Single Camera Production

Introduction

In this blog post, i am going to explain what single camera techniques are, the advantages/ disadvantages there are. I'm also going to show some explains in different media formats which are used in single camera techniques. 

What are single camera techniques 

Single camera production basically means only using a 'SINGLE' camera when shooting. Single camera production is not used for live shows because they include a lot of editing and takes. 

Advantages

• It can be a lot cheaper to use a single camera, but on the other hand you might have to hire out an editing suite to edit your shoot but it would be cheaper to use single camera.
• You can be much more creative when using a single camera, you can use a lot more different shots and angles.
• However an additional advantage of single camera production is that scene's don't have to be shot in a sequences. The final scenes can be arranged at the end when the editing is happening.
• Because there is only use of one camera, the director has more control of what is being filmed and what happens in the scene.
• The crew has more mobility and the resources are easier as they don't need to carry a lot of equipment around when filming.

Disadvantages

• Because there is only one camera there is are no back up shots to replace the scenes that have gone wrong, so the crew should make sure that they capture the correct shots.
• There should be a smaller crew so this means the time to shot should be shorter but there might not be enough time to shoot.
• However they must keep changing the angles when shooting to capture the whole scene, instead of shooting smaller scenes. 
• There is a lot more editing because there is a single camera so you can't capture everything. However editing might be a bit easier because you have a lot of big scene instead loads of little ones .
• the scenes have to be taken repeatedly, so there are more takes and clips to record.

What genre's of TV or Film Production use SCT

 

Doctor Who- Sci fi 

 Single Camera Production has been used in this because they have used a 180 degree. In film making  the  180 degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary line called the axis connects the characters, and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character is always frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. The camera passing over the axis is called jumping the line or crossing the line; breaking the 180-degree rule by shooting on all sides is known as shooting in the round.

Come fly with me- Comedy 

Single Camera Production is used in this series because in one of the scenes one of the characters is a worker in a fast food place and you can tell by the way he is acting there a 'slow pace' going on. This shows there is only one camera being used. However there is a lot of camera angles being  used such as a lot of close ups and mid shots. 

Skins-Teen Drama

Single Camera Production is used because it shows a collection of shots, this means it is a series because the way the camera is showed, the characters create a continuing story in each episode. Cameras have been used because there is also slow pace.

Narrative Structure

Linear Narrative (3 act structure)-  Linear narrative means from the beginning, middle to end this follows a straight line story.

Non Linear- This is the opposite to linear this is an order of events are either rearranged or deconstructed, this effects the characters. For example 'Fight Club' this consists of flashbacks and confusion for the audience and this film is also a thriller.

Episodic Narrative- Story that is told through a series of episodes such as soap opera's on TV.

Open/Closed Narrative- A open narrative has to do with the audience their feelings and emotions. An example of this is the film 'Children of men'. There is a scene where the woman and baby are in a boat and there is also a man dying, this can get the audience wondering about the characters. This can leave a cliff hanger for the audience.

Realist/ Non Realist- Realist means a believable story that maybe could be based on a true story. This could make the audience feel that they are part of the film because of their emotions. Anti realist is basically the opposite to realist so anything could happen. For example Doctor Who is a Anti Realist narrative because anything can happen in it, its not real life but it still has real life people but fake creatures at the same time.

Single Stranded/ Multi Stranded - Single Stranded is a story which is focused on a single character, but multi stranded is the opposite it is also a story where there is more than one story line to it. Skins is a example of this because there are different things going on in one scene. When the boy rides his skate board down the road, he knocks the police officer, then he gets chased, police offer falls into the bin and there's a car crash. This shows there is a sequence to all of this.

Formats

Series-  creates continuing characters and uses them to tell different stories each week. For example 'Big Bang Theory', and Supernatural
Serial- tells one story over several episodes. An example of this can be 'Game of Thrones' or 'Homeland'
Single Drama- A single drama is the same as a film. 'Saw', 'Interstellar'.