UNIT 20: SINGLE CAMERA

What is single camera? (the advantages and disadvantages of single camera)

Single camera is a type of filmmaking. Every camera movement or shot is taken using the same
camera, the shots which make up the scene are all taken individually. In the 1910s during
classical Hollywood cinema is when single camera set up developed and since then single
camera has been the most ideal mode of production for movies. The reason filmmakers use
single camera is because it allows them to have much more control over the camera even
though it is more time consuming. When multi camera is used, there must be someone in
control of each camera, whereas with single camera the director will have much more
responsibility and power over each shot, which is usually preferred. Single camera is mainly
used in movies but can also be used in documentaries, music videos, advertisements and tv
shows, the type of tv show that mainly use it are dramas, however reality tv and gameshows
usually use multi-camera (which is the other type of filmmaking). Using single camera can be
helpful in creating the right atmosphere for the genre of show the filmmakers creating, it's also
far quicker and simpler to film. The main problem that can arise from using single camera is if
different angles and shots are needed, the filmmaker must repeat shots and sometimes this can
become a challenge in keeping the continuity of the film. Another disadvantage is the
filmmaker cannot cover as much area as they could with a multi-cam set up.

This image is a clear example of a single camera set up.

Manual settings
Manual settings on a camera allow the person taking the photo to have more control of it as
they can choose the settings for themselves. To use manual settings correctly, you need to:
1. Using your viewfinder, check the exposure of your shot with the light meter visible.
Light meter, also known as an exposure meter, is a way of measuring incoming light to
check if your image is exposed right or not.

2. Decide on which aperture you want to use.

Aperture is effectively what can make your picture be blurred or not. A large aperture will
allow more light into your image and smaller aperture will allow less light in. The lower the f
number, the more blurred your image will be.

3. Adjust the shutter speed to how you would like it to look.

The shutter on a camera acts like a barrier to letting light in and when you go to take a
picture the shutter opens and lets light in. Shutter speed is the amount of time light is being
let into the camera. Shutter speed can be used to create motion blur on images.
4. Choose your ISO setting .
An ISO setting will make your image come out brighter or darken depending on the way you
set it, the ISO is your cameras sensitivity to light. The higher your ISO setting the lighter your
image will become. ISO stands for “International Organization for Standardization”. In
brighter surroundings you may want a lower ISO to balance it out and in darker
surroundings you may want a higher ISO.

5. When the light meter is lined up with 0, you know your image is correctly exposed.
 6. Now you can take your photograph on manual settings

Manual and auto focus shots.

This is an extreme close up

This type of shot usually frames the face, but sometimes can be just of the eye or mouth, it
shows specific portions of the person you're photographing/ filming's body. It can help to
emphasise the emotions a character is trying to convey, like in my example of an extreme close
up from ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’’, this shot successfully helps portray the seriousness of
the character helping the audience to understand the characters better without them having to
say anything. I like the way my shots turned out as I think they showcase the people in the
pictures emotions well. This shot can be used to convey a shift in a subjects emotion.

Auto Focus: Manual: Movie shot:

This is a medium long shot
Medium long shots can be used to show the details of a character (like what their wearing, their
expressions and what they're saying) and their surroundings at the same time (could be other
characters around them or the background/ setting).

This is a big close up

A big close up fills most of the screen and usually shows almost the entire face, unlike an
extreme close up, which only shows a specific part. It also differs from a normal close up as that
tends to include the shoulders and entire face. This type of shot can feel to the audience like a
face-to-face encounter with the character.
This is a long shot
A long shot shows the character on screens entire body but doesn’t always fill entire from.
However unlike and extreme long shot, the character is more of a focus to the shot than the
background. This shot is also useful as an establishing shot.

This is a close up
Close up shots are often used alongside medium and long shots, they closely frame a person.
Similarly to an extreme close up this type of shot helps convey the emotions of a character to
the audience. This shot shows greater detail.
This is an extreme long shot
This type of shot covers a wide area, used to show the character or subject of the shot from a
distance, usually so the surroundings can be the focus of the shot instead. It shows a vast view
of the background. An extreme long shot is often used in action movies, which is why my
example is from ‘Avengers: Endgame', this shot works well in action movies as it gives the
audience the ability to see everything going on around the character, like a big fight scene or a
view of the ruins they're standing around. It works well as an establishing shot.
This is a high angle shot:
A high angle shot is where the camera looks down on a subject from above. This technique is
often used to make the character seem weaker or powerless, it can also be used if the other
person is conversation/ the scene is elevated or being filmed from a long angle shot. In my
example from ‘Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix’, Harry is portrayed as defenceless and afraid
because of the angle, he is having to look up and is on the ground, making the audience see
hes dealing with someone stronger and more powerful than him.

This is a medium close up:

A medium close up shows only a small amount of the background and is mainly shoulders
upwards of a person.

This is a two shot:

A two shot is a shot of two people together. Often, it is used to convey and establish the
relationship between two characters. They don’t neccesarily have to be next to each other, as
long as two people are in shot its considered a two shot, however if they are next to each other
it usually coveys to the audience that they have an equal say or input into the scene or in their
dynamic as a pair. Two shot is used for relationships between anyone: a couple, best friends,
strangers meeting or enemies. I used this shot from the movie ‘The fault in our stars’, as I think
it showcases the dynamic between the two characters very well and is a great example of a two
shot.

This is a low angle shot:

A low angle shot is taken from below the character looking up at them. This shot is usually used
to make the character look more powerful or intimidating to the audience. A great example of
this is in Home alone, where the kidnappers are shot from a low angle signifying to the audience
how scary and intimidating they are. This creates the opposite effect from a high angle shot.
This is a medium shot:
This shot is used frequently in films as it shows a part of a character in detail but also shows
some of the background, unlike in a close up. It is a shot of the character from around waist
point and above.

This is an over the shoulder shot:

In this shot the camera is placed facing one character while behind the other. This type of shot
helps to show a characters perspective and expressions to the audience and is mainly used
when two characters are having a conversation.
This is a Tilted/canted angle shot:
This shot is purposefully slanted to be leaning on way or the other, it can also be referred to as
a Dutch tilt or Dutch angle. This type of shot is often used in psychological movies or scenes, as
it causes a certain uneasy feel.

HOW CINEMATOGRAPHY IS USED TO CREATE MEANING

Movie: Baby Driver

The film “Baby driver” uses cinematography very effectively to create meaning throughout their movie.
The opening scene begins with a low angle shot of the bank whilst cars drive past, with mainly their
tyres in shot. This shows an immediate example of how cinematography can create meaning as this shot
is focusing on the bank even though it’s behind the cars, already making the audience focus on it. The
camera then cuts to a big close up of Baby’s iPod, this connotes the audience his music is clearly
important to him.

The first look at each character the audience get are medium close ups of everyone inside the car. These
shots give the audience a chance to see each character clearly and as everyone looks quite serious it
shows something intense is about to happen. This builds tension for the audience as they don’t know
yet what will happen but from the shots so far they can get a sense that they may be about to rob the
bank or commit some type of crime.

The tracking extreme long shot of the robbers walking into the bank whilst they're holding guns in their
hands, with quite serious expressions on their faces and sunglasses on, is another example of how “Baby
driver” uses cinematography to create meaning. This shot connotes to the audience that they're about
to rob the bank the camera previously focused on and the way the camera tracks them as they go builds
tension for the audience as it feels like you're following them on their crime.

This contrasts to the way Baby drivers' character is portrayed through cinematography. When the
camera zooms in on baby driver he has a similar expression to the robbers, denotes to the audience
think he is like them, but then as the camera arcs around the car the viewer see him dancing and lip
syncing along with the music, holding his water bottle as a microphone. This connotes that even in
intense and high steak situations Baby can remain fun and laid back, making him far more likable to the
audience than the serious, stern looking robbers.

The panning of cars to Baby’s face while he's driving and looks very focused, conveys to the audience
how he now must be serious in order to escape. This movement also builds tension and the low angle
shot used to look up at him from the bottom of the car make him look brave and attentive. The idea of
Baby being portrayed as powerful and in control is further established using cinematography when the
camera cuts to a close up of everyone's faces individually and the robbers all look concerned, afraid and
unsure while Baby looks determined. This connotes to the audience that even though Baby originally
comes off as the laid back and fun character he's still sure of himself and knows exactly what he's
capable of, whilst the robbers originally came across as the determined, sinister characters yet now
they're afraid and unsure, making Baby come across as even more likable and the robbers look like
cowards.

The birds eye view of the three red cars builds tension for the audience as it’s the same view the police
officers in the helicopter would have and because of the way baby is portrayed as likeable, the audience
would be rooting for him to escape. We as the audience see him switch positioning of the card in the
wide angle shot under the tunnel but the officers cant see that so its even more tense as we know
something they don’t. The birds eye view also shows the audience a clearer view of the surroundings
and how much more dramatic the scene is becoming compared to the low angle shots of the car before.
The arc around the new car, when Baby and the robbers switch from the red car to the new grey one,
creates meaning via cinematography as it mimics one of the first shots in the original car. This signifies
to the audience that they're back in the same position they started and they're safe from the police
again. Also during the arc around the first car, Baby was dancing and lip syncing to the music, showing
that he was relaxed and comfortable, so by doing the same movement, the audience can interpret Baby
is once again relaxed and comfortable as he knows they're safe.

Tv show: Peaky Blinders night club fight scene

The Tv show Peaky Blinders very cleverly uses cinematography to create meaning and this can be seen
throughout each episode in each series. One key example of this is the night club fight scene which
begins with the three Peaky Blinder brothers; John, Tommy and Arthur walking into the night club, the
camera movement is a tracking shot from behind them and then it flips to a tracking shot in front, then
back to behind. This immediately shows the audience the importance of these three characters and the
fact Tommy is stood in front of his two brothers, therefore he's closest to the camera in the tracking
shot in front of them, shows he is the most important out of them all and the leader.

The close up of each musician playing their instrument while the music plays loudly shows the
intenseness of the club. This makes the audience understand the environment the Peaky Blinders have
just walked into even more and it builds tension as they can assume the intensity being created is
building up to something.
The over the shoulder shot of Arthur and the person beside him who's attempting to kick them out of
the club, is showing the audience Tommys perspective as its from over his shoulder. This further pushes
the idea to the audience that Tommy is the most powerful as they are seeing things from his
perspective. Then it cuts to a medium shot of Tommy talking which also shows the audience his power.

The immediate change from Steadicam to hand-held as soon as the fight breaks out makes the audience
feel more captivated and like they're a part of it. The camera shows Tommy makes the first punch from
a low angle shot, making him seem strong and powerful just like the other shots before have. The
camera movement changing to hand-held also makes it seem move vicious and violent as it makes it feel
like the camera is moving with the fight. It also clearly conveys to the audience the large change in
atmosphere that has just begun.

The cinematography used during the fight is fast jump cut medium close ups of punches and slashes of
their hats. This also helps to show the audience the change in pase that is going on from before. The fast
pace also helps to make it more exciting and tense for the viewer, keeping them on the edge of their
seat as its unknown to them what may happen next. The jump cuts also switch between the gruesome
fight and people still dancing and enjoying themselves in the club juxtapose each other significantly as
clearly people are having very different experiences in the same space. This denotes to the audience
that things like this may happen quite often here as no one dancing and partying seems to be affected
by the violence and blood everywhere.
The fast pan of the crowd as they scream and duck after the gunshot, shows the viewer the seriousness
and builds a large amount of tension. The viewer can see that before when everyone was fighter the
people partying didn’t take it seriously and continued to enjoy themselves, but now the gun has been
fired, we seen everyone who was partying before ducking and screaming. This helps emphasise to the
audience just how dramatic and scary the firing of the gun is. However, they see Arthur stood pouring a
bucket of ice over someone from a hand-held shot, showing that although the gunshot scared the
partiers, Arthur is unphased by it and is still in the mindset of the fight.

The camera tracks them from in front as they leave, Tommy still in the front as the other two brothers
follow behind while everyone watches them leave in silence. This connotes to the audience that after
the fight and the threats with the gun, the Peaky Blinders have still maintained the power they had and
now come across as even stronger.

Music video: Some- Steve Lacy

This music video uses cinematography to create meaning very successfully. The video starts of with an
establishing shot of Steve Lacy and his friends talking in a room with a sofa and instruments around
them. There is then an over the shoulder shot of Steve Lacy reading the word “PROM” boldly written on
a calendar. There are small cuts as he picks an outfit, his amp and some roses to show its taking him a
while to choose and he may be nervous, as hes picking his outfit his friend sayings to him “I don’t think
her saying no is the worst that can happen ,you’re probably overthinking it” . From this it's clear to the
audience that prom is coming up and Steve Lacy wants to go ask someone.

The next shot is a tracking movement of her feet as she's dancing to the song, this shows the audience
while he's stressing about her, she feels carefree. The audience can then see him in a medium shot
setting up his amp, rose petals and singing outside her house. Then we see a hand-held shot of her
dancing through her whole house with lowkey lighting. This clearly shows the difference in their moods
and emotions to the audience as she seems comfortable and is just enjoying herself and he's clearly
quite worried and overthinking it.

Next the audience can see a tracking shot of her walking through her house looking perplexed as she
walks up to her front door. It then quickly cuts to him running away and then a shot from over her
shoulder where you see his amp and rose petals across her front garden with him nowhere to be seen.
This connotes to the audience that he’s far to scared to just face his fears and ask her even though they
can clearly see he wanted to.
An in front tracking shot of him cycling away from a slight low angle, shows the audience that now he's
not having to face up to his fears he's acting far more confident. Some of the shots of him cycling away
are at a canted angle, showing the audience that maybe not everything's as right as it seems and that
there's a change now.

Suddenly, the camera cuts to a handheld tracking shot from inside a car speeding towards him, while
sounds of a car horn play which instantly would shock and scare the audience. Then it cuts to a low
angle of him on his bike as the headlights speed towards him. Then the screen cuts to black and the
music stops. This would shock the viewer as even though you don’t see the actual collision or any gore,
the viewer would still be imaging what just happened to him.

The music then starts back up in a slower more distorted tone and the camera then arcs around the car
at a canted angle starting from inside, where the viewer can see a cracked windshield and no one inside
the car. As the camera begins to face the front of the car, they can see Steve Lacy, now in a white suit
with rose petals surrounding him lay on the bonnet of the car. This shows the audience his death was
symbolic and as no one was driving the car, it shows if you run away from your fears far worse can
happen and that its all your own decision ultimately. Him being in the suit he might've worn to prom
with rose petals symbolising his blood is ironic, especially as his friend said in the beginning of the video
his friend said “i don’t think he saying no is the worst that can happen, you’re probably overthinking it”.
It could also be interpreted that the music video is just a representation of what he thinks the worst
outcome would be as he's still overthinking it.

The final shot is a Birdseye view of him on the car as the camera moves further and further away. This
lets the audience see the rose petals sprung out across the car clearly and shows them the effect not
facing his fears has had on him.

Maintaining continuity
Continuity in film is created by keeping consistency from shot to shot, the gives the film/
scene a far more seamless effect. Continuity is important as it can help to make the film feel
more real and engage the audience far more than it would if the shots didn’t correlate with
each other. Since scenes in film and tv are usually shot multiple times with days between
shoots, continuity is vital to disguising this from the audience. An example of how to
maintain continuity is, if an actor stands up and is holding a book in his hand, he should still
be holding this book in the next shot otherwise continuity is lost. A rule that must be
followed in continuity editing is the ‘180 degree rule’, this principle in film making explains,
you must chose a ‘line of vision’ on set and the camera can only go within 180 degrees of
 said line. If this rule is not followed it can make it far harder for the audience to understand
what's going on in the scene. Eyeline match; shows audience what character is looking at,
also help greatly to maintain continuity within a shot.

Camera movements from my video tutorial:

Tracking movement-

To take a tracking movement, you must have the camera follow the subject of the recording
backwards or forwards. To have the smoothest possible tracking movement, its best to used
rails and a dolly and push the camera along this whilst you film, as using equipment will be far
more effective and steadier than doing it by hand with the camera.
Crab movement-
To take a crab movement you move the camera left or right from the subject being recorded.
This movement is similar to a tracking movement; however the movement is horizontal. The
dolly and rails are also best to use for a crab movement, for the same reasons as the tracking
movement.
Panning movement-

To take a panning movement you must move the camera left or right while the camera remains
in a fixed position. Therefore, the placement of the camera does not move however what its
directed at will move horizontally. This gives a similar effect to a person turning their head,
while their body remains still. This movement can help to show more of what surrounds a
subject in the frame.
Pedestal movement-

To take a pedestal movement you vertically move the camera up or down while the camera
remains in the same fixated spot. This movement can be used the show the height of a subject,
while the framing remains the same for the viewer. It works best with a tripod that moves
vertically as then it can reach more height than a person could doing it by hand.
Tilt movement-

To take a tilt movement you keep the camera in the same place and rotate it up or down. It is
like your head looking from your feet up to the sky. This shot is the same as panning but done
vertically rather than horizontally. This movement can be used to reveal a new characters face
or follow action.
Hand-held movement-
To take a hand-held movement you hold the camera instead of using a stabilizer and it will have
a shaky effect. This movement can be used to act as a characters perspective or follow a
character quickly, this can make the audience feel immersed in the scene.
Arc movement-

To take an arc movement you move the camera around your object or character, rather than
using a panning shot and keeping the camera still. To keep the 180 degree rule it moves in a
semi-circle around the subject usually, in order to maintain continuity. This movement can be
done with both a still subject and a moving subject.
Steadicam movement-

To take a Steadicam movement you use a Steadicam, which effectively just makes your camera
stabilized. This stops any possible shakiness from occurring in your movements. It was
introduced by Cinema Products Corporation in 1975.
Crane movement-
To take a crane movement you put a camera onto a crane, a person can either physically direct
the crane by holding it and moving it, or they can place it onto a crane that has mechanisms to
move itself if you use the remote control. They were used often in silent films, usually to end
the film.
Zoom movement-

To take a zoom movement you use the camera lens to get closer to your subject without
moving the camera itself. Zoom movements look the best when the camera is perfectly steady,
so using a tripod would help. Zoom movements are more common to use on a phone in
everyday life rather than in films, as the more you zoom in the lower the quality of the image
becomes, causing it to look pixelated and blurry.