SINGLE CAMERA SCENE ANALYSIS

SINGLE CAMERA SET UP

I have done some research into the use of single camera filming and found that the single camera set up is when only one camera is employed on set. This means that each shot used to make up a scene is filmed independently. This also means that the actors usually have to act out the exact same shot again and again so that the camera can capture it from different angles, and the production team can change things such as lighting and continuity errors.

SHERLOCK - GOODBYE JOHN

The first scene that I am going to evaluate is a scene often named 'Goodbye John' from the BBC One series Sherlock. The beginning shot in this scene is an over-the-shoulder shot, from over the shoulder of the character John. In this shot, we can see that John is on the phone and is looking upwards. We can also see that there is a person standing on top of the building that John is looking up towards, this character is Sherlock, and also appears to be on the phone. We then cut to a close up shot of John's face as he shakes his head and then takes a step back while speaking on the phone. The next shot is of Sherlock, slowing zooming in on him before then cutting to a view of John from Sherlock's point of view, which blurs, most likely to represent the tears in Sherlock's eyes. We then have a shot of the back of Sherlock, as he moves his phone down away from his ear and throws it behind him onto the roof of the building he is standing on the edge of. The shot after this is a side view of Sherlock, which quickly cuts to another close up of John's face as he also moves the phone away from his ear and, still looking up towards where Sherlock is stood, shouts. We then cut back to a shot from behind Sherlock, and see him throw his arms out to his sides and fall forwards, before seeing a shot of him falling. We then get to see yet another close up shot of John's face, before again cutting back to Sherlock falling. Very quickly, the shot changes to one from below, of again, Sherlock falling. Before then finally having a shot from a low down point of view, close to the ground, where we see Sherlock's body hit the ground.

The sound used in this scene varies, but first, starts with Sherlock's voice saying "Goodbye John" to which we hear John respond "no. don't". We also hear a slow, melancholy sounding violin playing in the background. Suddenly a drum starts to be heard, and the violin speeds up and sounds more harsh and dramatic, as we also hear the sound of Sherlock's phone hitting the floor when he throws it behind himself. Seconds later we hear John shout "Sherlock!" as the drum beat becomes steady and almost like a heartbeat, with two beats, then a pause, two beats, then a pause, etc. to which John then says "Sherlock" again, but this time whispers it. Finally, when we see the body hit the ground, we hear a thud, then silence.

I think that using a single camera set up for this scene was most effective as the shots switch between points of view very quickly, most of which we would see the other cameras if the director had chosen a multi camera set up.

DOCTOR WHO - THE WHISPER MEN 

The second scene I chose to evaluate as a single camera set up is a scene called 'The Whisper Men Song' from the BBC One series Doctor Who. This scene starts off with a 'tower view' of factories in the city of London, with the words 'London, 1893' written in bold white letters at the bottom of the screen. We then see two men that look like guards, walking through a poorly lit, damp corridor with stone walls, both carrying lanterns. We then cut to a shot of a similarly poorly lit, damp room, with stone walls and a man inside. This man has shackles around both wrists, which are attached to chains. This shot is a side view of the man, and we see him stood with his back slightly bent forwards, pointing towards whatever is in front of him and rocking and shaking. During this shot, the camera slowly  moves around the man until it is directly in front of him, at which point his turns his head and eyes slightly, but dramatically, to face head on into the camera, before saying something, then quickly looking slightly to his left again.

The first sound we hear in this scene is the sound of a door shutting quite loudly, before then hearing a man's grizzly voice chanting "Do you hear the whisper men? The whisper men are near." We also hear, in the background, the sound of footsteps, along with the 'jangling' sound of chains or keys, slowly increasing in volume. We continue to hear the man's voice chanting in time with the footsteps "if you hear the whisper men, then turn away your ear. Do not hear the whisper men, whatever else you do. For once you hear the whisper men, they'll stop-". At this point, there is a moment of total silence, as the man looks directly into the camera. The man then looks slightly to his left away from the camera and finishes the chant with "and look at you", accompanied by an eerie whisper. During this whole scene, we also hear a violin in the background, playing high pitched and quietly at first, but getting louder and more high pitched throughout, until the dramatic pause, when it stops, then quickly continues as a more low pitched, harsher piece of music.

I think that the single camera set up was also the most effective way of filming this scene, because there are only three different settings and three different camera angles used for this part of filming, so there would have been no need to have multiple cameras on set. Using several cameras for scenes like this, that did not need more than one camera, would have been costly and frankly, a waste of the director/producer's time and money.