Have you ever flicked through the channels, going from dramas to panel shows and wondered the difference in how they’ve been filmed? All your favourite shows have different ways of filming, though not every single one is the same, they usually follow the conventions of their TV type. Studio Insider give you all of the different types of camera setups, explained!

Dramas/ Limited series

Shows like this include Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Stranger Things and typically use single camera setups. This includes using one camera to capture all movement in a scene, meaning that any shifts in perspective are filmed separately and out of order. This method is often used to be more precise and every scene is usually planned heavily before shooting. These types of shows are often slower to shoot but allow for more creative control over a project. 

Reality Shows

Reality shows include the likes of The Kardashians, Love Island, and The Traitors and usually have multiple cameras set up to capture the most possible content. Multiple cameras are used to follow different people, often with another camera set up for individual interviews. The cameras in these shows are often handheld in order to be portable and follow the action, or with multiple cameras being positioned around different parts of a set such as in The Traitors. 

Quiz or Panel shows

These shows include Loose Women and Taskmaster, they involve a panel of people and usually have a live audience. These are filmed with a multi-camera setup, even though they don’t usually have to follow the acts around, the multiple cameras are used to get different angles of those on the panels or quiz as well as including shots of the audience. These shows typically thrive on live reactions and so aim to capture as many as they can. 

Sitcoms

Traditionally sitcoms were shot in front of a live audience, this includes Friends and The Big Bang Theory. In order to do this, a multi-camera setup was used. Multiple cameras would film at the same time to capture different angles so that the same scene wouldn’t have to be filmed more times than necessary. This meant that filming would be quicker and laugh tracks would not have to be added as they were provided by the audience. These types of shows are usually filmed in order of scenes, rather than jumping around. 

Newer sitcoms tend to not film in front of a live audience and use single camera setups. Sitcoms such as Brooklyn Nine Nine and Modern Family stick to single camera shoots, these types of shows are usually easier and less time consuming to edit as there is less footage to deal with. 

Documentaries

Different types of documentaries follow their own conventions on camera use. Documentaries such as Louis Theroux’s work typically uses a single camera setup while other documentaries such as Planet Earth use multiple camera techniques. 

Single camera documentaries are typically filmed in this way as the cameras are handheld and are needed to follow the journalist or interviewee around while on location. Other types of documentaries tend to use multiple cameras as they want to capture action from as many different points of view as possible. 

For more interesting stories about TV production, click here

For more information on camera setups, check out our YouTube channel.