What is a Single Camera Drama?
Filming via a single camera has its advantages and its disadvantages. Unlike a multi-camera setup and single camera productions has the advantages of focusing on one angle at a time, where a multi-camera setup allows for multiple angles to be shot at once. So you instantly have the advantage of being able to focus all your attention on a single shot, however if you want a multi-angled shot you will have to reset up the camera and equipment and film the entire scene again from the new angle resulting in a longer production time.
Camera setup is extremely important in a single camera drama and to achieve the best results in the quickest time, organisation is highly important. Planning out a shots list can save time and aid in assuring all shots required were captured. Also by using a single camera you are also able to check they background of the shot is exactly what you require and there is no unwanted debris or clutter obscure the viewers’ attention when production is complete.
A disadvantage is re-shooting a scene can put a lot of pressure on both cast and crew. For continuity purposes the cast will have to re-enact the scene as identically as possible to achieve the appearance of the multi-angled footage being captured at the same time.
A single camera drama may also using a static camera or a moving camera with via wheels, tracks or simply being handheld. So one advantage is the adaptability of the camera’s use during a scene as it could move from one room into another during a shoot. However again the disadvantage is having to re-shoot from different angles to achieve the desired professional look.
Shooting scenes out of order is also an advantage as it allows for you to focus on organising time management and personnel at the same time. This way you can focus on a larger scene on one day and then shorter scenes on another. Shooting scenes in sequential order could result in an erratic order of cast callings, locations and props required in a day.
Camera setup is extremely important in a single camera drama and to achieve the best results in the quickest time, organisation is highly important. Planning out a shots list can save time and aid in assuring all shots required were captured. Also by using a single camera you are also able to check they background of the shot is exactly what you require and there is no unwanted debris or clutter obscure the viewers’ attention when production is complete.
A disadvantage is re-shooting a scene can put a lot of pressure on both cast and crew. For continuity purposes the cast will have to re-enact the scene as identically as possible to achieve the appearance of the multi-angled footage being captured at the same time.
A single camera drama may also using a static camera or a moving camera with via wheels, tracks or simply being handheld. So one advantage is the adaptability of the camera’s use during a scene as it could move from one room into another during a shoot. However again the disadvantage is having to re-shoot from different angles to achieve the desired professional look.
Shooting scenes out of order is also an advantage as it allows for you to focus on organising time management and personnel at the same time. This way you can focus on a larger scene on one day and then shorter scenes on another. Shooting scenes in sequential order could result in an erratic order of cast callings, locations and props required in a day.
My Single Camera Drama
I began to consider the options for a short film using the single camera technique. This brought me to consider the lives of my friends and family which led me to a situation one of my dearest friends was having, a teenage daughter that is rebelling and heading down the wrong path. After discussing it with her she agreed to allow me to use key aspects from her experience with her daughter to try and raise awareness that sometimes no matter what a parent does the child will continue to break the rules and crossing boundaries they know they shouldn't. This took me to consider which aspects of her issues with her daughter would resonate visually well and have an impact with the audience. I broke down the events into a flow diagram of the scenes I initially wanted to capture.
Basic Character Information
I purposely decided I did not want to use the real names of my friend and her daughter, mainly due to the fact it could have had repercussions for my friend when her daughter found out, but also it would create anonymity for them both.
Main Characters.
Mother (Sandra Jennings):
Late 30s. She has medium length dark hair, dresses appropriately for her age and has a strong belief in being there for her daughter. Average working class woman. Lives alone with her daughter. All she wants is for her daughter to achieve and be the best she can be. Struggles with how to help her daughter with the problems in her life and how to get her back on track.
Daughter (Jemma Jennings):
16/17 years old. Bleached hair, dresses in very casual attire e.g. jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. Is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and is on a self-destructive path not knowing what to do. Finds drugs and alcohol as a release for her pain. Starts to cut herself to deal with her inner-turmoil. She gets extremely angry at her mother misdirecting her rage and pain.
Minor Characters.
Mother’s Friend (Alice Lawrence):
Late 30s. Short strawberry blonde hair, wears long dresses with accessories e.g. bracelets, bangles, big rings and earrings. Long-term friend of Sandra’s. Feels helpless in being unable to do more than listen to her friends problems and offer advice. Does have the ability to make Sandra smile in her extreme turmoil.
Police Officer 1 (P.C. Stewarts):
Male, Early 40s, tall and stern looking.
Police Officer 2 (P.C. Jackson):
Female, Late 20s, average height, austere in appearance.
Main Characters.
Mother (Sandra Jennings):
Late 30s. She has medium length dark hair, dresses appropriately for her age and has a strong belief in being there for her daughter. Average working class woman. Lives alone with her daughter. All she wants is for her daughter to achieve and be the best she can be. Struggles with how to help her daughter with the problems in her life and how to get her back on track.
Daughter (Jemma Jennings):
16/17 years old. Bleached hair, dresses in very casual attire e.g. jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. Is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and is on a self-destructive path not knowing what to do. Finds drugs and alcohol as a release for her pain. Starts to cut herself to deal with her inner-turmoil. She gets extremely angry at her mother misdirecting her rage and pain.
Minor Characters.
Mother’s Friend (Alice Lawrence):
Late 30s. Short strawberry blonde hair, wears long dresses with accessories e.g. bracelets, bangles, big rings and earrings. Long-term friend of Sandra’s. Feels helpless in being unable to do more than listen to her friends problems and offer advice. Does have the ability to make Sandra smile in her extreme turmoil.
Police Officer 1 (P.C. Stewarts):
Male, Early 40s, tall and stern looking.
Police Officer 2 (P.C. Jackson):
Female, Late 20s, average height, austere in appearance.
Pitching the Idea to my Tutor.
I presented my idea to my tutor who thought the idea was extremely powerful and the story had a clear message of how a parent can feel powerless when their child begins to rebel against their parenting. He then recommended I check out a series ran by channel 4 called "Talking Heads" which revolved around a single character telling the viewers a story and how many resulted in a power impact on the viewer by the end. After checking out some of the episodes on YouTube I decided this was what I wanted from my single camera drama. Having only the mother on screen would suggest to the viewers that her daughter was her life and now she is very much alone now her daughter has gone wild.
The Script.
Pre-Production.
With my script written and given the green light by my tutor I began to work on two breakdown scripts. One for internal locations and another for external locations. While I would typically do a single breakdown sheet per indvidual location, for this production I simply stuck to two as the scenes were short and I did not want needless excesses of paper.
From here I began to consider casting. After talking to a mutual friend of mine and my friend who inspired the script she was very eager to be involved as she was very close to every situation from the script. Having known her for a while I knew she wouldn't be phased being in front of a camera and having been with our friend through every situation she would know the emotions to convey. I also approach her daughter who is only a year younger than our friends daughter, she was also happy to get involved in the production. With my cast set I was ready to consider the locations. To my luck my leading lady in the production said she would be happy for me to use her house. This played into my favor instantly, firstly I knew her house and how it was always tidy and would be ready to simply set up and start filming, secondly She had pictures of her daughter up around the house and various things they she made for her over the years. I paid her a visit to take some location pictures and plan the shoot.
While I was planning the dates to shoot my production I encountered an issue. My productions shooting time would fall around the time her daughter would be revising for her GCSE exams and even taking her first few. This concerned me as I did not want to effect her studies, so I decided to keep the essence of my story but keeping it more inline with "Talking Heads" and it being shot like snippets from an actual video diary. While I lost the dynamics of having flashback appear throughout the final production, it would further enforce that his mother is now feeling alone her daughter is rebelling. I also gained the advantage of being able to get the entire production shot and completed in a single day. After checking the weather forecast production was set for 11th June 2015.
The Shoot.
The day of the shoot went perfectly, my star had five different outfits ready to convey that these are five different days being shot, my crew were ready and confident on their equipment and the weather man got it right. Our shoot did slightly over run by about 30 minutes but where everyone was happy to carry on until we finished it was not a major issue. All that was left was for my to edit the footage together and complete the production.
Diary of my Daughter.
Evaluation
All in all I am pleased with my first single camera drama. I did have to drop the flashback scenes due to time constraints but I do intend to one day film those scenes and add them to the production as an "extended cut" version. My lead had never acted before and I think she did extremely well considering it was her first time being filmed. I do however wish I had more varied angled shots for the production to make the film more dynamic.