Joanna Traill BTEC Extended Diploma 19th January 2015
Creative Media Production
Film and Television
Unit 22: Single Camera Techniques
Task 1: Understand the features of single camera production
There are several different types of single camera productions such as a Series, a Serial and Single Dramas.
Single camera productions often take on genres such as Period Dramas, Crime dramas, Comedies/Sit-Coms and Soap Operas. These genres appear across each different type of single camera production whether it be a series, serial or single drama.
Series
A television series involves a number of programmes and seasons, each involving the same characters and the same locations, however each episode has a different plot. Television series often air a new episode every week as well as repeating older episodes during daytime television.
There are many different genres in single camera series and each genre uses specific single camera techniques in order to portray the desired genre.
Period Drama
‘Downton Abbey’ is a British Television show (ITV 2010-present) that focuses on the lives of Lord Grantham and the British Aristocracy. The show witnesses what it was like in the 1900’s pre war, during war and post war for the aristocracy and also their workers. The series shows the audience what the class divide in that period of time was truly like and what was expected of both the upper and the lower classes.
The narrative of each episode in the Downton Abbey series are fairly similar. Each episode consists of a challenge that needs to be faced, whether it be for one of Lord Granthams daughters to find a suitor, or whether it be for the maids to learn how to read. The narrative always compares the problems of the rich to those of the poor. However the challenges that they face were often not resolved until a few episodes have passed. This made the series more intense and so the audience would want to continue watching it.
Downton Abbey has a very big budget and so the quality of the shots has a higher expectancy. We witness a lot of birds eye shots of the locations that the characters visit, mainly of the manor house. This illustrates to the audience that this particular family are very wealthy and these birds eye shots compared to those of the village emphasise the class difference. The camera angles are very wide when shooting in the manor house, whereas when we see the characters in other peoples homes such as Lady Crawley, even though her house is still large compared to others, the camera angle narrows to tell the audience that she is not as wealthy as the Granthams.
The narrative structure of the show is linear as the point of this period drama is to witness what happens to the lives of the aristocracy throughout the war period and as each series passes, the power that the aristocracy have lessens.
Sit-com
‘My Family’(BBC 2000-2011) is a British sit-com that looks at lives of the ‘Harper’ household. The narrative for each episode within the series is fairly basic with day to day problems occurring and eventually resurrecting by the end of each episode, only for a new problem to be challenged in the next episode. This linear structure is important for a sit-com to have as it is meant to be relatable for the audience and by having a linear timeframe from beginning of the day to the end of the day/week the audience can see the everyday lives of Ben and Susan Harper and the audience can relate to them.
The technical aspects are fairly basic. The camera angles and the lighting is vey normal as the show needs to represent plain, every day life to help illustrate the narrative and the characters. By having simple cuts and everyday sounds the narrative is justified further.
This is similar to the narrative structure seen in the American Television series ‘Friends’(1994-2004). This show focuses on the lives of 6 friends who all live in New York city and spend a lot of their time in their apartments and the local cafe ‘Central Perk’. The familiarity and repetition of these locations is key to the sit-com genre as it tells the audience that these places are an everyday occurrence to this group of people. Again the show is very relatable with various events happening to each of the characters such as new jobs, dating and starting families. There are certain plots that run along the whole series of the tv show, such as the love story between Ross and Rachel which isn’t fully resolved until the very last episode, however this storyline is not referred to in every episode of the series, therefore the show is still defined as a series and not a serial.
Soap Opera
Similar to a sit-com, soap operas are supposed to be relatable to the audience. ’Eastenders’(BBC) and ‘Coronation Street’(ITV) are both British soap operas that focus on the lives of a community of people in a particular location, the East End of London (Eastenders) and Manchester (Coronation Street). They experience new life events and challenges each day however unlike a sit-com the events usually last a few episodes before they are resolved; and once they are resolved a new challenge takes its place so that the drama continues throughout.
Both soap operas feature linear narratives that focus on the day-to-day lives of several families within the same community. Soap Operas are fairly different from other television series however as they have a lot more characters within their shows and a new episode is also aired every day of the week. The idea that a new episode is out each day replicates the audiences’ lives as it seems a lot more like ‘real life’.
The technical aspects of Soap Operas are also similar to those of sit-coms with simple cuts between scenes and basic daytime/night-time lighting with normal sounds such as busy market streets.
The endings to each of the episodes however are very different to other television series as they all have open endings that leave the audience on a cliffhanger. This makes sure that the audience tune in to the next episode the following day to find out what happens to the end of the particular plot.
Serial
A serial is a television show with one storyline/plot running throughout each episode. A serial doesn't tend to contain more than 5 episodes however it can vary, and each episode is broadcasted once a week.
Each episode in a serial contributes to the overall plot of the story and each week the audience find out more about the situation that the characters are in however the story is not resolved until the final episode.
Crime Drama
The Missing (BBC) was a serial aired in 2014, consisting of 8 parts, about a father who was devastated by the kidnapping of his son whilst they were on a family holiday in France. He has been looking for many years and becomes obsessed with searching for him, refusing to accept the possibility that he could be dead.
Due to the shows intense narrative, it is ideal that the technicalities of the production should be intense as well. During a dramatic car chase or a rapid hunt the cuts are very sharp with dramatic music added to build the tension for the audience. There are also many close ups of the characters faces, especially the father’s, so the audience can clearly see the pain in the mans eyes as he tries to find his son.
Each episode ended on an open ending that would lead into the next episode. It is important for a serial episode to have an open ending as this requires the audience to watch the whole serial in order to find out the outcome. It also adds to the drama of the narrative as the week that the audience have to wait to find out what happens next contradicts the urgency of the fathers desperation to find out what has happened to his missing son.
‘Our Girl’ (BBC 2014) is a serial about Molly Dawes (played by Lacey Turner) who joins the British Army as a medic and heads out to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan where she experiences first hand, what it is like to be a woman in the army as well as a civilian caught up in the Taliban’s war. 
This is a very powerful serial as it is based around true events. The realism of the series is very moving for the audience as many members of the audience may have experience with family members or friends being in the army and fighting the same war that Molly Dawes is in. To be able to represent the emotion that this story holds it is important the the technical aspects are correct. For example the camera angles featured within the show change often. Sometimes the camera acts as the characters view point, making the scenes intense as the audience feel as though they are there and seeing and experiencing what the characters are.
The sounds are also important to the show as well as the audience expect to here sounds of guns being fired and bombs etc. considering the location and the current situation.
Single Drama
A single drama is a one off episode, often lasting about an hour/ hour and a half, and is usually based on a true story or current event.
Comedy
‘Boy in a Dress’ is a ‘tounge in cheek’ comedy about a young boy who is asked by his friend to model one of her dresses which then see’s him expelled and kicked off the school football, of which he is their star player.
This single drama is an adaptation of one of David Walliams’ books. The narrative deals with realist events such as cross-dressing and exposes the judgement and discrimination that some people have. This single-drama is made to be a comedy as it emphasises how absurd it is to judge someone on what they wear and it makes a mockery of those who do judge.
The show is meant to be light hearted and so the technicalities of the show must replicate that same message. The camera angles featured are very casual, which juxtaposes how unusual it is for a young boy to wander into school wearing a bright orange, floral dress.
