Doctor Who is a well known science fiction single camera drama series, it includes several different camera shots, below are some screen shots taken from series 6 and the camera shots used.
This is a Long Shot, it shows all the actors and the car that played a part in the scene.
This is a Medium Shot, it is zoomed in to the three characters more but all three are still fully within the shot.
This is a medium close up, the camera here is zoomed in close to capture the characters expression but isn't extreme where you could only see a specific part of the face.
These two shots are over the shoulder shots, the first is over the shoulder of a single person and the second is over the shoulders of two .
This shot is a point of view shot, by using this type of shot you get to see what the character sees.
Unable to get the clip that this still is from I took a screenshot instead, this is a tracking shot, it follows the actors while they are riding horses, it is also an extreme close up.
In television there are parts of the footage that looks lifelike, such as someone hanging onto a building for dear life because they don't want to fall 50 floors onto the pavement below, Green Screen is a smart way to "Film on Location" without having to worry about weather or crowd control, an example of how green screen is used in a way like I described above is in series 4 of doctor who, Donna is hanging from a window cleaners cab about 40 floors up and is holding on to a piece of metal for dear life screaming, the Doctor is trying to get her to safety, in the clip below we see a snippet of that happening but in front of a green screen, the building and the ground are just added in editing.
Slow Motion is another interesting effect you can add to video, well you can also edit the settings on a camera to shoot in slow motion but you can also do it in editing, the video below is a classic star wars light saber fight and parts are edited to add suspense,
Flash Back - this type of footage allows part of the television program or film to go back in time to have a character re live a memory and it allows the viewers to see that, in some shows and films the colour of the footage isn't changed but a quick fade out to white and fade in from white are added to make the viewer aware that it is the start of a flash back, another editing technique that can be used for flash backs are edit the footage to Black and white indicating that the film or show has gone back in time.
Diegetic - Sound that originates from within the series/serial itself, for example in Hollyoaks in the short clip below the two actors are doing their dialogue and you can hear music in the background ever so slightly so that you can hear it but not too loud so that it distracts the viewer from the dialogue.
Non Diegetic - Sound that doesn't originate from filming aka sound that is added in editing, for example in credits, the clip below is the ending credits for series 6 of Doctor Who, the theme tune that is used in the intro credits is also used in these ending credits.
Voice Over - Normally in the form of a narrator for a novel
Sound Effects - A range of either man made or digitally created noises that are added for comedy effects, applause etc,
Music - Also known as a soundtrack, every television series and film releases a soundtrack at some point, Doctor Who for example has orchestral music in its series, even the theme tune is a part of the sound track, below is a well known track taken from the Series 5 sound track called Amy Pond's Theme,
Single Camera set-ups are different to multi camera set-ups in various ways, the first is the budget, it will cost more to hire a single camera than it will to hire three cameras, this is because it will take longer to shoot a full single camera production with having to move the camera to change shots meaning that it costs more than a multi camera production which can easily set three cameras up to the next three shots and then move one camera to the next shot once it has finished shooting. Another difference is that the director has more control over each shoot with a single camera and the shoot can begin quicker whereas a multi camera shoot needs time if more than one camera is being used in a single shoot for precision. A third difference is time, a single camera production will take longer to shoot because of the amount of times the camera needs to be moved during the shooting of a scene whereas the shooting of a scene with up to three cameras can be done two to three times quicker. One of the most important parts of a single camera production is the camera work, since one camera is being used, 60% of the time shots need to be perfect in one take. In single camera productions there is a rule called the 180 degree rule which means that there is a line of action that the camera cannot pass, for example look at the diagram below, If the camera stayed within the 180 degree area then when shooting a scene with two actors that have both over the shoulder shots and long shots that show the two actors from the side, the actor (in blue in the diagram) is on the right and the other actor (in orange) is on the left, that is how the over the shoulder shots will be seen but if the camera went out of the 180 degree zone and shot the long shots then, the actor on the left will suddenly be on the right and vice versa which will make confusing times when it comes to editing, however if it is impossible to re shoot the long shot then in editing the shot could be flipped correcting the shot but if there were any kind of text anywhere in the shot then it would be mirrored and would also confuse viewers, this is why in single camera shoots there is the 180 degree rule. Camera Shots Below are the different types of camera shots used in the industry as well as how these would be seen on screen,
Each single camera set up depends on the type of shot for example a long shot the layout is like below, You see the camera is in between the two actors at a long distance. If the shot was an Extreme Close Up though then the camera would be at a close distance to the actor but instead of having the camera being shoved right into the actors face the camera would be positioned at a short distance then would be zoomed in as close to the actors face as possible. With Over The Shoulder shots, the actors have to act out the scene twice, this is because the camera shoots facing one actor the first time then the camera is moved and the second actor then has the camera facing them, the way these sort of scenes are filmed is as follows: If there are 10 shots of dialogue between two actors in one scene then the camera will first focus on one actors face and will record the dialogue for shots 1,3,5,7 and 9, the camera is then moved to be facing the second actor and the same dialogue is spoken and the camera gets the shots for 2,4,6,8 and 10. This is the most time consuming shot for a single camera production. Shots such as Crane shots, where the camera captures footage high over the actors, requires larger equipment, Cranes, these are mostly made of steel which is strong enough to hold the camera, after spending time looking for places that hire out these kind of cranes I was unable to find any but I did however find out about them a bit more, cranes are manually operated as well as controlled like a normal crane, manual cranes are like see saws as soon as one end has weight on it, it goes up but with these kind of cranes although they have a small structure on the side to help stable them sometimes if the crane is filming a shot that is a long way away then the crane will get top heavy and could fall causing damage to the camera as well as some of the crew on the other end, so weights are placed on the opposite end to prevent this. The video below is from the MTV festival in Sweden, it shows the movement of a camera on a crane that is electronically controlled, it moves at quite a speed too.
Tracking shots are where the camera is attached to a either a vehicle or a device with wheels and follows the actors while they are walking or moving at a fast speed that can only be obtained in a vehicle. I want to use two examples for this kind of shot, the first is from a video found on YouTube called "Doctor Who Series 3 Outtakes" it shows a tracking shot, at the end David Tennant had to stop because the track that was laid out for the cart to smoothly move on ran out before the dialogue had finished,
The second clip I wanted to use is from a music video, originally I wanted to use the behind the scenes video from the Steps music video Tragedy but both the ones I found on YouTube had been blocked by copyright so instead I had to show the music video where several tracking shots are used,
In a different part of this music video mainly at the beginning you see the singer and her father walking towards the camera which is slowly moving backwards, this is a tracking shot but it isn't done on a cart and track, this is done by using what's called a Steadicam, A special device that was first used in 1975 and is designed to move smoothly along the ground to give a smooth shot it has a secure fitting harness designed to fit onto a person so that it can be kept steady, hence the name, it has an arm attached to the harness so that the camera man controls the device.
In TV productions there are always different genres for the finished production to be categorised into, Drama, Comedy, Crime, Soap Opera etc are to name a few, when programmes are to be explained they refer to the Genre as well as the Format, For example Doctor Who is a Sci-Fi series, it is based around scientific fiction because it includes theories of time travel as well as space and talking about items similar to that of the big bang, we know that it is a series because for about 12 weeks of the year we sit down on a Saturday night and watch an episode for 45 minutes.
Hollyoaks however is a soap opera, like most soaps, Hollyoaks always has a main story line, for example the latest being the murder of the character Texas Longford, and several storylines that branch off it, for example the cancer scare of Tony Hutchinson. This clip also features a flashback,
A serial is similar to a series, it has several episodes with a finale at the end of 12-13 episodes, a serial though is when a storyline runs through the whole series and each episode continues on from the last like Hollyoaks.
Genres
In television there are so many different genres that separate series and serials, below is a list of the different genres,
Action
In action series the storyline is written so that the characters take risks at every corner and leave viewers on edge.
Adventure
A genre that leads the characters to vast places beyond a normal reach and struggle through various obstacles to get to their destination.
Comedy
a series full of funny or comical events, aimed to make audiences laugh. It is a very open genre where anything goes.
Crime
This type of series is usually based on crimes that are or have been committed, series of this genre can also account the life of a criminal.
Fantasy
Series under this genre have stories about magic or supernatural forces, though are also known to include elements from other genres for example Science Fiction
Historical
a series based on a set historical event and are written in text book format which may or may not focus on a specific person.
Horror
Series under this genre are designed to frighten the audience, through suspense and shock.
Mystery
Series under the mystery genre are also usually associated with the crime genre since some of the time the series consists of murder investigations.
Romance
Series in this genre are always a love story, it tells the story of how couples met, bumpy relationships etc.
Science Fiction
A genre similar to fantasy but involves more scientific understanding to describe the universe the series takes place in.
There are several different forms Linear, Non Linear, Single Strand and Multi-Strand.
Linear stories, also known as sequential, are when the storyline is in chronological order, you watch the beginning, the middle and the end with no flash backs or flash forwards its all played out in order and in the present time. The disadvantages of Linear story-lines are that they can be quite dull and boring though the advantages of this type of storyline is that the audience understands what is happening in the story.
Non-Linear stories, also known as non-sequential, are the opposite to Linear, the storyline isn't in chronological order and do not follow a set timeline, the plot is distorted and features flashbacks and dream sequences (or past, present and future). The disadvantages of this kind of storyline are that it is easy for the audience to get lost in the storyline and begin to misunderstand the plot, the advantages are that past and future tense help the audience understand the story better.
Single-Strand stories are when the plot of the story is focused on one single character. The disadvantages of this kind of form is that the story would be boring and there would be nothing to build up from, the advantages though are that the audience can focus on just that one character and their story.
Multi-Strand stories are the opposite of Single-Strand, instead of one single character and their lives, the storyline has multiple characters and different lives, the advantages of this kind of form is that the audience can see different characters who lead different lives though the disadvantages of this is that the views may be biased and the audience may favour one character over another. Some examples of each: Some examples of Linear single camera dramas, Coronation Street, Downton Abbey, Come Fly With Me. Non-Linear, Doctor Who, is set in a different period of time in each episode. Single Strand, My Name is Earl, Lizzie McGuire, Derek. Multi-Strand, Zoey 101, Sex and The City.
A single camera drama is when a television programme or film uses a single camera to shoot the entire project. Huge series such as Friends and Downton Abbey use more than one camera and therefore are not single camera dramas but Come Fly With Me and Sex and the City, which is still shown on channels today, are both single camera dramas despite their scale. Single Camera drama's are more expensive to produce than multi camera drama's due to the long shooting periods, locations and other parts such as feeding the cast and crew if the location cannot. So although series such as Gavin and Stacey seem to be slightly low budget from behind the scenes content the truth is the exact opposite. Single camera drama's have several different genres,
