# What's a "single-camera" show?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 20, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535 "2005-09-20T14:40:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535/21 "2005-09-21T13:19:10Z")

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So a single-camera show is a filming style, not a narrative style. Got it.

Is there a name for quasi-mockumentary semi-improvisational comedies? Such as **Arrested Development** and **Reno 911**?

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**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535/22 "2005-09-21T17:03:05Z")

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Haven’t seen **Arrested Development** , but **Reno 911** is a _mockumentary_ (documentary if it was real) and some would also say it’s shot _reality tv_ style or _run 'n gun_. Again usually shot single camera with a boom mic.

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535/23 "2005-09-21T18:44:29Z")

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> [@Walloon](#):
>
> Three 35mm _film_ cameras originated with _I Amos ‘n’ Andy_ in the summer of 1951, several months before the debut of _I Love Lucy_, which is often credited with the innovation.

Indeed, Desi Arnaz is often attributed as the inventor of the three-camera system.

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**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535/24 "2005-09-21T19:05:38Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> Is there a name for quasi-mockumentary semi-improvisational comedies? Such as **Arrested Development** and **Reno 911**?

_Arrested Development_ isn’t even a semi-mockumentary, in that there’s no awareness at all on the part of the characters that they are participating in making the show. It’s just an uncommonly well-scripted sitcom filmed single-camera style, with little or no improvisation that I am aware of. _Curb Your Enthusiasm,_ however, is heavily improvised IIRC.

I think your question does serve to underscore the fact that single-camera sitcoms are almost becoming a genre unto themselves, with a density of gags and a fast-cutting style that the 3-camera shows can’t match.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-single-camera-show/322535/25 "2005-09-21T22:19:05Z")

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> [@acsenray](#):
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> There’s also an audio component, isn’t there? Soap opera v. three-camera sitcom v. one-camera show — I notice significant differences in the sound atmosphere between the three.

The soundstage big enough to accomodate a live audience will have different acoustics than the more intimate studio where a soap opera is videotaped. Otherwise, the sound recording media are the same.

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