Single Camera Production

  The single camera set-up is a method used to shoot films and some television programs. The method is used to create scenes which are desired by the director which make up the film or program. This method is used because it is easy to construct scenes and shoot them most likely in a non-linear sequence. It is also more likely to be used for a narrative structure like a drama piece, soap or comedy. 

  Primarily the disadvantage of shooting with one camera is, it's going to be time consuming but the benefits of making a film this way out way the cost of taking more time to shoot because you will get better control and the time you put into perfecting each shot and scene will give you a better product at the end of the day, there is also less limitation when using single camera as you don't have to worry about accidently getting another camera in your shot and you have more freedom to move around. Of course another disadvantage of only using one camera is if you are wanting to shoot a more dynamic scene such as a heavily packed market place or a school classroom where you have lots of extras and requite lots of different angles and shots of a continually moving scene, it can be hard to keep continuity then with only working with one camera as shooting a small scene with two people can be easier to recreate over and over again with minimal continuity errors in a classroom or out on the street there are many situations all going on simultaneously at the one time and it can be a challenge to keep replicating the same scene over and over for each shot making it harder to replicate reactions or falling props, especially if you have someone walking along the sidewalk say and they get splashed by a car driving over a puddle for example.

  Most narrative structures will be filmed with a single camera set up, also documentaries such as Bear Grylls or Dual Survival, which are both relatively recent survival documentaries which have a survival expert in a terrain showing how to survival in say the Amazon rainforest and have a camera man who follows them, also they have a number of handheld cameras they can set up in a tree to film them or for the host to aim at themselves while talking, this provides drama and creates atmosphere for the audience watching, sometimes creates urgency or horror or to give a greater illusion of risk that the host is in. Documentaries tend to use POV a lot too, using a helmet with a camera attached, these cameras are called "Action" cameras and used mostly to catch action shots for maybe extreme sports like skydiving where someone will jump out a plain and the fall can be captured from this POV (point of view) from the head.

         
(above Bear Grylls)                                                                     (above sports POV)   

   Peep show is a comedy sitcom shot entirely with POV angles from the main characters point of view, POV shows the point of view from that persons eyes, peep show used this and also let the audience hear that characters thoughts for comedic effects and this works because the shots are designed to let the audience feel like they are there and as if we are watching from inside that characters head then we can also hear their thoughts.  

(below two shots of the same scene in Peep Show)

   POV is a very useful and creative technique, we used this on a collage project, we had to recreate a school classroom detention scene, dotted actors around and used a POV shot. So we had the actor sitting in the middle of the room and when it was time to shoot that particular shot we removed the actor replaced them with the camera operator and filmed an actor walk around the room from the POV of another actor. POV is also a good way to distinguish a main or leading character as if the audience is watching from their perspective or to follow a main and important event.

   Because  film or a program using the single camera setup doesn't need to be shot in chronological order from start to finish it means it is much easier to spend an entire shoot on one location and have captured all the needed footage before moving on. For example to travel from two or more locations could prove hard and expensive, it is also time consuming. So say you have a huge battle scene like in lord of the rings where you have to assemble hundreds of extras in one location you will capture all shots from that location to avoid revisiting it.

  This also means that if one actor (actor A) is hard to get hold of you can capture the full length of the dialogue and necessary footage needed from actor B without wasting any time, effort and money and it can all be easily edited later and it means you can avoid going back and forth between different locations to pick up loose ends.

  In a single camera set-up as the name suggests, you will use just one camera and it may take all day to set up a shot whether it is your master shot which is usually you're establishing shot at the beginning of a scene, or you're close ups, mediums shots etc. Using this method gives the director a lot of control over each shot.  They will position the camera in one place and collect all shots making the actors run through the dialogue three or four times while changing from close ups to mediums and so forth until all shots are completed before moving the camera to the next position and doing the same from another angle.

 

The 180° line shown above, is a technique/rule that most directors and D.O.P’s stick to. An imaginary line is drawn between two characters and the camera must stick to one designated side (see diagram) otherwise the characters don’t feel like they are connected when the audience watches it, if the camera was to stray the other side of the line it would look like the characters are talking to someone else completely this would ruin the flow of the film and perceived interaction between the two characters and cause disorientation.

  

Continuity not only is something you need to look at if your shoot lasts over a day and you need to come back for another day and finish off the shoot. Where you would need to check things like what clothes your actor was wearing and making sure they have the same on or making sure they wear something different if it is a key element for example. I filmed one scene in a morning where the character has to eventually go upstairs to bed, then the next scene is they have woken up, come downstairs and would be wearing less clothes because you don't go to sleep and wake up with your clothes on and it was a dramatic scene so they had no time to put on their clothes again, my shoot also lasted another day and it was my responsibility to make sure the actor wore a change of clothes, sometimes you can designate this job to a crew member, usually someone who gets paid on a professional shoot or the responsibility rests on you.



(Gandalf wears a watch)                                        

The difference and advantage single camera setup has over multi camera set ups is when setting up a shot or a new angle for continuity purposes, and for ease, the director, lighting and makeup artists etc only have to concentrate on one scene, shot at a time. For video dramas shots can be held for a long period of time and countless rehearsals gone through until the director is happy to move on. The advantage with continuity is when concentrating on one shot at a time the director has a better chance of getting his or her perfect shot due to lighting, makeup and so on being correct, once the shot is over and they move to another angle the lighting will be a little different and sometimes the makeup has to be slightly changed along with each shot, when doing this with multiple cameras the lighting has to be set up for each individual camera and the makeup which obviously can't be done in some cases so the shots need to be compromises need to be made if using a multi-camera setup because each camera will capture it slightly different. Also having to deal with exposure and white balance is a task in its self, it's just easier to take your time and set everything up to capture it's full potential.