Save the Children Advert (2012) - this advert is designed to persuade the audience to donate to the charity and they achieve this through making the audience feel guilty. As it is a very sad and morbid subject already, the discreet use of different camera angles and shots (specifically angles) adds to the severity of the guilt. The opening shot of this advert starts with a mid shot of a malnourished child and the mid shot works very well in this situation because it sets the scene for the audience and helps them understand what they are about to watch. Although this is a very basic shot to open with, it almost acts like an establishing shot because it informs the audience with the setting, the subject and the mood, all in one shot. Also, the use of the fade from black has a huge impact because it resembles this situation coming from a dark place. From here, the camera then takes an abrupt cut to an ECU shot of the child's teary eyes, which solidifies the mood of the advert as the tears represent the sadness in the child's eyes. As this shot is so close to the subject, it is the only thing that the audience can pay attention to, therefore not allowing them to ignore the crying and adding to the strong sense of guilt which they aim to emit.The neighboring shot is a standard mid/wide shot of an ill baby laying down however this time they have added a higher angle to it. This is extremely clever because the height or angle of a shot usually represents to status, and in this case the shot is at a higher angle which is pointing down at the subject. In most other films this would suggest that the child is inferior to everyone else and by making the audience think this, it persuades them to donate money in order to give this child a better life which is their ultimate goal.

Two shots later there is one of the most powerful shots in the entire advert and this has been created through the use of composition, shot type and shot angle. First of all, the shot has once again been positioned at a low angle, however this time it is at the child's height. As he is laying down in a bed, it shows a great sense of weakness and fragility and because the camera is at his level, it almost puts the audience in that child's 'shoes' and makes them feel what he feels. Then, they have used a close up shot in order to capture the extreme detail of the child's condition and how it is affecting him physically. This has been used once again to make the audience feel guilty but this time it almost adds a sense of disgust because the severity of his illness is not the most pleasant thing to look at so they are forced into donating by the persuasion of their emotions, due to this specific shot. Finally, these two aspects are paired with smart composition of someones hand being put directly next to the camera and having the child reach out for it. The persons hand has been placed here to resemble the audience and as the child is reaching for it, it shows the audience that the child is reaching out for them in order to save his life. These three aspects of one shot have been combined to persuade the audience greatly and adds to the sympathy towards the children in that situation.

Brooklyn Nine Nine (2013) - This is a comedic TV series which revolves around a team of detectives with one main character being the 'stupid member'. The show has been airing since 2013 so it has seen a tremendous amount of series and episodes. Because of this, it is a shock to most people that it is a single camera production, as it has made so many episodes, many people would think that it takes multiple cameras to film a show like this. I have chosen to analyse a certain scene where criminals are being interviewed to determine who committed the crime. In this scene, there is a lot of Back and Forth shots with Shot-reverse-shot and POV shots as there is a lot of conversation. For example, at the very start of the scene, there is discussion between the detective and the civilian and here there are at least 6 cuts which take the audience to and from the discussion points between the two people. Personally, in this situation i think it would be much more effective to have two cameras to film this scene because it means that the scene could be filmed faster and also it means it would hopefully only take one take. By filming it with only one camera, this scene would have taken much longer than if the crew would have used two cameras however, it looks perfectly and i really like how they have not kept the camera on a tripod and added the shakiness to the shots. This is because it makes the scene feel realistic but not only this, because it is a comedy, the shakiness takes away the seriousness of the scene therefore reminding the audience that it is a comedy and making them relax.

Overall, I believe they did a very good and professional job of creating this series as a single camera production and this is because of a few reasons. The vast range of camera shots adds difference to the episode and keeps the audience intrigued as they are not looking at the same shots the whole way throughout the episode. Also, there are various different angles and lighting changes which once again, differentiates it to any other single camera production. 

When the party’s over (2018) Billie Eilish – this is an example of a single camera production in a music video. This video was released in 2018 for the young artist Billie Eilish and her song ‘When the party’s over’. The reason why this video is so unique and known is because it is all shot in one sequence with one camera, but it also does not have any cuts or edits. The only editing that this video has is the removal of some tubes which release the black fluid near her eyes and there most likely was some colour correction. Unlike some other single camera productions, you can tell that this has been shot with only one camera and this is through the lack of editing. Other genres of single camera productions like Drama’s or Comedies contain a lot of edits and cuts, making it much more difficult for the audience to tell if it was shot with one camera or multiple. In comparison, Billie Eilish’s video is much easier to determine that it was shot on one camera. The story behind this video is very progressive, this means that there are a lot of steps that go into the story (for example; she picks up the drink, then drinks it, then sets the cup down, then starts crying, then wipes her tears). Because of this, the video includes a wide range of close ups and ECU’s in order for the audience to focus on what she is doing or focus on the glass which she is handling. The opening shot of this video is a straight angled ECU shot of a glass which then slowly zooms out of the ECU to a mid shot. The use of this initial shot makes the audience aware of the glass because they do not know what it is at first, making them intrigued to find out what is to come. Throughout the entirety of the video, the camera does not go past a mid shot and this is because there is not really a proper location, it is just a white background therefore there is no need for an establishing shot to set the scene. In this case, a mid shot acts as an establishing shot. As stated earlier, there are no cuts or edits, and this tremendously aids continuity as there is not sudden cut in the media. This then acts as a nice flowing video for the audience to watch, without looking like it has been tampered with.

The composition of this video, like the camera angles, is rather unique and this is because they have framed and positioned Billie strategically but simply. When she sets the glass down on the table, the camera follows her hand with an ECU, therefore the only thing in the shot is part of the glass and her hand. As this is the only thing that can be seen, it leaves her time to compose herself and get prepared for the camera to swing back around. Because she has had this time to pause and prepare, it greatly decreases the chance for errors in her acting, meaning they will not need to edit if she messes up. Other than this example, everything else in the video is framed centrally and looks very organised and there is nothing in the frame that looks wrongly placed, making the video aesthetically pleasing.

V/H/S – Amateur Night (2013) Adam Wingard – V/H/S is a horror film based on tapes which characters have made from their experiences in a haunted house. All of the clips are from a persons perspective and was made to look like they actually filmed it. In this particular scene, the characters find out that their lover is actually a demon so they grab a camera and film the situation. This scene uses techniques which tell the audience that it has been filmed with only one camera. This is because there are no other perspectives throughout the entirety of the scene, meaning it has been filmed with one camera. It is made to look like a perspective shot by filming the situation from one of the characters POV. Throughout the scene he looks at his friend and the demon, so this is how the audience tells that it is a POV shot. They decide not to use a second camera because this adds to the horror effect as they are trapped in a certain spot which is from the eyes of this certain character.

Throughout this scene, there are a variety of shots coming from the character which are used to establish the scene. One example of this is a wide shot which is when the character returns from the bathroom and looks at the demon, this shot captures the subject and the surroundings of the room including the other characters, beds and lights. This creates the mood of the scene because it allows the audience to know that he is in a confined space with this demon, which therefore adds to the horror aspect of the film.

As far as composition is concerned, it is all hit and miss due to the nature of the scene. As they are terrified and want to get away, the composition of everything is a mess and there is no order to the scene. I believe this has been done on purpose in order to add effect and put the audience on edge due to the fact that there is no order to this scene. Because of this, it also ruins the continuity because it looks so messy. They have also edited this scene to look choppy and broken up, which ruins the continuity however it works perfectly with the genre as it adds to the suspense and tension. So even though the continuity has been ruined, it makes the film a lot better as it compliments the genre of the film.

Breaking Bad (2008) Vince Gilligan – breaking bad is one of the most famous and liked TV Dramas of all time, and it was shot using single camera production. I have chosen to analyse the scene where Walter and Hank are in the desert and they are ambushed by two cars full of men. As the lack of music already foreshadows something bad is about to happen, the scene opens with a low angle shot. This shot is perfectly used because it symbolises an element of suspense which puts the audience on edge before the action has even started. This is because the shot shows that the character is looking down on something (in this case it is a bad situation) and this tell the audience that something bad is guaranteed to happen. This adds a greater effect on the scene as it gives the audience some warning, therefore building a lot of tension in the scene. There are also a vast majority of wide shots and these work extremely well for this scene because as well as distinguishing the characters, it also sets the scene with the background of the desert. This is crucial because it allows the audience to understand where the situation is taking place and what kind of emotion the scene has. As this scene is taking place in a desert, the wide shots add a sense of isolation and loneliness, which means Walter and Hank have to deal with this situation without any help at all. There is also a use of handheld shots in this scene which adds a whole new range of emotions into the scene and this is because it makes the audience feel like they are experiencing this event with the characters. As the camera is not on a Steadicam or tripod, the shakiness adds to the intense effect of the gun fight because it adds realism as the camera would not be steady during an actual gunfight. During the gunfight, there are an intense amount of shot changes and angles which adds to the suspense and intensity of the gunfight, however people may think that these frequent cuts ruin the continuity however it actually makes the production look better. Although there are frequent cuts, they are not breaking the 180 degree rule and they are sticking to the 30 degree rule. These cuts are all vastly different in angle and distance from each other, adding to the variety of the shot changes. The 180 degree rule is crucial here because there are POV shots of people shooting guns, and they do not cross the same shoulder of the characters throughout the entire scene.

Benefits and Limitations:

When filming with only one camera, it comes with many different benefits and drawbacks that can have a huge impact on what you are filming as you may be in a situation where you need one or the other. One of the main benefits of single camera production is cost. As it is only one camera, it has a much smaller overall cost because it is only one device that you need to pay for. This also means that you would be able to allocate more of your budget to a higher end camera as you will be able to afford it, due to not paying for more than one camera. Another benefit of single camera production is that the scenes do not have to be shot in sequence. This is because the final piece will be put together in the editing process. As there is only one device, it means the images are on one storage device, making it easier for the editor to understand when each scene was shot and then making it easier for them to move the sequence around. However, if there was more than one camera then there is more than one storage device. This means as the images are sent to the editor, it will be much harder for them to rearrange the sequence. Finally, portability is one of the biggest benefits with single camera production because it means less equipment has to be moved to each location. In a multi-camera setup, there is an excessive amount of equipment that needs to be transported when moving location but this is not an issue with single camera production.

One of the most obvious limitations to this technique is the fact that there is only one camera. This means that it limits the amount of variety in your shots, as you cannot film with +3 cameras at once. If you want to capture different angles of the same shot, then it requires highly skilled actors because they will have to act the scene out multiple times and make sure it is identical to the first take. If the second take is different to the first then it ruins the continuity of the scene, as it appears to be different. Another limitation of single camera production is how time consuming the process is. As there is only one camera filming, it means it will take much longer to capture any other angles on set, as you need to wait until you are 100% happy with the shot until you can move onto the next one. Finally, a lack of realism occurs when you are filming with only one camera and this is because shots often have to be filmed more than three times. Usually, the first shot would be the actor’s best effort however, when they have acted the same scene three times, they lose energy and the shot may not be as realistic as it could be.

What is Single Camera Production?

Single camera production is a production that is made with only one camera on set. Most pieces of media in today’s industry use a multitude of cameras, which allows the filming process to be much easier as you can capture multiple different angles at once. However, the single camera technique is much harder as you would have to carry out many different takes in order to capture different angles. Although this is harder and more time consuming, it is much more beneficial for productions that are on a tighter budget.