Multiple-camera setup

The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking, television production and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneously record or broadcast a scene. It is often contrasted with a single-camera setup, which uses one camera.

The multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, multi-camera or simply multicam is a method of filmmaking, television production and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneously record or broadcast a scene. It is often contrasted with a single-camera setup, which uses one camera. ===United States=== Before the pre-recorded continuing series became the dominant dramatic form on American television, the earliest anthology programs (see the Golden Age of Television) utilized multiple camera methods. Although some claim the multiple-camera setup was pioneered for television when producer and co-star Desi Arnaz, associate producer Al Simon, and cinematographer Karl Freund of Desilu Productions used it to film I Love Lucy in 1951, other producers had been using the technique for several years. According to Thomas Schatz, Jerry Fairbanks is the first to develop a 16mm multi-camera system to film a made-for-TV show when he used it to shoot the pilot episode of Public Prosecutor in 1947. Fairbanks went on to film 26 episodes for a planned network premiere in September 1948, but it was pulled from the schedule, and the show did not air until 1951. Assisted by producer-director Frank Telford, Fairbanks also used a multi-camera system to film Edgar Bergen's Silver Theater which aired in the 1949-50 season. He continued working with this system for the pilot of Truth or Consequences in April 1950. When Al Simon joined Ralph Edwards Productions in producing Truth or Consequences several months later, he improved the system by substituting 35mm film for 16mm film and adding a more sophisticated intercom system. used two or more cameras with teleprompters and rear screen projectors extensively in filming early television programs.]] In 1949, Ray Culley of Cinécraft Productions, a sponsored film studio, filmed the first TV infomercial, Home Miracles for the 1950s, for Vitamix using the technique. Culley also used the technique for three made-for-television TV series featuring Louise Winslow, a pioneer in sewing, cooking, and craft "how-to" programs on daytime television - Adventures in Sewing (1950), Food Is Fun (1950), and Kitchen Chats (1950). A 1950 article in Printers' Ink, "Three-Camera Technique used to shoot TV film", discussed Cinécraft's innovative production style. In 1966, the studio made a film, "Cinécraft, Inc. Multi-camera Filming Technique Demonstration", showing how the technique works and describing rear screen projection and teleprompters, other innovative technologies of the era In the late 1970s, Garry Marshall was credited with adding the fourth camera (known then as the "X" Camera, and occasionally today known as the "D" Camera) to the multi-camera set-up for his series Mork & Mindy. Actor Robin Williams could not stay on his marks due to his physically active improvisations during shooting, so Marshall had them add the fourth camera just to stay on Williams so they would have more than just the master shot of the actor. Soon after, many productions followed suit, making four cameras (A, B, C and X/D) the norm for multi-camera situation comedies. Sitcoms shot with the multiple camera setup include nearly all of Lucille Ball's TV series, as well as Mary Kay and Johnny, Our Miss Brooks, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, Three's Company, Cheers, The Cosby Show, Full House, Seinfeld, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You, Friends, The Drew Carey Show, Frasier, Will & Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, The King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, Last Man Standing, Mom, 2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, One Day at a Time, Man with a Plan, Carol's Second Act, Bob Hearts Abishola, as well as Disney and Nickelodeon sitcoms like That's So Raven, Drake & Josh, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Good Luck Charlie, Jessie, Austin & Ally, Lab Rats, Kickin' It, iCarly, Victorious, The Thundermans, and Henry Danger. Many American sitcoms from the 1950s to the 1970s were shot using the single camera method, including The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Get Smart, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, and The Brady Bunch. The earliest seasons of Happy Days were filmed using a single-camera setup before the series transitioned to a multi-camera setup (which also occurred alongside its increase in popularity). These did not have a live studio audience, and by being shot single-camera, tightly edited sequences could be created, along with multiple locations and visual effects such as magical appearances and disappearances. Multiple-camera sitcoms were more simplified but have been compared to theatre work due to their similar setup and use of theatre-experienced actors and crew members. While the multiple-camera format dominated American sitcom production from the 1970s to the 1990s, there has been a revival of the single-camera format with programs such as Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–2024), Scrubs (2001–2010), Arrested Development (2003–2006, 2013–2019), The Office (2005–2013), My Name Is Earl (2005–2009), Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present), 30 Rock (2006–2013), Modern Family (2009–2020), The Middle (2009–2018), Community (2009–2015), Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), Raising Hope (2010–2014), Louie (2010–2015), New Girl (2011–2018), Veep (2012–2019), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021), The Goldbergs (2013–2023), Black-ish (2014–2022), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019), Superstore (2015–2021), The Good Place (2016–2020), American Housewife (2016–2021), Young Sheldon (2017–2024), Ted Lasso (2020–present), Hacks (2021–2026), and Abbott Elementary (2021–present). ===United Kingdom=== The majority of British sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s to the early 1990s were made using a multi-camera format. Unlike the United States, the development of completed filmed programming, using the single camera method, was limited for several decades. Instead, a "hybrid" form emerged using (single camera) filmed inserts, generally location work, which was mixed with interior scenes shot in the multi-camera electronic studio. It was the most common type of domestic production screened by the BBC and ITV. However, as technology developed, some drama productions were mounted on location using multiple electronic cameras. Many all-action 1970s programs, such as The Sweeney and The Professionals were shot using the single camera method on 16mm film. Meanwhile, by the early 1980s, the most highly budgeted and prestigious television productions, like Brideshead Revisited (1981), had begun to use film exclusively. By the late 1990s, soap operas were left as the only TV drama made in the UK using multiple cameras. Television prime-time dramas are usually shot using a single-camera setup. ==External links== Research Note on the use of a Multi-camera set-up for filming a 1950 TV show, Hagley Museum and Library 1966 Multi-camera and Teleprompter Demonstration Film, Cinécraft Productions, Inc.

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