Single Camera Techniques

For this essay, I will be writing about the techniques involved with making film productions, including the sound, editing, lighting and cameras. There are two types of ways that you can film a production. The first is by just using a single camera and the second, is by using multiple cameras. I will also be writing about their differences and the genres and formats that can be involved with these particular techniques. 

Camera

During a single camera production only one camera is used for the majority of the time. This means that that scenes generally have to be repeated over and over to make sure that all the content will be captured. This overall makes the filming more expensive, but it is said that it allows the actor to get into character more. Another benefit of using this single camera technique is that the director can have more control over the look of the overall scene as they can set the shots individually themselves, and they are also able to place the camera anywhere within the scene without as much restriction as you would with more than one camera. The only time where more than one camera may be used in a single camera production, is for scenes with heavy use of dialogue or action.
Many films use the single camera technique because of reasons mentioned above. Here, in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind behind the scenes video on YouTube, you can see that only a single camera is used and the director is very much in control of each shot. Points of the video which show this are at the very beginning and at 1:55. 

This single camera technique is often used in TV series as well, a series means that the narrative will run over the episodes but it will eventually end. Examples of some include: Skins, CSI and True Blood (picture below). 

This is all in contrast with multi-camera productions, which is less expensive but overall doesn't allow as much control. Heavy action films such as Thor 2, as you can see from the making video, include many single cameras for scenes but this could mean that many scenes may be being filmed at once at different places. Meaning that there is more than one camera being used for the overall production.

Multi-cameras are most used in serials such as Emmerdale, Coronation Street and EastEnders. A 'serial' means that the show does not run for a specific amount of time, it continues on. Using more than one camera means that the episodes can be broadcast more quickly, hence why there are generally more than one episode per week. More examples of serials include: Hollyoaks, Grange Hill and Brookside- which are notable for all being created by Phil Redmond.  

Lighting

For single camera productions, the lighting is set up for each individual scene, which again means that using a single camera makes the production much easier to control. This also means that the lighting can be made more creative, with the style and tones being more controlled overall. Horror and crime films are very popular when experimenting with different lighting effects. The example below is a neo-noir crime film from 1984 named Blood Simple. The screenshot shows a lighting technique which has obviously been set up (half the fact being completely dark, while the other is clearly lit).  

In contrast to single camera productions, multiple camera productions lighting is much harder to set up- as the lighting has to have continuity. If not, when the shots are edited together, the finished product may look fake or poorly produced. 
Again, this can relate to heavy action films such as Robocop (2014). In the making videos, you can clearly see that more than one camera is being used which makes it a multi-camera production. You can see that the lighting has to be worked on extensively, for example, in the fire scene (beginning) and also in simple locations such as a restaurant (2:07). 

Sound

During productions, the sound straight from the camera is generally never used. Instead, separate microphones are used and this is mainly because the quality is better and clearer. Scenes which, for example, have two people having a conversation will most likely use a 'boom mic'. This is the main microphone used in soaps and also in the news. In other productions, smaller microphones may be attached to the actors etc. as you wouldn't want a bigger microphone in shot.
An disadvantage of sound in single camera productions is that you have to allow time at the beginning and end of each shot so that there is an overlay. This makes it easier in editing, and also avoids the chance of having possible jumpy starts. 
An example of the film which is a single camera production is Hot Shots!, there are many dialogue scenes and parts such as 0:59 would of had a time delay before and after the actors lines. You can also hear that a lot of sound effects and music have been added, which would've been added in post-production.

An example of a multi camera production where they mainly use boom mics is The Amazing Spider-Man, where you can see multiple times in the behind the scenes footage that this kind of mic is used. This can include dialogue scenes and action scenes. 

Editing
Even though both multi-camera and single camera productions take a long time to complete, overall single camera productions take even longer as the editors have to find each piece of footage and look through each shot filmed to put the scene together. This is why shot logs can be important in single productions. A shot log is when all the shots written down with a summary of how well it turned out. This means that the editor can spend more time looking over the problematic shots and also what ones are most successful and which should be used. A disadvantage of multi-camera production editing is that more shots are wasted as much more footage was most likely filmed. This overall means that single camera productions are cheaper. 
At the beginning of a behind the scenes video from the film Fast & Furious 6, you can see that more than one camera is being used to film a scene. Not all the footage taken will be used, hence why this will be more expensive and have a higher budget overall. 

The term 'coverage' also comes under this section. Coverage links to how much footage is captured and this therefore also links to the quality of the film. Having enough coverage is vital when editing so that continuity errors are less frequent and you don't need to re shoot footage that may not be up to standard. The budget will be higher with the more footage that you record, however you will need to make sure if you are working with a tight budget, that you shoot the right amount of footage and get enough coverage overall. 
Generally the most important shots to gather in single productions are the master-shots. 
A single camera production which used many of these kind of shots is Fargo, as you can see from the video below which shows the opening scene. 

Genres and Formats
The most popular genres which are involved with single camera productions are the horror genre and TV programmes such as soaps, crime and drama. This is because using the single camera can be use to create a feeling of being 'personal' and therefore it makes it that more realistic. This overall means that the audience can feel more involved with the story and possibly connect more with what's going on and also feel the emotions from the characters. 
An example of a horror film that does this is Don't Be Afraid of the Dark from 2010. Even though I haven't seen the film, from the trailer, it seems that there are plenty of scenes that will be closer up to get a sense of what the character is feeling. 



Period dramas and the genre of crime (my favourite being Police Squad) is also an example of a genre that uses single camera. In period dramas, they particularly use many props and sets to set the style of the show. Using a single camera in this genre means that the lighting can be controlled better, meaning that it can be lower and darker to set the scene of the crime genre better and have a more atmospheric feeling when being watched. Other than crime, there can be many other genres that are part of single camera productions, but generally they are mainly adventure or romance. 
Period Drama Examples: The Tudors, Jane Eyre, Downton Abbey, Little House on the Prairie 

Also, some soap operas and comedy shows use a single camera, however they use multi-camera techniques. Soap operas can be filmed in a real filming locations such as houses, which means that using multi-cameras would be less practical as there are more restrictions. Some comedy shows also are filmed in front of studio audiences and are also live during the filming, and the vision mixer changes between the shots which are being broadcast.

Soap opera Examples: Days of Our Lives, Desperate Housewives, Neighbours, Home and Away, EastEnders