Why is this webisode episodic?
My webisode isn't episodic at the moment. The reason is because we revealed the killer's face in the scene therefore the webisode can't continue because the audience know who the killer is. For it to be episodic you can't show the killers face in order for the story to continue and in order for a new story or a new problem to be in the next episode. The purpose of this is to create a wider audience and to give the viewer to look forward in seeing the next episode. It is episodic because the story would lead onto another story in a different episode about another person.
What makes this webisode multi-stranded?
My webisode is multi-stranded because later on in the other episodes you will see the main characters friends and what happened before she died and the reason why she did. Within all the other episodes there are other narratives which are her friends and we see their story as well before we know the actual reason why she died and who killed her. The purpose of this is for the audience to solve a puzzle that has been made while the characters act their stories.
Why is this webisode open-ended?
The reason why my webisode is open-ended is because in the later episodes their will be more characters in the webisode and more stories to go with them of their background. The purpose of this is to show all the stories and link it into one and to show the audience it is real time.
Why is this webisode Non linear?
The reason why my webisode is non linear is because at the beginning of the webisode it begins with a flashback on when the character got murdered and then after it shows the interviews that her friends were having in present tense then in the next episode you would see another flashback on what happened before she died. The purpose of this is because the flashbacks are not in order and it shows the audience the reason why the character got murdered.
I am going to be talking about single camera productions vs multi camera productions and i will explain the advantages and disadvantages towards them.
Single camera production use one camera to shoot short films, and films. It's only shot at one angle. It's used because it shows more detail in the shot and you can add more dramatic effects. It's more suitable for series and serials.
Multi camera production is when there is more than one camera that is used. It allows the film to be shot at different angles, it is suitable for live shows and studio filming.
Different Genres
Jeremy Kyle is a talk show and it uses a multi camera because it is a live show and you have to capture shots at different angles and it also allows the editors to cut between shots quickly. It's also produced in a studio which allows you to use multi camera, you can't use single camera for this because you have to setup the camera every time you want to get a shot from a different angle, the reason why multi camera is more suitable is because you don't have to setup the camera each time for a new shot. The video below shows the camera at a different angle that you would need an multi camera for. Throughout the show you can see a range of shots from different angles and it cuts between shots easily and quickly.
Sci-fi uses single camera production because it focuses facial expressions and the surrounding, that is the reason why they use a lot of close ups and long shots. This also captures the dramatic effects bin more detail as well However it would be difficult to use single camera's when the action begins because you need to capture the action at different angles for it to be more exciting, therefore they will need to use multi camera production.
However when your doing a shot/reverse shot you have to use the 180 degree rule, if they use multi cameras they would break the 180 degree rule because if they are filming to people having a conversation, the other cameras would get into the shot.
another advantage of single cameras is that you can re-do the hot over and over again if you get them wrong and it won't effect anything, however the disadvantage is that it takes up a lot more time to edit and add in effects and detail because you have a variety of shots to choose from.
Another advantage of single camera is that it uses a lot of coverage shots, however they have to shoot the master shot first before any other shot just incase the scenery changes. If you shoot other shots before the master shot and then your scenery changes and you haven't shown the scenery yet, you would breaking continuity.
In the video below it shows a range of shots, long shot, close up extreme close ups to show the dramatic effects in the scene and the detail that is involved in their facial expressions.
Comedy, shows and thrillers all use single camera productions because of the fact. When filming a comedy the cameras change, it uses single cameras or multi camera productions because talk shows are sometimes comedy however they are live therefore they would need multi camera to shoot shots at different angles. For example come fly with me is a comedy and a documentary and we can see that they use a lot of high and low angles, also close ups and over the shoulder shots, we can see this happening in the video below.
Teen drama such as skins uses different camera technique. They use close up and coverage shots to make it interesting. You will see in the video below.
An example of thriller would be Utopia uses single camera production because they use close ups to show importance in a character, they also use two shots to show the relationship between the two characters. you can't use multi cameras to shoot a thriller because it wouldn't be able to add in as much detail as you would for single camera. Using a single camera production for a thriller creates suspense and mystery with amount of detail and effects you can focus on. With multi cameras if a camera gets in the shot you would have to re-do the whole thing, whereas with single cameras you can just re-do that shot again. In the video below is my thriller that i filmed with my group and it shows a variety of single camera techniques
Advantage of S.C.P (Single Camera Productions):
Allows us to see the relationships between each character
Allows us to re-do shots over and over again
Gives us a variety of shots that we can choose from
You don't have to film it in order, you can start filming at any point then put it all in order when editing and it will still make sense
Its cheaper because you only need one camera where as in multi camera production you would need more than one camera
It allows you to add more detail and dramatic effects, they use this through coverage shots, for an example close ups, long shot, extreme long shot, extreme close ups. it allows you to shoot from an high and low angle to show who has more power and who doesn't and also to create suspense and mystery.
You can use it for different genre types of TV/films because of the fact it shows detail and dramatic effects
Disadvantages of S.C.P:
It is very easy to break 180 degree rule and the rule of thirds
The camera could run out of battery
That is the only copy you have of the footage because its only on one camera
The longer you film the less time you have to edit and you will eventually run out of time
It's time consuming because you have to set up the camera more than once if you want to film at different angle
Advantages of M.C.P (Multi camera production):
You don't need to follow the 180 degree rule
Multi camera production is for live shows and it's easier to cut between shots
If one camera is destroyed you still have other cameras
The camera set up is done only once while for the single camera production is done frequently
Disadvantages of M.C.P:
Other cameras can easily get into the shot
M.C.P cannot be used for differentTV/film genres as it hardly shows dramatic effects
You can't re-do shots
Multi camera is expensive because you have to buy more than one camera
A serial is part of a format. Serial is when a show or a programme or ‘series’ start the next episode where they left off from the last episode. An example of this would be ‘Freak. Episode one ends on all four of them playing a video game, then the beginning of episode 2 its starts off with them playing video games.
A series is when a programme is focused on different people’s story and each episode is on a different story. For instance skins season three episode one, there are four main characters at the moment and this episode will focus on the guy in the hat, but the next episode will be a different story about someone else.
A single drama is mainly used in movies. It focuses on one character and their story throughout the whole drama; it also is based on real life issues and can be a documentary single drama and period drams. An example of this is Harry Potter, the movies is based on him and only him and his story, with other associates in the in his story but the main focus is him.
There are different types of narratives that serial, series and single drama could be.
You have linear and non-linear. Linear is when an event is portrayed in a chronological order and it also uses 3 act structure when everything happens in order and you can clearly seeing that this happens. The purpose of this is to create an emotion from the audience, such as sympathy or suspense. An example that uses linear is the movie ‘Up’. This movie uses the 3 act structure when it’s showing his life from one he was you in the past to the present. They show this through a flashback. The reason being why it was only one flashback is because they wanted to build up emotion from the audience in one time and to show us what happened in his life.
In Non-linear is when an event is not in chronological order which means they have flashbacks or flash-forwards at any point in the event. This is mainly preceded in thrillers to create mystery. The purpose of this is to show the audience what happened in the past to make the character how they are in the present, or what could happen to the character in the future because what they did in the past or present. An example of this would be black mirror because there are flashbacks at random times throughout the short film to show the audience what happened to the character in the past in order to understand what is happening to the character in the present.
Episodic narrative is used by having a cliff hanger at the end of each episode. This gives the show a new story or problem to deal with in the next episode. The purpose of this is that it creates a wider audience and with the use of cliff hangers it leaves the audience in suspense and wanting to know what happens next therefore they would watch the next episode. The example to this is below with the other narratives.
You have open and closed narratives. Open narratives usually have several characters with known certain ending. The purpose of this is to show the audience this is in real time so you could be watching it live. An example of this would be soap operas such as EastEnders. Closed narratives are usually in films and have a tight reading; they’re usually 2 hours and have ‘the end’ to complete the movie. The purpose of this is that the audience won’t get lost throughout the movie; they will always know the story. Also it shows that the movie is finished and there is not another one after.
You have realist and anti-realist narratives. Realist narrative is a believable story that maybe based on a true story. It displays believable scenarios for an example a middle season or a man living in the city. The purpose of this is that it can cause the audience to feel the same emotions towards the movie as they would feel if the event happened in real life. Anti-realist is on adverts that aren’t real, so it can have anything in the advert such as cartoon characters. The purpose of this to make the audience laugh so more people will remember it and talk about the advert to others. An example for this is hide and seeks the natural confectionary because sweets are talking in the advert.
We have single and multi-stranded narratives. Single stranded narrative is a story that has one central character or hero acting a single plot while surrounded by a group of minor characters. The purpose of this is that it will always keep the focus on the protagonist and highlight his story for instance superman, it focuses on one plot and the story is all about him. Multi-stranded is when there are several narrative running at the same time, such as hollyoaks. It focuses on one family and so does everyone in the episode on each scene. It can also be used for documentaries. The plot constructs a puzzle that the audience is asked to solve while the characters act out the story.
Narrative Report script A single camera is when there is only one camera that’s being used unlike multi cameras is when a variety of cameras are being used at the same time. An example of a single camera is this clip from Doctor Who. This T.V series uses single cameras because they are having and one to one conversation. If they were using multi cameras at this scene, you will see other cameras in the shot. There is a 180 degree rule where there is a line of action which is also known as continuity. The single camera can only go on each side of the continuity (right or left) if the camera passes that line it wouldn’t look like two people are having a one to one conversation because their eyes would look like their looking at something else besides the person that they are talking to. Therefore if it was multi cameras other cameras would be captured in the footage.
The advantages to a single camera is that it’s cheaper, unlike multi cameras where you would have to spend more money on buying a multiple of cameras, when doing single camera you only need to buy one camera. The single camera techniques allow you to create suspense and comedy timing; therefore it gives you that opportunity to create mystery and comedy at a good time. It also allows us to plan shots in advance, this means that you will have more time to put in a lot of effort in the detail within the shots by adding dramatic effects whilst editing. Single cameras allow you to keep to a story path that is why single cameras are mainly used for films. It’s also easier to move around when you shooting because if you have multiple of cameras you wouldn’t be able to move therefore you wouldn’t really get a good effect of a shot.
However the disadvantages of using single camera techniques is that it takes a lot more planning the multiple cameras, because you can only capture on shot at a time therefore if you make any mistakes for instance take a shot at a wrong angle then you decide that you prefer that angle you would have to re-do everything at that angle. Also you would spend a lot more time in the editing rooms because you would have to edit each shot that you’ve taken which means that there is a lot more footage.
Single camera techniques have become more useful and more serials use it to get an older crowd.
I'm writing about single camera techniques to show the outlines and the uses of it. Also t show you the formats of it and everything you need to know about it. I have used single camera techniques in my webisode called 'The Last Text' in my webisode I have used a variety of single camera techniques which i will be explaining below. I am going to begin with the single camera techniques that i have used.
1. Master Shot
Master shot is the first thing you would shoot because if you don't shoot an master shot and the weather changes your shots will look different and you will break continuity. The master shot is your main shot because it establishes where the scene is and it shows meaning in what your webisode is about. We have used master shot to show the scenery of our webisode also to show the meaning of it. However the camera was over the characters head to much, therefore you couldn't see the subject. This is a shot that keeps all the characters on screen and also gets the location.
2. Close up shot
A close up shot is useful because it shows the detail in a subject also it shows a sign of importance, which means if you do a close up on a subject or a character it shows that they are important in that webisode. That is why close ups are an advantage on SCT because your only using one camera which could focus on the detail in the characters facial expressions. We used a close up on the phone to show that the text on the phone was important because it's showing where she is gong to go, also it refers back to our title because that s the last text she sent.
3. 2 Shot:
2 shot is when 2 people are in the shot and it shows the relationship between the characters. We used 2 shot because we was showing the relationship between the two characters. This relationship shows that they are not friends and that he is a stranger towards her, reason being why he is sneaking up behind her.
4. Building a sequence
Building a sequence is when you have a range of shots and you would take away the tension for an example you will film that person then film another shot to take away the tension between the actor. you would tae a shot of a girl than another shot of an object. The constant range of different type of shots you will receive different views also, showing different expressions. We was building a sequence because we had one shot of the character and her phone, then the shot changed to and object which was the clock, therefore we stopped the tension from seeing a shot with the last text the character sent then we see a shot of the clock.
5. Framing: Head room, Lead room
Framing is about Head room and Lead room. Head room is the amount of space between the top of the subjects head and the frame of compositions.. Your subjects eyes should be placed in the top third of the compositions. Lead room is the space where the dramatic energy is directed. For close up shots lead room which is often referred as nose room. We used head room in our master shot however we used too much of it because the shot was too much above the characters head therefor you couldn't really see the character.
6. Movement
Movement is a variety of things such as dolly zoom, zoom, dutch tilt, pan, contra-zoom. we used dutch tilt in our webisode. Dutch tilt is when the camera is slanted slightly to create tension. We used dutch tilt on the shot of the camera, we slanted the camera slightly to create tension, and to create a dramatic effect. We also used dolly zoom because as the character was walking towards the camera the camera would zoom out slowly. Also we used zoom, because we was zooming in onto the camera, however as we was zooming into the object we kept stopping then started to zoom again then stopped then started again, this is not neat and it will look messy.
7. Close ups
Close ups is when the camera is close to a characters face to show their facial expressions. If the camera is doing a close up to an object its a sign to show that it is important. We used close ups to the character to show her facial expressions to show that she is relaxed until the killer attacks her. W also done a close up on the phone to show it is important on.
8. Over the shoulder shot
Over the shoulder shot is to show what the killer is looking at. We used over the shoulder shot to not show the killers face and to show he is a stranger to the character. This creates suspense.
What makes this webisode multi-stranded?
