Unit 22 Assignment 1 - SCP article

Do you know anything about single camera productions?

A single camera production is a production that only uses one camera for the entire filming session, SCP are usually filmed on location. There are many different reasons as to why we use single camera productions, for one it's cheaper. We know this because a single camera production, (obviously) requires less cameras. It's also cheaper because you don't have to hire as many staff, one camera means less equipment means less people required to run said equipment. In SCP's the performance of the actors are enhanced due to the fact that there is only one camera so the Actors who aren't on screen have time to prepare their bit and then work up their emotion and then when the camera is on them they can really go for it and release all of the emotions they have been storing because the camera hasn't been on them so they haven't been needing to act 24/7. It helps the creative process because they know when it's their time to act.

A multi-camera production is a production that uses more than one camera.

An example of a SCP TV show is '10 things I hate about you'

SCP's don't always use just one camera. Sometimes they'll use multiple to film a certain scene, for example a car crashing. They'll use multiple cameras for this because they can't really do that stunt over and over again filming it from different angles. Plus it will look different everytime SCP are usually filmed on location, this because some locations aren't meant to have multiple cameras on them. One camera means they can get in more places and get better shots without having to worry about lots of different cameras breaking.

There are many different formats of SCP's for example a serial drama, a serial drama is something that runs for 3 or 4 nights and then it ends. For example Black Mirror.

A series is something that runs continuously. Lizzie McGuire is an example of a SCP series. In this episode we can see them using jump cuts (9:40-11:00), this is effective to show both of the actors reactions in the show, also making it look like they had more than one camera to film it. It's also easy to get from one shot to another shot. Also at (11:01-11:26) They put two shots on one screen. This helps the flow of the episode go smoother so that they don't have to keep jumping back and forth between two people. You nearly always see this happen in phone calls on screen. This is best suited to a SCP because again it makes it look like there is more than one camera, also with a SCP you can't really get as much action on screen as you'd like without continuously jumping back and forth, so this helps it show more action at once.

A one-off film is just a normal film that has no sequel or prequel, most films are SCP's. An example of a one-off SCP (short) film is Coming of Age. This is a Drama.

Documentaries are usually SCP's too.

I think that all formats of these formats are best suited for a SCP. Mainly the serial drama one. I think this because a serial drama will only run for so long then it will stop. People don't want to spend a bunch of money on a production where the end product will only have so many episodes. (Like 5/6) So making it a SCP will save them a bunch of money and time in that they don't have to hire as many crew members.

SCP's have a lot of different ways that they can structure their narrative. One being Linear. Linear is where the story starts from the beginning and runs all the way through to the end in order. Which means that Non-Linear is a narrative structure that doesn't run from beginning to end, it starts in the middle. An example of a non-linear narrative is Utopia. Another one is realist. This is where narratives can be set in the real world.

There are two different types of endings that can happen, and open ending or a closed ending. An open ending is also sometimes described as a cliff hanger. Where there's still questions left to be answered that can either be answered in the next episode/film or that the audience has to try and answer itself. Closed ending is basically where the episode/film has a conclusion, all questions are answered and there is a final ending as such.

Narratives follow a 3 act structure. The first act is usually the introduction, then it goes into the rising action (which starts in the second act.) then act 3 is the crisis. It goes: Act 1, Set up. Act 2, Confrontation then Act 3, Resolution. The 3 act structure can be shown in a graph, where they set specific plot points to show a major event.

Filmmakers can tell stories through technical codes. This is usually the set up of the scene or the camera to tell a story without actually having to use dialogue or making it obvious to the viewers. The technical codes are, camera, editing, sound, lighting and mise en scene.

You can change the camera shots to show the viewers differences between characters. For example if you wanted to show that in a scene between two people, one of them was the stronger one and one of them was the weaker one. You would position the camera at a low angle when looking at the stronger one, because this gives him an air of power and makes him look bigger because we're looking up at them.  

Sound can play a very key part when trying to show a story. It's very easy to make the audience feel a certain way with certain sounds. If you wanted to build a scene up and create tension, it's simple to do this through sound. You'd play a quiet, dramatic backing track that would either build up or stay as it is to create suspense.

My opinion on Single-Camera productions is that they're a lot better than Multi-Camera productions in a lot of ways. It shows how high everyones skill level is, for example the editor would have less footage to work with so they're gonna have to try cut it all together to tell a story in an interesting way with lots of different cuts and edits. This brings us onto the filmmaker themselves, we would be able to see that they are very skilled with the camera and that they can use a wider variety of shots using just one camera. I feel like all in all SCP look better in the end than MCP

This is all you need to know about Single Camera Productions