By Definition, 'single camera production only uses one camera for different shots to use in their production' this is the complete opposite to multi-cam which uses multiple cameras to film the same scene but capture it from multiple angles as well as different distances to film the same scene simultaneously. Some examples of single camera techniques that are used are:
1. Steadicam - Is a camera stabilizer set up for motion pictures, that are used to follow people or first person, this stops the camera bouncing around and making the visual blurry.
2. Snorricam - a.k.a a chest-cam is a device mounted on the actors chest facing the actor directly so when they walk it does not look like they're moving but everything around them does.
3. Worm View - Worm's-eye view is a view of an object from below to make the object look taller, stronger and more threatening.
4. Bird's-eye view - Bird's-eye view is the view of an object from above to make the object look smaller, weaker and harmless.
Single camera has been around since the 1910s and is used in movies and TV shows a lot more than multi-cam, examples of of single camera operation include Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith (2005) and for TV, a show that uses single camera is Arrow (2012) this TV show also uses Snorricam in most, if not every episode.
Advantages of Single Camera
There are many advantages of Single Camera for example, it saves a lot of budget to go towards equipment, props, costume/make up and editing finances. You have more control for each shot this also includes the lighting and sound are set for each shot. It is more flexible for the actors involved in the production as they won't all have to be on set at the same time to shoot the same scene. Setting up the lighting and sound becomes a lot easier as there would be a lot more space to move everything around. You can capture various angles and shots within one day.
Single Camera production requires less people to operate the camera and saves a lot of budget as not many personnel will need to be hired. This will also save space as there won't be as many people crowding around the camera or the scene as there won't be as many crew members needed on set at that time. With all of these advantages it is easy to understand why most filming projects use single camera to complete their projects as in most cases it is a lot more effeicent and a single camera requires less maintenance if the camera has a malfunction or breaks as a single person will be required to make the repairs or sort out the malfunction.
Another advantage with single camera productions, is that if your film is all POV (Point of View) for example "Hardcore Henry", it will require a smaller camera which will cost a lot less money and will also free up a lot of space on the set which saves more money, as many crew member roles will not be needed which will also leave more money in the budget to put towards other aspects of the movie. With POV the actor will be able to know if the camera fixing is getting too loose or unstable on the harness or helmet it is connected to, which means they will be able to alert the director and crew so that someone can come and help sort it out to make sure that the camera remains sturdy.
Disadvantages of Single Camera
A massive disadvantage for single camera production, is that it will up getting very repetitive as most shots and scenes, will need to be reshot at least three times to make sure that everything in that scene is perfect. After a while this will start to become tedious and irritating if things keep going wrong on set because there aren't more than one camera recording the scene. This can also lead to less realistic reactions in the scene, this is because when they keep recording the scenes and the actors will know exactly what will happen and will not be able to react as realistically as they did during the first take.
Editing is effected because you have to go through every take and shot and find which is the best as well as maybe merging different parts of each take of a scene to make them as realistic as possible. It will also increase the editing time as the editors will have to wait for the cameraman to finish the scene and every shot before giving them the footage to begin their editing. Whereas, if they were to use multiple camera's then they would be able to get different angles of the shots early would make the editing time start earlier and would overall decrease the editing time.
Examples of Single Camera Production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha-c9nc5Vzk
In Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, there is the legendary duel between Anakin Skywalker and his old master Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Mustafar System. This duel is a perfect example of single camera production because of the way that the camera transitions between the two characters and gets multiple angles of the fight between these two warriors. There is point in the fight where Anakin is choking Obi-Wan and the camera jumps between bird's-eye view and worm's-eye view because we look up at Anakin who is filled with darkness and this is to represent that in the end, the dark side will prevail and we look down on Obi-Wan who represents light and even though he wins this fight, the light becomes dim at the end of the film. The transitions in this fight, are like jumps this is because jumps are quicker and it also matches that this fight sequence is fast-paced. At another stage of this duel, we get an over the shoulder shot from behind Obi-Wan and it focuses on Anakin's face this show his anger and immense hatred for his old master and friend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1zbdDak19E
In this episode of the Flash, we instantly get a tracking shot of Joe West heading to Barry's containment cell to convince Barry to go and save Iris (Barry's fiancee) the camera pans between Joe and Barry but it also has jump transitions between the two characters in this scene. The pans between Joe and Barry are very fast paced to show that this is a very intense moment, it is also to go with the title of the show (The Flash) which also suggests that this show uses quick pans regularly. Joe's emotions match this scene because the longer he takes trying to convince Barry to save Iris, the further away from them she is getting with her kidnapper, this matches that his worry and dread build up and an emotional impact on the audience as they would not know if Barry would be fast enough to save Iris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABLecsR5UE
At the start of this music video you can tell that this video, will be emotional because the first thing we see, are two people holding hands and then the woman lets go of lewis' hand and walks away showing that their relationship is over. After he helped to his feet, he begins to walk in the opposite direction but, he keeps turning around to go back to the girl but he is held back by random people who trying to convince him "not to make the same mistake and to not go back to her". Later on the video, while there is a massive group of people ready to stop him going back, we see her turn around with the look of regret as if she has made a mistake. When he keeps singing the camera pans around him and we see that all of the people are gone and this leaves us with an over the shoulder shot as we see the woman leave the street. The last shot we see is Lewis singing and the camera is almost a close up focusing on his emotion as it looks like he's about cry.
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