Multi-Camera vs. Single Camera

Single-Camera Setup

A single-camera setup is the technique of shooting by only using one camera. This is done so that you take individual shots to make up a complete scene.

When is the Single-Camera Method Used?

The single-camera technique is used throughout a wide variety of different types of programmes. We can see it being used on Sitcoms (Peep Show), Documentaries (when going on location such as Nick Broomfield’s documentaries), News Reports (on location), music videos and narrative films.

Advantages of the Single-Camera Setup

·         Single Camera setup allows production to try and aim to achieve perfection on each individual shot as they can experiment with lighting, camera angles, blocking of the actors etc. In other words you have more flexibility to experiment with each take.

·         More control over each shot.

·         As you’re only using one camera, you will have the same quality of footage throughout as you’re using the same camera with all the same settings.

·         Footage looks more realistic as you don’t have loads of different camera angles as you do with multi-camera.

Dis-Advantages of the Single-Camera Setup

·         When moving the camera after each take, the lighting in the room will have to keep being re-adjusted in order to keep the continuity of the amount of light in each shot flowing.

·         Continuity may not be persistent as the camera keeps moving for example two people are having a chat. In one shot we see a man holding his keys, the camera then changes to face the person he’s talking to, when it goes back onto him again the keys are nowhere to be seen.

·         Editing will be much more time consuming as there are a lot more shots to edit.

·         You can’t film in chronological order as you are experimenting with so many different shots which also adds more time to editing.

When Might You See a Multi-Camera Scene in a Single- Camera Programme and Why?

You may see this used for the following reasons:

·         Keep Continuity- This is so that they simply don’t have to worry about making sure everything stays in the same place, in the exact same position. They can just keep everything exactly how it is as they don’t have to keep moving the camera.

·         Stunts- It would very difficult to keep performing a stunt whilst changing the camera position each time as it’ll look different every time. They may also have to use multiple cameras for a stunt as it may be one of those stunts such as an explosion where they can only do it the once and need to capture it in several different angles.

Multi-Camera Setup

The Multi-Camera Setup is the technique of shooting by using two or more cameras. The usual amount of cameras used is normally four. The main purpose of multi-camera is that it can take multiple shots using different angles whilst shooting a situation and have the action unfold in the correct order.

When is the Multi-Camera Setup Used?

The Multi-Camera technique is also used throughout a variety of different types of productions just like the single-camera setup. We can see it being used on Live Shows (The X Factor), Game Shows (The Million Pound Drop), Reality TV Shows (Big Brother), The News, Sport and some the majority of sitcoms (Friends).

Advantages of the Multi-Camera Setup

·         You can film in chronological order which also means it is easier to edit as all the scenes are in the correct order.

·         You can catch the action of a scene from a variety of different angles in one go.

·         Saves time shooting as you’re not moving the cameras about constantly and experimenting with different shots as you have multiple-cameras set at different angles. It also saves money as you’re spending less time filming and editing.

·         The continuity is kept flowing as the cameras all stay in one position and stay constantly rolling so you don’t have to keep moving things around to make it stay in the same position in every shot.

Dis-Advantages of the Multi-Camera Setup

·         Although for an advantages you save money, you also have to spend more money as there is more equipment involved (e.g. Cameras) and you need to hire more crew as there are more cameras to operate.

·         It feels less realistic to watch as you constantly see the angles change throughout a scene which we don’t see when we are generally talking to someone or walking to somewhere.

·         The director has less control so they can’t experiment as much as you can do with the single-camera setup.

·         The quality may not stay persistent as although you may be using the same make and model of cameras to film a scene, each camera will see everything slightly differently to one another. For example it’s like a group of people could all be asked what colour is the car outside the window, some may say it’s a dark red, some may say it’s a bright red and some may see its red/brownish. So although they all have eyes they will not see things exactly the same as one another.

Conclusion

I feel that overall you cannot choose whether single-camera is better to use than multi-camera or vice versa as they are both useful for different types of productions. So you can choose which of the two techniques is better to use for the type of production you are doing, for example a live recording show such as The X Factor would definitely be better off with the multi-camera setup as there is so much going on, you need to be able to capture it all at once and in the correct order so that it can be edited and viewed there and then. However if you wanted to film something such as a news report on location, you are much better off with the single-camera setup as you only need to see the reporter and the background and you just want to hear the facts, you would not want to watch a news report like that and keep seeing the camera angle change.