Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Single Camera Techniques Essay

Single camera essay: Game of thrones
Game of thrones is a single camera show as only one camera would be used at a time when recording, this is because when shooting with single camera the director is given more control to get the shots that they want and also because they can be more creative with it as this way the director doesn't have to worry about getting other cameras in shot. Advantages of using a single camera are that any of the lighting or the set up won't be blocked at all and does not require Whereas when shooting with multiple cameras reduces the amount of takes needed for each scene, an example of this would be when using the 180 degrees line only one take would be needed as you can use several cameras that wouldn't be visible on camera. When shooting with a single camera when it comes to the sound in a scene the sound would not have to be manipulated to suit the positioning of the subject, whereas when shooting with multiple cameras the sound would have to change when changing shots between the two cameras to keep the viewer engulfed in the scene as it would sound different in a different position. 

Most popular dramas made for television are shot with a single camera giving the crew and director the chance to produce the scene they are recording perfectly, and also gives them the chance to create brilliant cinematography, that is one of the main reasons that single camera shows are so popular and why producers would often choose to record with a single camera. Another reason why single camera recording is so popular is down to the editing as several single camera television shows have won Emmys for their editing as 24 received 68 Emmy nominations with 20 wins with ER received 124 Emmy nominations, winning 22, as well as just being nominated for editing awards for the actors and actresses acting on a single camera show makes it far easier for the actors to perform to their best due to only having to pay their attention to one camera, creating better performances and winning the actors awards as well as the editors. Furthermore making the show more popular due to people and critics alike wanting to see the substance behind the awards. Following recent research because of shows such as Game of Thrones that has been getting 14+ million viewers an episode Drama is by far the most viewed genre on television with 41.1% of viewings on television being on watching dramas in both America and Brazil.

Despite the fact that the show does cost less due to the fact that it is a single camera show unlike most other television series Game of Thrones has a budget of 6 million dollars, that translates to 3.6 million pounds an episode. This is down to the fact that there are 4 film crews filming continuously all in different countries, one filming in Morocco, Malta, Iceland and Northern Ireland. In comparison to the LOST pilot budget Game of Thrones cost nearly half as much as it cost 10,000,000 Dollars, that translates to 6 million pounds, for a multiple camera show, filmed at only one location. 

Game of thrones is made by several different crews all filming simultaneously, with only two produces for each episode they have to fly from country to country to direct each of them as they would be working to a deadline. Doing this with a single camera is very time consuming as it took 36 days to produce the pilot of Game of Thrones. 
The production of Game of Thrones is done very naturally to fit in with the world that it is set in, as there is never a lot of light on camera and is often made to look like natural light: torches or fire. A filter is often used in the show to alter the emotion of a scene. This picture is an example of this as a filter has been used on this to reflect what the character is feeling as blue is seen as quite a cold colour. A green screen has been used in this scene to make the location seem more epic as the director wants the world to seem very extreme and reflect a fantasy setting.

 Different genres often have different looks when it comes to lighting, as a show like game of thrones has very darkly lit scenes and very little artificial light due to the fact it is filmed mostly outside, whereas a show like modern family for example has a very bright feel to it as more lighting would be used to make it seem happier and brighter. Different cameras would also be used in this case as in dramas like game of thrones and Breaking Bad different cameras are used with different depths of field, in dramas the cameras are used with a lower depth of field to place everyone's attention on the point of focus so viewers don't have to worry about what is happening in the background and behind the character. whereas in documentary's for example cameras with a larger depth of field are used to get every detail on camera. The mere fact that the show is based on several different genres all moulded into one show further pushes for an ever growing audience, with this show in particular being all of a fantasy, medieval, thriller, romance series thus gaining followings for each genre. 

Most television shows now have their own introduction, often with music playing that was specifically made for that program. The producers of Game of thrones use this to their advantages as there are not a lot of shows on television that is similar to this show, and seen as the intro music for game of thrones sounds very medieval it is very different from any other soundtrack, this is used to give a good impression on people, both who haven't watched the show and for those who have as it is easily recognizable down to how unique it is.  

The advantages of filming with just a single camera are that with using one single camera it is easier to perfect the lighting and the shot that you want without having to move the lighting and other cameras and lighting out of shot, as when using more than more camera you have to keep in mind that the lighting will alter when swapping between shots, the other cameras may also be in shot when doing this. Another advantage of making a production with a single camera is that the lighting and props will all consistently be in place. Some more advantages of single camera shooting is that the cameraman would have more freedom to move the camera and try out different things. Also shooting with a single camera is way cheaper as only half of the budge with only half of the equipment, Using just one camera isn't just cheaper but is easier to set up and take down and it would also be easier to collect all of the footage . The disadvantages of single camera shooting is that in comparison to shooting with just one camera it is a lot less time consuming than single camera recording as with single camera recording the scene must be recreated several times to get a variety of shots, the scene would also have to be almost identical when getting multiple takes. However when shooting with multiple cameras it would take longer to prepare before shooting. 

In each season of Game of Thrones so far there are 10 episodes per season, in each episode the episode is split up into several different story lines, of which each are split up between the different characters. The series is written to follow the series of books that the show is following, that was written by George R R Martin. You can tell that the show is following the books as the first two seasons followed the story almost word for word, whereas recently the show producers- David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have started to depart away slightly from the story of the books to make the show more exciting and unpredictable even for the people who have read the books. The author of the books however is also involved in the filming as he has produced some of the episodes. Game of Thrones is considered a fantasy drama, that is very accurate as it it both a fantasy as it includes stories that would never happen in real life, it's a drama as it is based on a made up emotional and exciting series of events.