essay single camera

This essay is about single camera techniques and everything involved in making a single camera production.

The camera is used to involve the audience in what is being filmed the footage is shot to elicit a response from the audience for example in a drama the camera may be slow and move close to a characters face in a dramatic moment or in a horror film the camera may be shaky to provide a sense of unease.


In a single camera production each scene is lit separately and specifically to what is needed for that shot for example a scene that is supposed to be scary may be dimly lit and another scene may need bright lights, this cannot be done in a multi camera production because one of the cameras might see the lights so these productions must be lit from above.


In a single camera production the shots are filmed in a way that requires overlay; you would start the sound of a shot a little earlier than the shot itself to avoid the scenes seeming jumpy. Also in single camera productions you don't have to use the same audio from a take for some scenes. In scenes that are over the shoulder or cutaways you don't have to see the source of the audio. For example in this scene from Breaking Bad it uses this idea in the parts where the camera is looking over the characters shoulders

In post production single camera production there is less wasted footage than a multi camera production but often costs more to make because it takes more time to film. In multi camera productions the footage can mixed during filming, in the case of live TV.


Some Genres lend themselves very well to single camera productions such as period dramas since these movies and TV shows have to create a specific atmosphere of a time period single camera helps the creators more freely create emotion and feeling in a scene using camera movement. horror often utilises low key lighting and camera movement to get the audience feeling as if they are a part of the scene to make them more scary this is impossible in a multi camera production, for example in this scene from the ring we follow the character has he tries to escape to invest us in the scene.


Some multi camera productions are unable to specifically light a certain scene to how light it should because one of the cameras would see the lighting so many are lit from above making them look unrealistic however because each shot isn't setup separately continuity errors are less likely and they're is less footage to sift through. Also action doesn't have to stop and start continuously however the action can feel impersonal and fake because the scenes are done from set angles.