The Quatermass Experiment

What are you on about? How can you have a live programme with inter-cut shots that's done with a single camera? There are still a wide range of dramas that use both the single camera and multi-camera techniques. But when you have a simple scene with a wide shot and a close-up on each of two people, how are you going to shoot that with one camera?

It was clearly done with many, many cameras and vision mixed live too. I seem to remember that the live episode of The Bill had something like 22 cameras used.

Yes. It would look like an amatuerish recording of school play with a static camera zooming in and out.

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but when you posed the question were you not thinking of the single-camera technique used in large budget tv shows and films where they edit the show together after recording?

Wednesday 9.00pm, BBC Four. I assume that this is a recorded repeat and not a second live performance.

A fair number of cameras. In one or two scenes you felt that they were a bit hindered by not being able to do multiple-takes with cameras in very different positions.

Yes I was.

After thinking about it, it does seem stupid to use one camera for a live production. I just thought it was standard practise these days to shoot on single camera for some reason.

So do shows like Coronation Street, Emmerdale etc still use multi camera setups?

Yes they do. Most soaps operate in this way, although I seem to recall that The Bill still uses single-camera shooting as did Brookside . Obviously multi-camera set-ups are much cheaper (because they're quicker) and enable fast-turnaround of recording and scene changing. Single-camera shooting is a much more precise art if you can warrant the expense.

Yes. It's very much the norm for fast turnaround programmes like soaps.

The benefit of a multi-camera setup is speed, but you have to compromise other elements, like lighting. Shows like Corrie suffer from overlighting - done to ensure all cameras get a shot free from actors in shadow. Working at the pace they do, it's not surprising.

This is true.

Have to admit though that Corries lighting has been quite good recently. Anyone else noticed this?

I believe the location shots on Corrie are single camera though.

It certainly has improved in the last few years. Famously, Julia Smith (when starting Eastenders) used to walk into the studio and shout for them to turn the lights down, saying, "This isn't Corrie!".



Some are, but its not unusual for them to have two or three cameras in use on the outdoor lot.

thankyou, i found it on digi gudie

DRAMA: The Quatermass Xperiment
Channel: BBC 4 116
Date: Wednesday 6th April 2005
Time: 21:00 to 23:00 (starting in 2 days)
Duration: 2 hours.
VideoPlus: 4896
For the first time in over 20 years the BBC travels back to its roots to deliver 2 hours of live drama. Jason Flemyng stars in an adaptation of Nigel Kneale's science-fiction classic. Strobe lighting.

Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=23436
Copyright ©1999-2004 GipsyMedia Ltd.

Do we have any ideas on viewing figures for the first showing?

Here's a question. Since BBC Four is mostly on digital, are the viewing figures more accurate than standard ITV1, BBC1 etc?