Techniques of Single Camera Production

Camera: Shot Types

Shot type is a technique of a camera, there are lots of shot types like close up, mid shot, extreme close and long shot etc. The different shots have different meaning for example the purpose of long shot would be to show the scenery. 

An example from the above short film would be when they use a close up at 1:20 of the film, the close up is of the face of the character, this is done to show there facial expression as you can see his facial is stress and his worried about what is going to happen, this tells us his worried and is taking a risk. 

The film maker has used this technique carefully and want to show how the actor is feeling and it also gives the audience greater detail, in my own experience i have used  a lot of close ups for example in an short film which i produced i had used an close up of the character to show the fear of the character this builds tension. 

Lighting: Natural

Natural light is when no other lighting is used to make a lighting a specific way by this i mean artificial lighting. The is different kind of lighting like artificial, side lights, high and low key lighting etc. Overall the each individual lighting have different purpose. 

An example of natural lighting from the above short movie will be at 0:16 when we see a establishing shot of where the film is set, the desert has no artificial lighting which means it is natural.

The impact this has on the audience is that they can see it more clearly and it makes it a lot more realistic in a way. The intention of the film maker is that he wanted to make it look more realistic and also it is cheaper to make if additional lighting is not needed. Where i have used natural lighting would be in most of the projects for example in the music video we had used natural lighting as we recorded outside and no additional lighting was needed.

Sound: Mixing Sound Tracks

Sound is very important and it is what the audience can hear, a specific would be mixing two sounds together, this is when you hear one sound track and then the eventually add another sound but then mix it together, it make it a lot more dramatic and entertaining to watch. 

An example of mixing sound track in the above short film would be at 0:21 when we see the the sound of the desert turn into a sound of a vehicle, this makes it a lot more entertaining to watch as the audience do not expect that so it creates shock and it makes it more flowing because if they just had a car sound drastically it would not flow very well. 

The film makers intention when using this techniques is that they want to make it more entertaining, this means the audience continuing to watch the film. i have used sound mixing when i had created a short film where we had to turn the sound down and then add dialogue on top.

Editing: Filter Blur 

There are many editing filters one would be blur this is could to send a specific feeling or giving the same view as the character this allows the audience to actually be in the film because they see the same view. 

An example of blur filter in the above short film would be at 4:07 when we see the character looking into the binoculars we see the vision go blur and then we see the zoomed in vision, this is what the character actually went through as the put the eyes in the binoculars. The effect this has on the audience is that it makes it a lot realistic and more entertaining to watch as it adds detail because of the effect.

The film makers intention when using this editing filter is to allow the audience to go through the same purpose they have actually gone through. I have used this technique in most of projects for example recently i had added a colour filter on my short film to show it is the past scenes.

Scripting: Costumes

The costumes  is what they character in film they wear, this is done to show the era or what kind of genre they are aiming towards. This helps the director send the right mode as the costume can be what the convention of the genre is.

An example of costume in the above short film would be at 1:01 when we see the character wear a cowboy hat which tells us the genre of the film is western. This helps the audience get a clue on what kind of film it would be and they can continue on watching if they liked western films, by using costumes it makes the audience more aware of the mode. 

The film makers intention when using costume is that they want to set the right mode and show the conventions of the genre, this helps the audience a lot. When doing many media projects we have to carefully think about what the characters wear for example when creating a show we need to think carefully what the presenters and guests wear as you want to set the right mode for the target audience.

Building a Scene: Death 

Building a scene is very important for directors as it should catch the audience attention, death may be a way to build a scene as it builds tension in the film which makes the audience watch the whole film. 

An example of building a scene would be death at 4:15 when we see a character get a gun out and then shot another character, then we see the death of a character. this makes the audience continue on to watch the whole of the film as they want to know what happens at the end and if the villain get caught.

The intention of the film maker is that they want to create tension and then it keeps the audience attention which makes them watch the whole film. I have used death to build a scene in my short film when i had a character get a knife out and then kill the character this made the audience asks question and watch the whole of the film.

Building a Story: flashback

Building a story may be flashbacks as the director shows us the past to fill in gaps or give the audience more detail of the story. By having flashback it allows the story to be more entertaining as the audience do not see the reason of the flashback, which they'll continue on watching it. 

An example of building a story would be a flashback from the above short film at 7:15 when we see the story go into a flashback and then we see the character go back to the same position, this gives the audience more detail why the character is in that position, this allows the audience to watch the whole film. 

The film makers intention when using flashback is that they want to give more detail for the audience which means that they find it more interesting and entertaining to watch as they can see what has happened in the past. Where i have used flashback is when i made a short film where we see the flashback of the character what happened in the past then we show the present when he seeks revenge.