used in studio environments. they are used in areas such as concerts, sports live events, new coverage and special exterior events.

REMOTE CAMERASELECTRIC FIELD PRODUCTIONS

REFERENCES

http://www.slideshare.net/jontowlson/tv-drama-formats

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/about-us/awards/best-single-drama/5037377.article

http://samuelpinskemedia.jimdo.com/

http://stramsbottom.edublogs.org/narrative-structures/

http://www.cameratim.com/business/single-or-multi-camera

http://singlecameratechniqueshenna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/single-camera-and-multiple-camera.html