Single Camera Techniques Report

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Single Camera Techniques- Unit 22 P1/M1/D1

What is single camera and how is it different to multi-camera?

Single camera is when the director films the same scene 3 times- from 3 different angles (as

shown in the picture below).

Position 1: also known as the master shot. This is usually a wide shot, and this is the most

important single camera shot.

Position 2 & 3: also known as shot-reverse-shot, normally used in a scene including a

conversation.

After the camera man has the same shot from 3 different angles the director then watches

them all to pick out the best angle that he wants to be shown. He can also edit bits from the

other.

Single camera TV series are not filmed by script order; they are filmed by cast or setting, this

makes filming easier e.g. if they are filming in the park and they have all the right cast and

location that they will eventually need for future scenes, they just film it all in one day then

just edit it all in order later on.

This is different from multi-camera because with multi camera you have 4 different cameras

recording at one time, so you don’t have to re-act the same scene again 3 times. (as shown

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Position 1: in a conversation scene, this shot would catch person B’s facial expressions and

body language as the camera man would be standing diagonally from person B.

Position 2 & 3: in a single camera shot, this would be known as a master shot, but in multi

camera, this position would just be a wide shot, capturing both A and B in the action.

Position 4: just like position 1, this shot would catch person A’s facial expressions, and body

language as the camera man would be standing diagonally from person A.

Single camera formats and genres;

Genres

Formats

Advantages to why single

camera was used.

Comedy-drama: Glee

Series

_{- Better Lighting}

- Better Quality

- Easier to film as they

organise the shooting

in terms of setting.

-

The director has

better control (allows

the director to get

close to the

set/action to change

things etc.)

Sitcom: My Name Is Earl

Series

Comedy: The Last Man On

Earth

Short Film

Sitcom: Modern Family

Comedy Series

Supernatural- Drama:

Charmed

Serial Drama series

Drama: Hollyoaks

Series

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Hollyoaks- Camera techniques & transition analysis.

The first single camera format I have chosen to analyse for this report is the drama series

‘Hollyoaks’. There are other single camera series such as ‘My Name Is Earl’, ‘Modern Family,

‘Top Boy’, ‘Charmed’, ‘Glee’ etc.

In my opinion the only single camera soap Holloaks doesn’t follow Todorov’s narrative

theory- this is because every episode is an open narrative; the end of each episode has a cliff

hanger. Propp’s narrative theory is also not included in Hollyoaks. Although Hollyoaks is

nearly all the time a linear soap, they sometimes include flashbacks in their episodes which

make it a non-linear episode. The episodes in Hollyoaks are realistic; this is because they

discuss/practice issues real people would face. And finally, they do have a multi-strand

narrative because in all their episodes, they never just have one story line; they always have

more than one.

DOES IT APPLY TO HOLLYOAKS?

Narrative Structures;

Yes

No

TODOROV PROPP LINEAR NON LINEAR OPEN NARRATIVE CLOSED NARRATIVE REALISTIC NON-REALISTIC BINARY OPPOSITES

SINGLE STRAND NARRATIVE MULTISTRAND NARRATIVE GOAL ORIENTATED

THE JOURNY

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Camera angles in ‘Hollyoaks’.

Ho

llyo

aks have adapted the 3 key single camera angles, as shown here:

Position 1- Master shot:

Position 2:

Position 3:

Alongside the main single camera angles, they also adapt other forms of camera techniques

such as:

FRANKIE TOM

DARREN

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The director used a cut to transition onto this shot, he also used a deep focus, and close up to emphasis, and highlight the importance of the ring. This indicated to the audience that this ring will be an important factor in this episode. The camera man also decided to use a pull

focus for this shot to first show Jack Osbourn’s (the

character holding the ring) facial expression, then it changed focus onto the ring- this also plays a part in illustrating to the audience that it is a key factor in the episode.

The medium close up, two shot, and cut transition used in this particular part makes the audience (as a third person in the conversation) feel more involved with the characters, as they are introduced to the conversation that is taking place with Jack and Esther. The reason the camera man chose to use these shots is to create the atmosphere to the audience that this conversation is vital OR to make the audience feel more involved, as, if the camera man chose to use a long shot, this would make the audience feel more distant from the action.

In this part of the scene, the camera man used Crabbing as a form of camera movement, but he also used long

two shot. This connotes that the relationship between

the two characters is quite distant, in contrast to the above shot (Medium close up) which portrays the image that they are close relationship wise.

The medium close up used here, with the

shot-reverse-shot edit allows the audience to be involved in the

conversation. The shot-reverse-shot is just another way to allow the audience to see the other persons

expressions when someone is talking to them- the directors also call this a reaction shot.

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The reaction shot used here allows the audience to be able to see what the character is thinking/feeling through non-verbal communication. The reaction shot also highlights to the audience the importance of what is being said, through the expressions of someone else.

The medium long two shot used in this section is also another way to portray to the audience that the two characters have a distant relationship. This shot also allows you to see a bit of the background, which creates an atmosphere to the audience, depending on where the two characters are.

The pull focus over the shoulder shot used in this section

allows the audience to see what the character is seeing, but at an angle where you can also see a bit of the characters

expressions, where as if it was a point of view shot, you wouldn’t see any of the characters expressions.

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Last Man On Earth- Camera techniques & transition analysis.

The second single camera format I have chosen to analyse for this report is the

comedy-drama short film the last man on earth. There are other single camera short films such as;

ColourBleed; Lazy Super Heroes; signs; seconds; love field etc. this short film does follow

Todorov’s narrative theory because it does have an equilibrium, disequilibrium, and a

resolution. It follows a linear narrative structure, with a closed narrative, and a

non-realistic story line. The Last Man On Earth also follows a single strand narrative because the

whole film is about him thinking he is the last man on earth.

Equilibrium: he thinks he’s the last man on earth because he is alone, he goes to the pub

and confesses to himself that because he is the last man on earth, he is going to kill himself

because he serves no purpose on the earth alone.

Disequilibrium: he dinks the poison that he picked up himself, and then the phone rings-

he discovers he’s not the last man on earth.

Resolution: he then dies minutes after due to drinking poison.

DOES IT APPLY TO LAST MAN ON EARTH?

Narrative Structures;

Yes

No

THE JOURNY

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The long shot used at the beginning of the piece is used to introduce the character to the

audience. The way the camera man has made this view so wide is to set the scene for the beginning of the piece. The transition the director decided to use in this scene was a cut. This allowed the shot to move quickly from this scene to the next.

The high shot used in this section also presents the setting to the audience, although it does have the isolated effect on the character by only showing one person in the scene. The director also chose to use a cut in this scene; this allowed the audience to see a quick transition from the outdoors to the pub scene.

The cut used in this scene allowed it to go quickly from a long shot to a mid-close up shot from behind the character. the director then chose to do a close up shot of the bottle of poison makes this part of the film significant to the audience- it lets the audience know that the bottle of poison is significant. This demonstrates to the audience that this will be a key feature in the film.

The director also chose to use a cut in this part of the scene, to quickly transition to the next camera shot. The loose frame used here

demonstrates an isolated effect as it’s ironic that the man would be alone in such a popular public area.

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The cut transition that the director decided to use throughout the whole scene could convey how the character is feeling e.g. as the character is in distress, his heartbeat isn’t subtle, so the cut transition could replica how quick things are going on in the characters head. The medium close up used could be used to portray the characters facial expressions.

The close up over-the-shoulder shot of the phone is a significant camera shot because the man thought he was the only human left in the world but he discovers he’s not when his phone rings.

The track-out shot used at the end of the scene illustrates the image that the action in the scene has finished. This indicates to the audience that the short film is over.

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Above Suspicion- Camera techniques & transition analysis.

The single camera format I have chosen to analyse is the realistic, non-linear single drama

‘Above Suspicion’. This follows neither Todorov nor Propp’s narrative theories. Above

suspicion is a closed narrative single drama, as the end of the episode ends with a closed

police case, it also follows a single strand narrative, with an investigative narrative

throughout.

DOES IT APPLY TO LAST MAN ON EARTH?

Narrative Structures;

Yes

No

THE JOURNY

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The way the director used an establishing shot at the beginning sets the scene for the action. This allows the audience to get more familiar with the setting of the production. The director then used a cut transition to move from this scene to the next.

The close up used here captures the facial expressions of the character. This also helps the audience to get to know the character. The way the character is alone through the beginning of the opening scene could symbolise that she is a main character.

The low angle shot here was used to imply that the character is trapped and she can’t get out. This is because her facial expressions demonstrate that she is not happy and she looks somewhat confused.

The directors choice to direct the camera at the lake, was used as a vital part for the graphic match transition which linked the two scenes together.

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When the director chose to move the camera around in a

fast circular motion, created the image of distortion, or

something bad happening, as normally the only time you will realistically see this is when you are feeling dizzy (comes from something happening really quickly, or feeling unwell)

The hand camera shot used in this section symbolises the heart pace in which the heart was beating, as the camera was shaking, this could be mimicking the feelings of all the people in the room. The director chose to use quick cuts in this scene, which also helped to create atmosphere.

The reaction shot used after the shot-reverse-shot helped the audience to understand what the character on the receiving end of the news was feeling/thinking. The

shot-reverse-shot throughout the conversation allowed the

audience to see the non-verbal communication being sent through the characters speaking. The long take used in this section helped the audience to understand what was happening as the characters stayed on the screen before it was cut.

Parallel action used here allowed the audience to relate

the two scenes together as the scene before it was the same movement being performed, but just by different people. The medium, two shot used here with the

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The way the scene here dissolved into a flashback of the girl before she was murdered allowed us to link the two people together. The girl it was flashing back too is an exact replica to the low angle shot example used at the beginning of the production.

The was the director chose to track the two characters from behind them allowed the audience to see what the characters were seeing (like a P.O.V shot). The director then chose to do a flashback (as the two characters were reminiscing over the murder case).

The colouring in this scene allowed the audience to establish that this was not part of the actual action- it was a flashback scene. This was evident as the colours used in the scene were very pale- connoting the girls innocence before she was murdered as pale colours are synonyms for purity and innocence.

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American beauty- Camera techniques & transition analysis..

The last single camera format I have chosen to analyse for this report is the non-realistic,

non-linear film ‘American beauty’. This follows neither Todorov nor Propp’s narrative

theories. American Beauty is a closed narrative film, which includes binary opposites (Love

& Hate), multi-strand narrative, with a goal orientated metaphysical journey.

DOES IT APPLY TO LAST MAN ON EARTH?

Narrative Structures;

Yes

No

THE JOURNY

INVESTIGATIVE NARRATIVE

The eyelevel shot with the contrast of the lighting demonstrates how the girl presents herself in two ways Good (the lighter shade of her) and Evil (the darker side of her). This makes the audience think she will have a main role in the bad events

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The red writing in the title could connote blood/death or as the red writing is small and thin it could mean they don’t have a lot of love for the main character.

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Sound used in Hollyoaks, Last Man On Earth, & Above suspicion.

Hollyoaks;

In Hollyoaks, as it’s a soap, the sounds used were very much dependant on

what was happening in the scene. For example, Hollyoaks use mostly non

diegetic sounds to set the mood for the audience, e.g. if there was a robbery

scene, the sound director might choose to use music that creates a build-up of

suspense. This would allow the audience to feel more involved in the action.

They also use diegetic sounds such as car doors, doors, footsteps etc. this

makes it seem realistic to the audience watching it.

Last Man On Earth;

In the Last Man On Earth, there was hardly any sound as the whole point in the

short film was to prove that he was the last man on earth. The only sounds we

heard were the obvious diegetic sounds of the doors being opened/closed; his

footsteps; and at the end when his phone rings. The lack of sound was used to

demonstrate that he was the ‘Last Man on Earth’, so unless he was driving the

car, there would be no car sound because in the whole scene, he was the only

character.

Above Suspicion;

This is basically the same as Hollyoaks, the sounds were used according to the

location and setting of what was happening. Music was played in the

appropriate places to create the desired effect, and the obvious diegetic

sounds were used.

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Lighting used in Hollyoaks, Last Man On Earth, & Above suspicion.

Hollyoaks;

The lighting in Hollyoaks is mostly natural, as most of the scenes are set

outside. The only time things are inside a house, pub etc. is when something

vital to the scene is set inside.

When things are inside, the lighting is also mostly natural unless its dark

outside (which is a rarity, most of the episodes are set in the daytime).

in this image it shows how they have

used a shadow from behind the

character, this creates a mysterious

effect where you don’t know what is

going to happen.

The Last Man On Earth;

The lighting in the last man on earth was presented very dark the whole way

through, this could have been used to display how he was feeling throughout

the whole film (very dark and sad).

Above Suspicion;

The lighting in above suspicion was also very dark, the directors chose to use a

lot of shadows and dark lighting to portray the effects of a murder scene, and

how everyone was feeling due to the graphicness of the murder.

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