Single camera production is a production that is shot using only one camera and is used mostly for TV productions that are not required to be filmed in a live, studio environment therefore allowing the producers and directors a lot more freedom with the way sequences are shot as the camera is not specifically occupied by another person, which would happen if the production was using multiple cameras. Throughout this essay I will be analysing various TV productions to display the types of formats using single camera production, narrative structures, and the technical elements to further understand the features of a single camera production.
Band of Brothers
The first piece of TV I will be analysing is ‘Band of Brothers’ (2001) a period drama, mini series that focuses on the US Army 101st Airborne division mission through Europe during WW2. ‘Band of Brothers’ portrays the challenges veterans had to endure during their time in Europe, therefore capturing the reality of war and making ‘Band of Brothers’ vastly popular amongst audiences with the series use of drama and astonishing visuals creating a series that accurately captures the fighting. Steven Spielberg being the executive producer along with Tom Hanks on the series gave audiences high expectations of ‘Band of Brothers’ due to the success of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998) directed by Steven Spielberg. Therefore, once ‘Band of Brothers’ was aired, the shows popularity rapidly grew amongst audiences.
‘Band of Brothers’ opens with interviews from actual soldiers whose story is depicted throughout the series therefore engaging and connecting with the audience emotionally, due to the interviews humanizing the characters by relating back to the soldiers shown in the interviews and allows the audience to understand and care for on a personal level rather than that of a fictional character. Due to the series constantly referring back to the interviews, the interviews create a realist narrative as the events that occur are vastly based of soldier’s recollections of war. The narrative structure throughout ‘Band of Brothers’ is very linear and is told chronologically, progressing through each obstacle the characters had to face. To illustrate the theme of war and the time period the war took place, the episodes are broken up into chapters similar to a book or a diary much like what soldiers kept and allows the narrative to be told from the point of view of the soldiers who fought and to add to the realist narrative. The use of chapters also breaks the narrative into individual parts therefore adding to the linear narrative due to each chapter focusing on a single event the soldiers had to face. Although the narrative keeps the focus very linear, every episode the focus shifts from different characters perspective for example the episode I analysed, the focal point was on a character named ‘Eugene’ one of the medics amongst the group of soldiers. Throughout the episode the audience see ‘Eugene’ become mentally and physically drained which allows the audience to sympathise with the character as we see the experiences with what ‘Eugene’ had to tackle from beginning to end humanizing the character allowing the audience to understand war from various soldier’s perspectives and creating a connection. Although each episode focuses on war from a different character’s perspective an over arching narrative is used throughout the series of ‘Colonel Winters’ 101st Airborne division advancement through Europe. An over arching narrative is used to allow the narrative to be linear by focusing on one objective through the series yet still developing characters using sub plots to create a better understanding of how soldiers on the front line felt.
‘Band of Brothers’ uses a wide array of different technical aspects. The first technical element I will be analysing is the cinematography, during the fighting sequences erratic, hand held camera work is used to create a sense of intensity and danger but also to slightly disorientate audiences, engrossing audiences into the realism. Realism is also created by the use of point of view shots which can be seen throughout combat sequences to invite audiences into the realism of war by having shots that display what the soldiers are seeing almost making the sequences feel three dimensional. Another method used to engage the audience into the realism is the use of close ups and extreme close ups. Both shot types are used is in a sequence in which the soldier’s aircraft is being shot at whilst the soldiers are preparing to jump. Close ups creating a tight frame around the image are used to create a claustrophobic feel to correlate with how the soldiers could be feeling to add to the sense of realism. Static shots are used during calmer situations such as conversational shots between characters to which directors will use over the shoulder and shot reverse shots to correspond with the calm atmosphere. Another technical aspect single camera production uses is sound. Sound allows directors to further engross audiences into the narrative. ‘Band of Brothers’ uses mostly diegetic sounds such as gunfire, due to using non-diegetic music or sounds will take away from the realism of the fighting sequences but instead engaging the audience with the types of sounds soldiers would have heard. Non–diegetic music is also used throughout ‘Band of Brothers’. An example of when non-diegetic music is used is after a fight between American and German soldiers to illustrate sadness and despair once the character comes to the realisation of what has happened. Also to create an emotional impact on the audience.
Lighting is another import technical element within single camera production and throughout ‘Band of Brothers’. The sequence in which I analysed had the 101st Airborne walking along a dimly lit train track. To light the scene yet still emphasise the darkness, back lighting/low key lighting was used. The lighting was placed behind the trees that surround the soldiers, this was so it creates a feeling of the light being somewhat natural rather than artificial and to also make the scene look gritty and dismal. Another example when lighting is used is during the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ episode, throughout the episode we see various soldiers lay in trench covered by a sheet. The lighting shines onto the soldier’s faces from the top left of the frame and the back from a hole in the sheet. This lighting is to light the soldiers face from the left yet keeping the right side of the face dark to still give the audience an impression that the trench is poorly lit and that the lighting is coming from the moon. Although lighting is used for dark sequences I found that lighting is also used to make colours more prominent. An example of lighting that gives colour more prominence is during a scene in which we see various shots of the snow where the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ took place. Natural lighting is reflected off the snow to make the snow look more intense and tranquil even though it is being prepared for fighting which creates a contrast between the snow and war such as how something beautiful is being occupied by a force which is cruel and destructive. Editing is also used to pace narrative, during intense fighting sequences editing becomes a lot faster to create a more intense, disorientating feel to the footage relating to the fighting, whereas during calmer scenes editing becomes a lot slower due to the director focusing the audience towards character development or dialogue rather than towards the fighting.
Band of Brothers
The first piece of TV I will be analysing is ‘Band of Brothers’ (2001) a period drama, mini series that focuses on the US Army 101st Airborne division mission through Europe during WW2. ‘Band of Brothers’ portrays the challenges veterans had to endure during their time in Europe, therefore capturing the reality of war and making ‘Band of Brothers’ vastly popular amongst audiences with the series use of drama and astonishing visuals creating a series that accurately captures the fighting. Steven Spielberg being the executive producer along with Tom Hanks on the series gave audiences high expectations of ‘Band of Brothers’ due to the success of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998) directed by Steven Spielberg. Therefore, once ‘Band of Brothers’ was aired, the shows popularity rapidly grew amongst audiences.
‘Band of Brothers’ opens with interviews from actual soldiers whose story is depicted throughout the series therefore engaging and connecting with the audience emotionally, due to the interviews humanizing the characters by relating back to the soldiers shown in the interviews and allows the audience to understand and care for on a personal level rather than that of a fictional character. Due to the series constantly referring back to the interviews, the interviews create a realist narrative as the events that occur are vastly based of soldier’s recollections of war. The narrative structure throughout ‘Band of Brothers’ is very linear and is told chronologically, progressing through each obstacle the characters had to face. To illustrate the theme of war and the time period the war took place, the episodes are broken up into chapters similar to a book or a diary much like what soldiers kept and allows the narrative to be told from the point of view of the soldiers who fought and to add to the realist narrative. The use of chapters also breaks the narrative into individual parts therefore adding to the linear narrative due to each chapter focusing on a single event the soldiers had to face. Although the narrative keeps the focus very linear, every episode the focus shifts from different characters perspective for example the episode I analysed, the focal point was on a character named ‘Eugene’ one of the medics amongst the group of soldiers. Throughout the episode the audience see ‘Eugene’ become mentally and physically drained which allows the audience to sympathise with the character as we see the experiences with what ‘Eugene’ had to tackle from beginning to end humanizing the character allowing the audience to understand war from various soldier’s perspectives and creating a connection. Although each episode focuses on war from a different character’s perspective an over arching narrative is used throughout the series of ‘Colonel Winters’ 101st Airborne division advancement through Europe. An over arching narrative is used to allow the narrative to be linear by focusing on one objective through the series yet still developing characters using sub plots to create a better understanding of how soldiers on the front line felt.
‘Band of Brothers’ uses a wide array of different technical aspects. The first technical element I will be analysing is the cinematography, during the fighting sequences erratic, hand held camera work is used to create a sense of intensity and danger but also to slightly disorientate audiences, engrossing audiences into the realism. Realism is also created by the use of point of view shots which can be seen throughout combat sequences to invite audiences into the realism of war by having shots that display what the soldiers are seeing almost making the sequences feel three dimensional. Another method used to engage the audience into the realism is the use of close ups and extreme close ups. Both shot types are used is in a sequence in which the soldier’s aircraft is being shot at whilst the soldiers are preparing to jump. Close ups creating a tight frame around the image are used to create a claustrophobic feel to correlate with how the soldiers could be feeling to add to the sense of realism. Static shots are used during calmer situations such as conversational shots between characters to which directors will use over the shoulder and shot reverse shots to correspond with the calm atmosphere. Another technical aspect single camera production uses is sound. Sound allows directors to further engross audiences into the narrative. ‘Band of Brothers’ uses mostly diegetic sounds such as gunfire, due to using non-diegetic music or sounds will take away from the realism of the fighting sequences but instead engaging the audience with the types of sounds soldiers would have heard. Non–diegetic music is also used throughout ‘Band of Brothers’. An example of when non-diegetic music is used is after a fight between American and German soldiers to illustrate sadness and despair once the character comes to the realisation of what has happened. Also to create an emotional impact on the audience.
Lighting is another import technical element within single camera production and throughout ‘Band of Brothers’. The sequence in which I analysed had the 101st Airborne walking along a dimly lit train track. To light the scene yet still emphasise the darkness, back lighting/low key lighting was used. The lighting was placed behind the trees that surround the soldiers, this was so it creates a feeling of the light being somewhat natural rather than artificial and to also make the scene look gritty and dismal. Another example when lighting is used is during the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ episode, throughout the episode we see various soldiers lay in trench covered by a sheet. The lighting shines onto the soldier’s faces from the top left of the frame and the back from a hole in the sheet. This lighting is to light the soldiers face from the left yet keeping the right side of the face dark to still give the audience an impression that the trench is poorly lit and that the lighting is coming from the moon. Although lighting is used for dark sequences I found that lighting is also used to make colours more prominent. An example of lighting that gives colour more prominence is during a scene in which we see various shots of the snow where the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ took place. Natural lighting is reflected off the snow to make the snow look more intense and tranquil even though it is being prepared for fighting which creates a contrast between the snow and war such as how something beautiful is being occupied by a force which is cruel and destructive. Editing is also used to pace narrative, during intense fighting sequences editing becomes a lot faster to create a more intense, disorientating feel to the footage relating to the fighting, whereas during calmer scenes editing becomes a lot slower due to the director focusing the audience towards character development or dialogue rather than towards the fighting.