Single Camera Production

As its name suggests, a production using the single-camera setup generally employs just one camera. Each of the various shots and camera angles is taken using the same camera, which is moved and reset to get each shot or new angle. The lighting setup is typically reconfigured for each camera setup.

In contrast, a multi-camera setup consists of multiple cameras arranged to capture all of the different shots (camera angles) of the scene simultaneously, and the set must be lit to accommodate all camera setups concurrently. Multi-camera production generally results in faster but less versatile photography.

In single-camera, if a scene cuts back and forth between actor A and actor B, the director will first point the camera towards A and shoot shots number 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on. Then they will point the camera toward B and do shots number 2, 4, 6, 8, and so on. In the post production editing process, the shots will be assembled into their final order. In contrast, multiple-camera shooting would record a variety of angles of actors A and B simultaneously; the director would then have the choice of switching among the angles while the program is being recorded (or broadcast) or recording all shots and cutting them together in post production. Further, single-camera productions tend to cluster the shooting of all the scenes that utilize a certain set and cast, while most multiple-camera productions are shot "in sequence"—the shooting progressing sequentially through the script.

The single-camera setup gives the director more control over each shot, but is more time consuming and expensive than multiple-camera. The choice of single-camera or multiple-camera setups is made separately from the choice of film or video (that is, either setup can be shot in either film or video). However, multiple-camera setups shot on video can be switched "live to tape" during the performance, while setups shot on film still require that the various camera angles be edited together later.

The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema in the 1910s and has remained the standard mode of production in the cinema. In television, however, a multiple-camera setup is just as common.