Multi – Camera Techniques

1. Multi – Camera Techniques Unit 23

2. What is Multi Camera? • The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are used on the set and simultaneously record or broadcast a scene. It is often contrasted with single-camera setup, which uses one camera. e.g.

3. The two outer cameras shoot close-up shots or "crosses" of the two most active characters on the set at any given time, while the central camera or cameras shoot a wider master shot to capture the overall action and establish the geography of the room. In this way, multiple shots are obtained in a single take without having to start and stop the action.

4. Benefits of Multi- Camera • More efficient for programs that are to be shown a short time after being shot as it reduces the time spent film editing or video editing the footage. It is also a virtual necessity for regular, high-output shows like daily soap operas. Apart from saving editing time, scenes may be shot far more quickly as there is no need for re-lighting and the set-up of alternate camera angles for the scene to be shot again from the different angle. • It reduces the complexity of tracking continuity issues that crop up when the scene is reshot from the different angles. It is an essential part of live television.

5. Drawbacks • A less optimized lighting which needs to provide a compromise for all camera angles and less flexibility in putting the necessary equipment on scene, such as microphone booms and lighting rigs. These can be efficiently hidden from just one camera but can be more complicated to set up and their placement may be inferior in a multiple-camera setup.

6. Multi-Camera Formats In television, multiple-camera is commonly used for; • Sports Programs - The Olympic Opening Ceremony • Events - Glastonbury • News Programs - ITV News at 10 • Soap Operas - Hollyoakshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnQYFqTZLfY • Talk Shows - Alan Carr http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alan-carr-chatty-man/Jimmy Fallon http://youtu.be/m8BaVKUoUGo?t=1m40s • Game Shows – Celebrity Juice http://youtu.be/uTdvRN1LUPo • Sitcoms –(USA) Friends, How I met your Mother, The Big Bang Theory (UK) Miranda, Mrs Browns Boys,

7. USA Sitcoms • Many American sitcoms from the 1950s to the 1970s were shot using the single camera method, including The Addams Family, The Munsters and The Brady Bunch. These did not have a live studio audience and by being shot single-camera, tightly edited sequences could be created, along with multiple locations, and visual effects such as magical appearances and disappearances. • Multiple-camera sitcoms were more simplified but have been compared to theatre work due to its similar set-up and use of theatre-experienced actors and crew members. • While the multiple-camera format dominated US sit-com production in the 1970s and 1980s, there has been a recent revival of the single-camera format with programs such as The Office (2005–2013), 30 Rock (2006–2013), Modern Family (2009–present).

8. UK Sitcoms • The majority of British sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s to the early 1990s were made using four cameras and initially broadcast live. Unlike the United States, the development of completed filmed programming, using the single camera method, was limited for several decades Instead, a 'hybrid' form emerged using (single camera) filmed inserts, generally location work, mixed with interior scenes shot in the multi-camera electronic studio. It was the most common type of domestic production screened by the BBC and ITV.

9. Single & Multi Camera Hybrids • The League of Gentlemen • Psychoville • Little Britain • Friends (USA) – Visiting the UK episode

10. Single - Multicamera • Teachers UK – Teachers USA • The League of Gentlemen S1/S3 • Doctor Who • 30 Rock Live http://youtu.be/DXi5cNTr8Iw

11. Single – Multi Camera Controversy Interviewer: You're the only multicamera sitcom on Fox right now. Why not a single-cam? Sulkin: There's a certain warmth and familiarity and kind of comedy that you just can't get with a single-camera show. CBS knows how to do [multicam], and they continue to do that, but it feels like other networks have fallen off of that format. It just seems like a good opportunity for us to try to bring that back for Fox. – Director of DADS, Seth Mcfarlens new live action sitcom. • http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dads-eps-court-criticism-make-630849

12. Up All Night • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpI1JRh9gp4 • http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/nbcs-up-all-night-to-switch-to-multi-cam-format-2nd-season-order-upped-to-16-eps/

13. Films & Multi Camera Most films also use the single-camera setup. In recent decades larger Hollywood films have begun to use more than one camera on-set, usually with two cameras simultaneously filming the same setup, however this is not a true multicamera setup in the television sense. Sometimes feature films will run multiple cameras, perhaps four or five, for large, expensive and difficult-to-repeat special effects shots, such as large explosions such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day. This is not a true multicamera setup in the television sense as the resultant footage will not always be arranged sequentially in editing, and multiple shots of the same explosion may be repeated in the final film—either for artistic effect or because the different shots are taken from different angles they can appear to be different explosions to the audience. Multi Camera is also sometimes used in film for unconventional purposes such as in Oliver Stones Natural Born Killers.

14. Unit 23 Task 2DEADLINE- THURSDAY 3rd OCTOBEREnd of lesson

15. Research Material • Studio 60 on the sunset strip