Single Camera Techniques

In this essay I will explain what is meant by single camera techniques and what is involved in it such as camera, lighting, sound etc. Single camera technique is used in TV shows such as Scrubs and Silent Witness and also used in films as well and an example of this is Drive, these examples are what we have studied in class. The single camera technique has become popular and also successful.

Camera

Only one camera is used in single camera productions, this is used by directors and producers to make the audience feel more involved in the scenes. Also the audience can get a bond with the main characters through this technique as directors believe it appears more real to the audience. Using a single camera set-up as opposed to a multiple camera set-up is cheaper and this is what makes it popular with producers who are working with a low budget. An advantage of a single camera set-up is that with using one camera you don’t have to worry about other cameras being in shot where as in multi camera set up it is less flexible because you have to take into consideration where the other camera are positioned.

Lighting

Single camera productions tend to be lit using what's known as the '3-point lighting system' wherein 3 lights are placed around the subject in a certain way: two lights placed either side of the camera and one lighting the subject from behind (back light). It's much easier to handle lighting single camera productions since each shot can be lit individually, and if one set-up doesn't work between shots then that's no problem because it can be changed between shots.

Sound

Sound in a single-camera production are more flexible than a multi-camera production, there are a number of options of capturing audio on the set they are; Rode Video Mic. I know this mic works from experience and it plugs straight into a DSLR or other cameras. But even if you just have a boom mic it is equally as easy as if you have a straight input mic. Another way is Lavalier microphones. Lavalier microphones are attached to persons under their shirts. This way you capture the audio of the individual clearly if the weather conditions cannot allow you to record decent audio this cancels that probably.

Editing

When it comes to editing a single camera production you can plug in your camera or SD card and drop and drag the footage and organise it into scenes. You are only using one camera which in turn means that you don't have the issue of memory size of two cameras worth of footage. Even by doing this editing is a long process on a single-camera production, 5 minute scenes can have up to hours of footage which is shot just for that certain scene so it is important that everything is organised. 

Single Camera genres and formats

Most single camera productions are dramas;

• Period dramas
• Crime dramas
• Dialogue driven stories

Single camera productions however, are not for every genre of production. for example high paced action films with a lot going on in one scene isn't fitted for single camera unless its a dialogue scene.Single cameras don't require high paced action scenes. They don't need scenes filmed from four different points of view as it is just a conversation. That is why most single camera productions are dramas and story driven pieces of media that dive into deep issues. BBC dramas are single camera. For example Silent Witness is a hit BBC drama that is single camera. Single camera is most suited for deep stories with action but primarily dialogue.

Multi-camera techniques

Multi-camera productions tend to use more embedded forms of audio recording, such as multiple wireless mics taped onto the actors, or multiple mics hidden in various spots on set. This is because it's more difficult to fix any problems multi-cameras have in post because a lot of the time there is no post since it's a live production.