Single camera techniques post

This essay is about single camera productions. which as the name implies, they are films/shows shot using only one singular camera to gather all the shots usually in multiple takes rather than a multiple camera production where several cameras shoot from different angles in usually 1 take.

Camera:
The camera is set up in positions that the director wants and the scene is set up to be filmed as if it were a scene with the characters, sets and props. the footage is shot by the singular camera which may have some slight movements to it and the scene is recorded, they may repeat this several times to get the perfect shot for the scene. Using only 1 camera it allows for a lot of free movement as other cameras won't be caught in the shot which can be an issue in multi camera productions.

As can be seen in the scene above from the 2012 film "The avengers" they are shot single camera because say if they set up 2 cameras. one focusing on iron man and one focusing on Thor there would be many scenes in which the other camera is visible. Also the allowing for much more movement in the fight can be seen.

Lighting:
In single camera productions lighting can be manipulated for each separate shot that is shown in the film. so if certain lighting is required they can apply that lighting quite easily because there isn't so many cameras to work around apposed to multi camera.

As can be seen in the scene above from the 2004 film "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" lighting is used quite a lot to show the emotions of the characters especially around the 1 minute mark where the screen is dark and then the lighting points on the character looking sad to help show emotion to the audience.

Sound:
sound in single camera productions are usually captured by a mid hung over the actors so they are hidden from sight unlike some types of multicamera productions where the mic is visible such as interviews and news shows. this makes single camera harder as these must be hidden from view possibly preventing the camera from doing certain movements.

In example in live talk shows / Podcasts they have visible microphones and this is accepted because interviews and such aren't story line based since it's just people talking about a certain subject so showing microphones isn't an issue.

In this example of the rooster teeth podcast the mics are clearly visible in front of the hosts of the show.

Editing
single cam productions are edited after all footage are shot and follow the continuity system of editing. They usually cut between shots and feature camera movements whereas multicamera could have one set piece focused on. a lot of single camera also utilise special effects to make the film look better or to create quite fantasy worlds where multi are a bit mundane.

As can be seen in the scene above they edit in a winged demon creature this of course wouldn't be possible to do in a multicamera production due to how many cuts and the cgi that was required.

Genres
there are certain genres that can't be created in multi camera productions especially the genres of horror and fantasy as above the resident evil films couldn't be shot multicamera because of their scares and reliance on cgi editing. whereas fantasy are usually quite filled with action and are as well relying on cgi multicam wouldn't do it well however multicam is amazing at shooting TV show soaps and live shows due to how quick the cut can be live as well as the footage you gain is times the amount for the cameras you want so you only really need to do one take