Single Camera
Single camera is a production also known as Portable single camera, is a method of film-making and video production. Single camera was originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema in the 1910's and has remained the standard mode of production for cinema but in television, both single camera and multi camera productions are common. These are some of the formats included in dramatic story-telling. Single camera is used constantly in Film making. This term means that there can be numerous cameras filming, however the directors are only bothered about one camera. They will always be looking at one screen and what that is catching. Big Hollywood films are good examples of this, as they always use single camera techniques. Here is an image to show you how single camera can be set-up. This camera would usually be called A as it is the main camera that the directors are bothered about. Single camera look better than multi-cameras because they have more time and care to spend on individual parts, whereas in Multi-camera, the full set has to be lit correctly to make it right. Single cameras only have to light the one area that they are filming at one time which means there is more effort put into each shot. Single cameras are often bigger budget productions, meaning they have more time to perfect the little things. For example, things like The walking dead and Game of thrones have breaks where they are not broadcasted, this is because they spend more time creating the production and making sure everything is how they want it to be before they come back with a new series. Whereas productions like Coronation street which is a multi-camera, constantly broadcast and they have, lets say, a week to film everything, single camera productions film for around a month.
Serial is a television genre which has a continuous plot that unfolds in sequential episode-by-episode fashion. This genre, most of the time, possesses narrative complexity. They typically follow many story arcs that span entire television seasons, or even in some cases, the entire run of the series. Serials are often described as a serialisation from a book or a specific event. An example of a serial is 'Pride and Prejudice'. This serial is set in Netherfield estate in Hertfordshire; it is a romance set in the early 1800's. This serial consists of 6 hours- long episodes, which are adapted from the Jane Austen Novel of the same title. Here is an example of an episode of Pride and Prejudice. As you can see, people talking around a table, scenes like this are often single cameras because they get to take more time on the specific people talking rather than the whole scene and backgrounds.
Single drama. Single drama is a one-off story for TV, and is usually based on a topical issue. An example of a one-off single drama is toast. This was broadcasted by the BBC. Single drama used to be the staple of television but is now quite rare. They will be based on a subject matter that producers think is more appropriate to television than the cinema, for example 'My murder'. This was released in April 2012 and aired for an hour. Another example would be 'Dirty War' which is about a terrorist attack on London. These are all real life events that happened and they thought that it would be better to run a one-off programme about the event rather than a full series as it would not be appropriate.
Soap Opera, these are programmes we see on TV all the time. Things like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. These are soap operas because they have multiple characters who carry many storylines at once. Usually no single storyline will dominate and storylines can carry on for weeks or months before coming to a conclusion, for example, when glen got with maggie, this will have been a build up in the script as it went on leading up to this point. A crucial element that defines a soap opera is the open-ended serial nature of the narrative. Stories span over several episodes of one soap. One of the defining features that makes a television programme a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is 'that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. The video below shows glen with maggie.
Series. These are shows that are broadcast at least once a week regularly. There may be basic situations, where the same characters will be used to tell a different story in each episode. For example, breaking bad. This is an episode on every week, where characters have their own storylnes etc that carry on through each episode.
Narrative structures. Narrative form is the structure through which films and television programmes tell stories.
Realism is a narrative structure. The media always mediate or encode reality. It is therefore impossible to gain a first-hand direct experience of the world via the media, no matter how 'transparent' or 'virtual' their representation of reality is. Even live sports coverage and the news involves selection and manipulation of images that effects the 'reality' of the text. However, audiences expect what they see, listen too or read to have some connection to their own lives and experiences. This helps them to identify and understand the text and it's meaning. We often judge how successful a text is by measuring it against our own experience. What is 'real' therefore can become a subjective and controversial concept, as what one person considers to be realistic may not be considered so from another persons perspective. examples of this could be things like Batman (dark knight). In this film there will be elements that are realistic and elements that aren't. For example, compared to the old batman, they more comic based where most things don't look or act realistic. Let's take the suit for example, in the old Batman films, the suite was not realistic, as when you watch it it shows that batman cannot move his head or body properly in it, making it less realistic as he wouldn't be able to fight properly etc. Whereas in this film, the suite is so much more modern where he can move in it etc. Things like the set. These all look better as the films go on. The lighting and the way the background looks makes it look more realistic.
Non-realism on the other hand is more often used in films than TV programmes as series etc try to make it look as realistic as possible. This means things are the complete opposite of reality. Thing happen that would never happen in real life. The avengers for example. In this film nothing is realistic, Captain America who has a shield that can stop anything, fly and come back to him etc, Iron man who has a super suite and can fly. All things that people expect to see in films but no are not real life. This make films more interesting as people don't want to see what they see everyday in real life. Camera shots in films are also not realistic. For example there will be a lot of low angle and high angle shots which you wouldn't see in a normal TV show. Here is a clip from the Avengers showing how unrealistic The characters and actions are.
Linear in film. Linear is the structure of the narrative. For example, a beginning middle and end. When creating films like Star wars etc, the producers will focus mainly on the beginning and ending parts and the middle will come from these. For example, It will always begin by introducing characters etc, then the mentor is introduced. After this, they will be told about a mission or adventure where the mentor leads them. At the end of the first part, the mentor dies and the main character decides to go on without them. Then the middle part happens which is all over, we see parts of the film that don't need to be there but are to fill out the time, then we get to the ending. We start with an uproar of some kind, like a big fight scene etc, then another character dies, the ending gets more calm and we end with the good guys winning or a happy ending and the main character we started off with returning to where they started. Here is a picture to explain what i am talking about, it is called the Heroes journey. It shows you how the main character is called to adventure, things happen along the way and we end up with the main character returning to where he or she began.
Non-linear. This can also be known as; disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative and is a technique in film making. This is when a film does not follow a chronological order. The film is dotted about with flash backs etc. An example of one of these films would be 'Kill Bill' where there is a girl who is out to to kill a man called Bill. It shows you all the revenge she is on at first then goes to before hand and shows you why she is on revenge. When it skips back, it shows us that she is at her wedding when someone comes in and starts to shoot. They then think she is dead and bury her, however she isn't and she gets out. She then goes for revenge which the film has already showed you. This is a good example of a non linear film because it tells you the second half of the story before the first half so when the story changes, you have to work out what is happening yourself and set the story. These stories for some people will be more interesting because they have to figure out the story without it being simple to understand. This film shows how the narrative does not follow the direct casualty pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot line. It is often done to mimic the structure and recall of human memory, but applied for other reasons as well. Below is the film of Kill Bill.
Technical requirements. Things included in this are; Lighting, Editing, Sound and directorial style. These are all very important things in TV and Film because without these a full production could not be put on.
Lighting is one of the most important parts of a production . Without the lighting effects, you would not be able to see anything. In single camera, the lighting is always better than multi-camera because like i said before, the directors have more time to concentrate on getting specific lighting right on two or three characters. They can make sure that the colour is right for where they are and they do not need to light up a whole set and waste good lighting on bigger things. Lighting can be used to build a scene by using different coloured lighting. For example, in film genres like Sci-Fi or action, often you will see dark lighting to show tension throughout the scene. For example, the opening scene of the film 'Drive' shows tensions all the way through by the shots etc, but the whole opening scene is set in practically black lighting which makes you feel it even more. Then when that finishes and he walks out of the car park, the lighting comes up to show that the scene is over. Here is that opening scene.
Editing is what puts the whole production together. This happens after the filming has been done. This is important because they have to make sure they are connecting every shot together correctly. If they do not link shots together then the whole production will not work together. It is important to make sure everything is in order, unless they are editing a non-linear film. This still need to be edited well to make sure everything works and the audience are going to understand what is going on. Edits set the scene in every production that happens. For example, when there are fast moving cuts and edits it makes you want to know what is going on, its introducing you into the film without you even realising. Cuts/ editing is the main thing that shows you if the film is linear or none linear. These are the things that make the audience understand what is happening in the storyline.
Sound. Sound is very important when making a production, things like music in the background, talking and even ambient noises. Using 'Drive' as another example, they want you to clearly understand what is going on therefore they exaggerate each little noise louder than what it would be. For example, the ticking of the clock, it would never be that loud in real life, but they want you and the scene to feel tense and make sure thew audience know that they are against the clock and makes you sit on the edge of your seat. The video above shows where this happens. Music/sound always sets the scene i a production. You know when something good is happening because there will happy bouncy music, for example in the film Despicable Me when drew has met the girl he's in a happy mood. Here is that scene.
Non-linear. This can also be known as; disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative and is a technique in film making. This is when a film does not follow a chronological order. The film is dotted about with flash backs etc. An example of one of these films would be 'Kill Bill' where there is a girl who is out to to kill a man called Bill. It shows you all the revenge she is on at first then goes to before hand and shows you why she is on revenge. When it skips back, it shows us that she is at her wedding when someone comes in and starts to shoot. They then think she is dead and bury her, however she isn't and she gets out. She then goes for revenge which the film has already showed you. This is a good example of a non linear film because it tells you the second half of the story before the first half so when the story changes, you have to work out what is happening yourself and set the story. These stories for some people will be more interesting because they have to figure out the story without it being simple to understand. This film shows how the narrative does not follow the direct casualty pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot line. It is often done to mimic the structure and recall of human memory, but applied for other reasons as well. Below is the film of Kill Bill.
Technical requirements. Things included in this are; Lighting, Editing, Sound and directorial style. These are all very important things in TV and Film because without these a full production could not be put on.
Lighting is one of the most important parts of a production . Without the lighting effects, you would not be able to see anything. In single camera, the lighting is always better than multi-camera because like i said before, the directors have more time to concentrate on getting specific lighting right on two or three characters. They can make sure that the colour is right for where they are and they do not need to light up a whole set and waste good lighting on bigger things. Lighting can be used to build a scene by using different coloured lighting. For example, in film genres like Sci-Fi or action, often you will see dark lighting to show tension throughout the scene. For example, the opening scene of the film 'Drive' shows tensions all the way through by the shots etc, but the whole opening scene is set in practically black lighting which makes you feel it even more. Then when that finishes and he walks out of the car park, the lighting comes up to show that the scene is over. Here is that opening scene.
Editing is what puts the whole production together. This happens after the filming has been done. This is important because they have to make sure they are connecting every shot together correctly. If they do not link shots together then the whole production will not work together. It is important to make sure everything is in order, unless they are editing a non-linear film. This still need to be edited well to make sure everything works and the audience are going to understand what is going on. Edits set the scene in every production that happens. For example, when there are fast moving cuts and edits it makes you want to know what is going on, its introducing you into the film without you even realising. Cuts/ editing is the main thing that shows you if the film is linear or none linear. These are the things that make the audience understand what is happening in the storyline.
Sound. Sound is very important when making a production, things like music in the background, talking and even ambient noises. Using 'Drive' as another example, they want you to clearly understand what is going on therefore they exaggerate each little noise louder than what it would be. For example, the ticking of the clock, it would never be that loud in real life, but they want you and the scene to feel tense and make sure thew audience know that they are against the clock and makes you sit on the edge of your seat. The video above shows where this happens. Music/sound always sets the scene i a production. You know when something good is happening because there will happy bouncy music, for example in the film Despicable Me when drew has met the girl he's in a happy mood. Here is that scene.
Directorial Style. Every director has their own distinctive film-making style that is different from others. Through the analysis of film techniques, differences between filmmakers' styles become apparent. There are many technical possibilities to use in a film. For example, Quentin Tarantino is know for his unpredictable first earned widespread fame 'Pulp Fiction' before directing many more. Some directors like to direct montage and some Long Takes. This can also depend on the type of film or production they are making. Some directors want the audience to understand exactly what is going on and others prefer to leave the audience to make their own mind up and figure it out for themselves.
