How To Shoot A Scene With A Single Camera

INTRO

Creating a film is just like creating a physical product. Before you start fussing over intricate details it's important that you understand the basic mechanics of how they are made. Every film needs a solid foundation. 

In this video I'll outline some of those filmmaking 101 concepts by introducing the idea of coverage and show how to use it to shoot scenes using only a single camera.  

SINGLE CAMERA VS MULTIPLE CAMERAS

Before we get into coverage, let's take a quick look at why some productions choose to shoot with a single camera and why other productions rely on using multiple cameras. 

Straight away, the biggest case for productions choosing to shoot scenes using multiple cameras comes from the simple notion that shooting with more cameras allows you to get more footage in a shorter time. 

How this works practically is that the director and cinematographer will consult and work out which angles and shot sizes they would like to capture the scene in. They will then carefully position the two cameras so that they can both capture different angles or shot sizes without either of the cameras being in the shot.

The cameras will roll, the director will call action and the actors will play out the scene. If using two cameras then one take will yield two different angles, whereas if using one camera the actors will need to run through the same scene two times to cover the same angles.

Filmmakers who like to edit their films quickly and include many different camera angles, such as Edgar Wright for example, find this way of working ideal as it provides them with more cutting options when putting the film together. 

For multicam dialogue scenes, a common tactic is to use an A camera and B camera arrangement which captures two actors in alternating shots. Using multiple cameras is also favoured for scenes which are either very expensive or practically difficult to do multiple takes of, such as a large explosion or car crash in an action scene or a scene where an actor really shaves off their hair.

You may then wonder why all productions don't just use as many cameras as possible to limit the amount of takes actors need to do and to speed up production. Well, there are a few reasons for that. 

The most obvious reason is budget.

Hiring an extra camera, set of lenses and camera accessories is expensive. Especially when dealing with high end cinema cameras rented for weeks or sometimes months at a time. Also for each additional camera extra crew needs to be hired to run them, such as a camera operator, a focus puller and a loader. However there are some films, which have no shortage of budget, and still opt to use just one camera. 

Roger Deakins is well known for refusing to use multiple cameras whenever possible. Even on huge blockbusters such as Blade Runner 2049 or Skyfall, Deakins fought against the Line Producer's desire to use up to nine cameras and instead insisted on shooting with one unit on a single camera for the majority of the film. Why is that?

One disadvantage of using multiple cameras is that it often requires compromising on a shot. To make sure an extra camera is out of shot, cinematographers may be forced to adjust their preferred angle and frame. Accommodating two cameras may also force them into using a longer focal length such as a 200mm zoom lens to see less background in a close up. The option to use wider lenses on multiple cameras may not be possible. 

Also including specific, custom shots with movement across a set may make shooting with an extra camera impossible. 

Finally, some directors prefer using one camera as a way to carefully craft each actor's performance. Shooting each actor's close up performance individually allows the director and actor to work on specific details and nuances in each take. Whereas shooting a scene with four different cameras on four different actors at the same time can be less focused. 

It makes it more difficult to communicate with all the different actors simultaneously and even view and identify the directions to give during each performance.

Broadly, single cameras enable filmmakers to craft each individual shot in a more focused way, while using multiple cameras allow productions to get more cutting options and save on shooting time. 

WHAT IS COVERAGE? 

Before diving into the mechanics of shooting a scene with one camera it's important to understand the concept of coverage. To conventionally edit a scene together you need multiple angles and shot sizes to work with. 

Therefore, most filmmakers rely on what we call getting coverage. This refers to the process of filming a master shot, which records the entire action and dialogue in the scene, and then shooting a variety of other takes from different angles, sometimes in certain portions. 

This way a scene is 'covered' from multiple angles and can be cut together using bits and pieces from a collection of shots: a wide shot, a medium shot and a close up. 

A script supervisor is hired in order to ensure each shot matches up correctly with the others without any mistakes or lapses in continuity which may disrupt the illusion.

While this method is the most common there are other ways to cover scenes, such as in a single long take. However shooting in a single take leaves the editor no way to alter the pacing of the scene, cut around mistakes or insert magical pieces of performance. 

Shooting a single take requires perfection from beginning to end, which is difficult due to all the moving pieces that need to fall into place such as blocking, performance, camera movement and focus. 

HOW TO SHOOT A SCENE WITH A SINGLE CAMERA

Quick disclaimer. There are a million different ways to shoot a scene. In this introductory video I'll use the most basic and common approach used to create a solid foundation of coverage. 

The way I like to think about shooting coverage with a single camera is to imagine meeting someone at a party. This may seem weird but bear with me. 

When you first enter a room, people are further away. You start by seeing someone from across the room with a broad field of view. This is like a wide shot. As you get more confident you begin moving through the space and get closer to the person. Your eyes now have a field of view which sees people from the waist up: a medium shot. Once you introduce yourself to someone you get much closer. As you talk one on one and maintain eye contact, you view them in a close up. 

Filmmakers tend to apply this same philosophy when shooting and cutting together a scene. 

They start on a wide to establish the space, move into medium shots for general conversation and as the scene builds to a more intimate or intense moment with a character that we are now familiar with, we cut to a close up.

Although this is standard practice and feels more normal to viewers, some filmmakers like to twist convention by mixing up the order of these shots for creative or emotional effect. To edit a basic scene together therefore it helps to have a wide, a medium and a close up shot of each key character. 

It's most common to start by shooting the wide and running the scene from beginning to end and then progressively move the camera closer to the actors with each new setup. 

Starting on a wide means that the production design must be fully set up before you can shoot. This minimizes continuity errors which may occur by shooting the close up first and then adding bits and pieces of details to the background or set as you get wider and realise something is missing. As the wide sees everything it determines the blocking and continuity for the entire scene. 

Also, some directors like to start wide to let the actors get a sense of the scene, their blocking and refine their performances before the camera captures them up close - where nuances in their actions can be most easily observed. 

After getting the wide, the camera will then move into mids, or medium shots, starting with one actor before moving onto another.  Once we've got a wide and two medium shots we move to a more intimate position and get close ups. 

By this stage the actors have performed the scene multiple times and, with the help of the director, should have found the right tone for their performances by now. 

Throughout this process they will usually run through the whole scene for each new shot. But sometimes, to save time or to redo a specific moment or line of dialogue from the scene, the director will do a pick up. As the name suggests this is where a shot is 'picked up' from a certain point in the script.

Now that the scene has been covered in these three shot sizes, a director may request an insert shot. This is a separate take where we see a key detail in the scene and is often shot in an extreme close up. 

On large enough jobs, these insert shots are sometimes done at a later stage by a second unit if the main unit runs out of time. And voila, with those basic shots in the can, you should now have enough coverage for the editor to cut between and create a scene! 

CONCLUSION 

Once you understand and can apply this basic formula it's then possible to start experimenting and looking for inventive ways to cover a scene. However, it's useful to remember that the camera should always aid the storytelling. It shouldn't be a distraction. 

Sometimes fancy, choreographed long takes work best, but sometimes the most effective way to tell the story is through ordinary, conventional coverage.