Scotamiran

The Office US — reply from Jeremy Butler's talk page

Hi, i corrected the Office US's page to read that it is a multi-camera shot production, to which you changed back to say it was a single-cam production. However, in your edit summary you state, "Although a second camera is often used, it is not shot multiple-camera (i.e., 4-camera) style. Contrast, e.g., with Two and a Half Men." So can you clarify how using multiple camera's makes the office a single camera production? I dont see the connection there. I am merely referring to how the actual crew members and industry professionals define our own craft. In case that you mean that a second camera is "often" used, and therefore not "always", it is still pertinent to refer to it as a multi cam show, especially since something like the office so clearly uses at least two cameras the majority of the time. Im just curious bc its very likely that im just missing something here. Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Scotamiran (talk • contribs) 20:32, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Hi, Scott, and thanks for the comment/query.

The Office is not a pure single-camera show, because, as you pointed out, it often uses a second camera. However, one could make the same point about many (most?) feature films, which, as I'm sure you know, often use a second camera on set and I don't just mean for special effects shots. And yet, those films are still considered single-camera productions.

Most importantly, The Office is definitely not a conventional multiple-camera show. As the multiple-camera setup article details, that term most often refers to a sitcom using three or four cameras to record scenes simultaneously, with a studio audience and so on.

I'm friends with Ken Kwapis, who directed many Office episodes (and the pilot), and I've interviewed one of the program's editors. I know they view the show as a "single-camera" production--especially in terms of scripting and editing.

So, in the final analysis, The Office is somewhere in between a pure single-camera production and a pure multiple-camera production; but I think it's closer to single-camera than multiple and key crew members think of it in the same way.

Regards, Jeremy Butler 01:03, 7 September 2008 (UTC)