Unit 23 Multi Cam
welcome to my multi cam page this page will have all my work on for the multi cam unit.
With mock the week i think they use about four cameras so that they can cover a range of different angels and they can see a number of different peoples reactions to the joke whether it would be the other comedians or the audience. There would be one camera that covers a wide angel shot so you can see the whole set. then there would be another camera on the host of the show mr Obrieon as he is one of the main cast. Then there would be one camera on the left for team one and one camera on the right for team 2 and the camera that is based on a certain team will cover anyone that's in that team e.g. the team 2 camera might cut to a mid shot of Frankie Boyle if he is on team 2. But if they have a situation where they need a quick cut between two people on the same team then i think the camera in the centre that covers the host will cover the other comedian who is on the same team, that is probably reacting to a joke or comment, while the main camera for that team covers the person talking/telling the joke which would result in getting a action reaction type edit. There may even be an additional camera used just so they dont have to take the static camera of the host that is in the centre of the stage, this seems likely as during the intro there were 4 or 5 quick cuts where it cut to all the people on the panel which made it seem that there were 6 cameras used. When filming they have to be careful that they don't get the other camera's in shot and the comedians need to know what camera to look at as there maybe more the one camera covering a similar angel but only one can be live at once so they have to know what one it is. The Comedians know what camera's are live by being aware of their surroundings but also mainly by having an ear piece linked into the talk back. A multi cam set up is also used to keep the show visually interesting for the viewer as they will get a mix of different backgrounds while seeing a number of the different panel so they will feel like they are interacting with all of the comedians. The multi cam setup can also help communicate meaning to the viewer particularly when a joke is being told so then the television audience can see how everyone else reacts to the joke which may help them understand the joke better. All the time the show is going on the director and vision mixer are sitting up in the control room monitoring the show from a distance so they can can dictate the tempo of the show so the adverts are broadcast on time so the company does not get fined but also so that the show does not slow down otherwise the audience will get bored and change the channel. A lot of the time the camera people have to be self aware and use initiative to pick out shots that they feel fit in with the narrative and shots they think look interesting so they can help keep the show flowing without constant orders from the director. But all the time they are still on the talk back so they are ready to get any shots that the director can see which they may have missed. The camera people are like this because of there years of experience and practise rehearsals. When the vision mixer is in the control room they are constantly looking for shots they can fade together and cross cut to to keep the show flowing and to create an artificial environment that can suggest thing such as a combative environment or a very competitive environment that perhaps just doesn't exist in reality; e.g. when you see the two teams of comedians competing for points and to win rounds there is a lot of cross cuts so you can see how the other team reacts when the opposition score a point or win a round. There is also the floor manager who is on the ground signalling all the camera people to get the shots set up and the audience so they are ready to cheer at the start of the show and when the comedians tell a joke which helps create an atmosphere that the audience at home can experience.
The reason multiple cameras are used in this football example is so that the television audience can watch the game clearly no matter where the ball goes and how fast its traveling, this helps to keep the television audience engaged in the action and it ensures they never miss a moment whether it is big or small. the multicam setup is also used so you can get the action from multiple different angels so the audience gets a better understanding of whats happening e.g. off sides, fouls or goals then they can judge whether they think the decision was fair or not. In this example i think there is atleast 10 cameras used two to cover each goal end probably two cameras for the wide angle shot at each side of the pitch. one camera to track the ball and another camera to get closeups to see the players facial expression. then there will be two cameras ready when they score one to show the goal and the other to show the players celebration. there will also be another camera that will track the referee and linesmen to see what decisions they are making. the problem with using this many cameras is the camera can get in shot and because there are so many cameras it makes the directors job very hard to pick the best shot and to decide what camera to switch to in time. Another problem/complication that could arise is the unpredictable weather so it could start raining or the wind might be blowing which could damage the equipment so they have to make sure the equipment is weather proofed for all different kinds of weather before filming. As this is a live event it means the cameramen cant predict what is going to happen so sometimes they have to 2nd guess what will happen which is partly why the cuts are so quick and the camera's keep changing in terms of positioning and shot variation in order for the director to keep up with the football action. The camera's are probably because of the distance between the vision mixer and camera's, this gives the camera people an advantage as their movements are not restricted so they can get more shot variation. Similarly to other multi cam setup's the camera people will use there intuitive and pick there own shots but they will only chose shots that are in their assigned section, but they will always have the talk back in there to ensure they get the shots the director wants, shots of the crowd, goal scorer and goal keeper. A lot of the camera people would have lots of experience and would of rehearsed so there camera work would be fluent and on the same page as the director. Unlike most multi camera setups where most shots follow a pattern of going from a long shot/wide shot or a extreme medium shot to a shot that is closer like a close up or 2 mid shot, in football matches some of the shots they will do will start quite far out but then go even further zoomed out this is because if the ball goes far in the air or a really long ball is played the camera's are going to still have to get it in shot so in order to do this they either zoom out or switch to a closer camera. The talk back is key for this type of production because there are so many cameras for the director to choose from the best shot quickly as football games move so fast so the vision mixer and camera people have to listen clearly to exactly what the director says so they know what shots to go to. The director in this case also has to be 2 or 3 steps ahead so they know what shots to switch to even before they have changed shot as some of the shot durations are so small e.g. 1 or 2 seconds so they just don't have time to make decisions why they are still live on a shot. The environment is a bit more unpredictable and out of control unlike a studio production not just because of the weather but because the production crew has no control over when the fans will cheer and shout and they don't know how the players will react so they have to adapt and just go with the flow even if its not exactly what the director wanted.
multicam has been used in this music concert example so that the audience can see multiple members of the band and so they can see all the different instruments they are using, this also helps to keep the audience engaged in what is going on by offering them a range of different visual backdrops which helps maintain viewer interest. Multi cam has also been used so they can see the live audience reaction to the music which gives the television audience a unique prospective and so that they can see how big the concert is which gives them a feel for the environment and atmosphere that the music concert happened in. In this example i think four or five cameras have been used there is one that tracks the audience one that has a wide shot of the band and two cameras that focus on different members of the band which tend to intercut so you get a variation in terms of what band member you are seeing. there is also another camera that gets some closeups on audience members to see their reactions to the music. There isn't as many complication as less cameras are used and they are spread out nicely but the director could find it hard to pick what shots to use as their is quite a variety. Another complication is that they need a large amount of wire to rig up all the cameras because of the large space but they might not have enough wire so there will have to be some sort of compromise on where they are able to place camera's. A multi cam setup also helps the television audience to become more emersed in the atmosphere and envioment of the concert even though they are not actually there partly because they can see the band from different angeles but also because they can see how the live audiences is reacting to the music while listening to them cheering and celebrating the music. Because this concert was filmed about 30 years ago or so the camera equipment would be quite outdated by todays standards so i would assumme the camera's all have wires and aren't wireless which is a problem as it can restrict the camera peoples movements and it can also effect camera placement so they may not always be able to place the camera's in ideal locations. This will consequently effect how the home viewers view the concert as they may not be able to see everything that is going on. There would of been a floor manager of some kind to make sure everyone was in the right positions in terms of staging to ensure the camera's can focus on the key elements, the floor manager would of also ensured no one was obscuring the stage from the camera peoples view. The director and vision mixer would of had to be close by to the camera's as they are wired and the concert was outside so they would of probably been setup in a kind of a gazebo thing outside where they would of had some sort of walkie talkies in order to communicate to the camera people so they can control the tempo of the concert which would of been done a lot through shot duration. In this multi cam setup a lot of it is based on filming all the surrounding like the band, live audience and location in order to give the home viewer a feel of the environment.
Multi cam has been used to keep the television audience engaged this is done by allowing the audience to see everything that is going on but from multiple different angles e.g. points where Jonathan ross says a joke then there is a cut to one of his guests to see their reaction to what he has said. Multi cam is also used when guests walk or go to sing on the show like Adele e.g. when she walks in there are about 3 different cameras that cover her walk to the the stage but from different angles such as a high angle shot, a long shot and a zoom in mid shot. I think there are 5 or 6 cameras used, there is one used for a wide angel shot of the stage, one to track new guests when they come on and two cameras to focus on the host and his guest so you get a action reaction type thing where one person says something, medium shot then cut to other camera reaction medium shot and they react to what the other person said. Then there will probably be another camera that focuses on the live studio audience. The only complications that could occoure is a camera could end in shot or when the cameraman or director has to sometimes 2nd guess what is going to happen so he changes shot, it could be to a wrong shot and it would mess the continuity up. There is also alot of shot variation used which keeps the audience visually entertained but it also highlights the fact that what the audience is watching was live so the cameras had to adjust as the panel are moving around and different people are speaking. This multi cam studio setup is vigorously controlled and staged in order to portray the show the way it is intended e.g. the floor manager and production crew will organise exactly where people will have to sit and the live audience will be told what they can and cant say. The audience will also be cued when to laugh and clap and if its not acceptable the audience will just be told to do a re run especially at places like the intro as they have to build up the atmosphere as much as possible before the show kicks off. All the time the interview is going on between adele and Jonathan ross the director is whispering in Ross's ear through the ear piece, telling him what questions to ask and how he could ask them, the director will also be telling him to perhaps speed up the interview or draw it to a close as there are 5 seconds before the ad's start. While the director is telling Ross what to say and do he is also thinking of better shots his crew could get for the vision mixer to cut to even though the camera people will pick 80% of the shots themselves, they cant see what the director can from the control room so if the director can find a better shot the vision mixer will cut to it. The floor manager will also be organising things on the floor while the interview is going on such as the band so they are ready to play as soon as Adele finishes her interview in order to keep the tempo of the chat show going.
Multi cam has been used so that the television audience can see the game from different angels so they can judge how well the contestant is doing. Its also been used so that the audience can see the game host and contestant almost simultaneously which allows the audience to see how they are reacting with each other and how they are reacting to different situations such as being inside the cube. A multicam setup also allows the telivision audience to see how the live studio audience views the game contestants progress. I think there are about 8 or 9 cameras used one for the game contestant, another for the game hoast another one for a wide shot of the stage and another for the live studio audience. There is also another camera used which is on a crane so you can see the whole cube light up. There are 4 or 5 cameras used when the person in the cube is showing the audience how to play which i think it is pre recorded e.g. there is a mid shot inside the cube a camera that has a closeup on the ball going in the tube, a closeup on the game testers mask and a camera that switches angels so the television audience can see the ball moving. This is all done so the television audience sees the action from multiple different angels. the problem with using this many cameras is it makes it very hard to direct and if the director is not experienced they can make mistakes and cut to the wrong shots also with this much shot variation a camera could end up in shot. In the cube game show the multi cam setup helps show the audience how interactive the game show is, and it gives the television audience an idea of what the environment and atmosphere is like for the live studio audience. Due to the amount of shot variation it helps keep the audience entertained and interested as they are always seeing a different background from different angeles so no shot is ever the same. Live gameshows are slightly different to live chat shows because they are less controlled e.g. if the director is not happy about the reaction the contestant gets after completing a challenge then they cant go back and re film it as the contestant would have to do the challenge again which is not feasible. However this is still staged e.g. if you look at all the contestants friends and family they are all sat at the front this is so that the camera's can easily cut between them and the contestant to get a action reaction type cut as it would be to hard to locate them in the middle of the rest of the crowd. This show is all about facial expression and seeing people reactions to how the contestant is doing so a lot of the shots used would be medium and closeup shots so the home audience can get a feel of their facial expression and body language. This show has a very basic structure which is contestant does challenge then people comment on how he did and wish him good luck for the next challenge and because the show has such a basic structure the director can easily organise there camera people. So they probably have certain jobs e.g. camera 1 and 2 focus on family and friends facial expression, then camera 3 focuses on other audience members, then camera 4 and 5 focus on the actual cube while 6 and 7 focus on host and contestant. Then there would be an 8th camera on a crane in order to get an establishing shot. So when this game show is filmed the order would be something like medium 2 shot as host and contestant talk about challenge then long shot as contestant is in cub, then there would be a range of closeup's medium shots and long shots as the contestant is doing the challenge so the home audience can see how the contestant feels and then they can tell how much pressure he/she is under, while the camera's continuously cut back to the contestants family and friends to see there reactions to how thing are going. After the challenge is complete there would be another 2 shot of host and contestant as they talk about how the challenge went and at this point some of the cameras will cut back to the contestants family and friends as the host asks them how they think the contestant did.
there is a crane used
multiple different camera's allows shot variation
mixture between pre recorded and live footage
action and reaction shots keep audience informed
live studio audience and television audience
there is a crane used
multiple different camera's allows shot variation
mixture between pre recorded and live footage
action and reaction shots keep audience informed
live studio audience and television audience
This video is of a studio production example which means it is much easier to control the lighting and sound which can lead to better quality visuals and sound which is important as thousands of people will watch the show. This is pre recorded but with a live studio audience which means they can stop and start if needed. This programme is semi scripted as they know what topics they are going to talk about and who's the main speaker so the camera men can 2nd guess who to film so it will run smoothly. However they don't know exactly what will happen. The programme also has a certain structure that they always follow so it is much easier for the director on the vision mixture to control what shots he wants and who he wants to cut to. Because studios aren't massive the camera's are quite close together so this can cause potential problems when filming as another camera could end up in shot. A production crew is on hand in the studio to fix any technical problems that may occur and if any do it doesn't matter as much because its pre recorded. As there is a short distance to collect audio, visuals and talkback feeds it makes it easier to set it up and change if their is a problem because the studio is quite small. As this show is pre recorded they can just stop and start if any big mistakes are made which helps the programme run smoothly when its shown on tv. In the programme the onscreen graphics behind the contestants are controlled live by a graphic director. This qi example i believe uses a similar lighting setup to 3 point lighting except a version which can be setup for multiple people. This is because if you look at all the contestants and the host the background is clearly lit up and there is enough light on all their faces to keep their facial features clearly defined. The lighting has beeb setup very professionally because all there face is one colour and not section is brighter then the other, there are also no shadows any where. The lighting is key in this multi camera setup as it can help change the whole atmosphere because if it is well lit people will feel positive about and and they can see all the shots clearer where if it was dark or darker they may feel slightly negative and it could be harder for them to make out certain shots. The graphics director plays a key role in this qi programme because they are controlling all the graphics in the background to help keep the setting interesting and interactive for the live and home audience. The graphics director would be on over the talk back so they can communicate on the talk back so they can change the images in the background to help change the atmosphere/mood if the director instructs them to. There is also the vt played at the beginning that the graphics director would be in incharge of making sure it plays when the programme goes live so in order to do this the vt would of already had to be cued and the graphics director would have to listen over the talk back for when they are about to go live so the vt plays when its scheduled to.
This programme is filmed outside and open to the environment which makes it hard to control the sound and lighting, it is also live. This event is not scripted but certain areas of the pitch and events are covered by different camera's e.g. goal ends, free kicks, penalties and centre half. The events are unplanned/not scripted as anything can happen and they dont know where the ball is going so they have to try and predict the balls movements. There is also no control over weather conditions so they have to get all the camera's prepped before the start. The camera's and crew are going to be spread out over a large distance so they need longer cabels and more of them so it is more complicated to setup and because its live if there is a tech issue they have to fix it there and then. Also due to the distance it is likely alot of the cameras will be wireless so the camera's and sound will have to be synced seperatly which can cause issues. There might be unmanned cameras that are on a crane or attached to a wire in order to get interesting angeles and birds eye views. There are many cameras used in order to cover every angel which can cause problems when shooting as other cameras can end up in shot and it makes it hard to direct and vision mix as there are multiple different shots to choose from. Instant replay and slow motion is used in order to keep the audience well informed on all the action. With this type of multi camera setup it is all about capturing the action as it unfolds before the audiences eyes, so they want to see every tackle, every pass, every shot and every save and in order to do this the camera's are going have to focus on that ball so they will move when the ball moves. To make this easier the pitch will be split up into different sections for certain camera's as previously mentioned and there will be certain camera's for certain events e.g. if a goal is scored there will be a camera to focus on the goal after the ball goes in and another to track the goal scorer. So when the ball moves there would be a camera tasked with tracking it while having a long shot so the home audience can see the other players around the ball so probably a wide angel shot but as soon as the ball moves into another section of the pitch and becomes hard to track, the vision mixer will just cut between shots and another camera will pick up the ball and carry on following it. This is how the basic structure works but then you have the director in the control room with the vision mixer and if they see a better shot that shows the play from a better angel then they would just get the vision mixer to cut to it. But the important thing to remember with football matches the director cant control the tempo of the programme as it is about how fast the football match is going so if one of the teams all of a sudden go on the attack play would speed up so the director would have to make quick decisions of what shot to cut to so the vision mixer is going to have to stay focused in order to make quick cuts and at certain points the director will have to be a step or 2 ahead in order to keep up with pace of the match. This can become increasing hard especially as the director has so many shots to chose from even though half the shots wont be relevant they will still be up on the screen which can make it hard to focus on the right shots to pick from. A graphics director is needed with a programme like this because they have to organise the score table and time but aswell as that they may have a graphic of the teams badge pop up when they score so a graphics director has to be on standby to organise that. Also when they are about to cut to commercials they will probably have a motion graphic of the logo for what ever league the match is being played in e.g. they may have a european league logo pop up before the commercials and once they go back on air. So all the time this is going on graphics director is going to have to listen on the talk back so the director can tell them when commercials are about to begin or when the director wants the league logo to come up on screen.
Multicam Comparison's
When looking at the different multi cam examples I have used there are a number of noticeable similarities and differences some are more basic then other i.e. Mock The Week, QI, The Cube, and The Jonathan Ross show are all studio productions where the Bob Marly concert, Iran v Brazil, and Arsenal v Charlton are all on location productions. The two football multi cam examples use the most amount of camera's this is because it is live action so the audience at home wants to see all the football action that is happening and the only way to do that is get enough camera's to cover every part of the pitch; the only other multi cam example that has a lot of camera's like the football one's is The Cube which has about 9-10 camera's which is a lot for a studio production, put it only uses this many because it has a pre recorded part and a live part, but if you were to only count the camera's used then they would have 5 like most other studio productions e.g. Mock the Week, QI and The Jonathan Ross Show. All the studio productions like The Cube, QI, The Jonathan Ross Show and Mock The Week all have a camera specifically to focus on the presenter as they dictate and run the show so they will be in shot a lot of the time even if it is for 10 seconds at one time they will probably be in the shot at least 50 times so it all adds up. Similarly the Bob Marley live concert uses 4-5 camera's and always has one main camera trained/focused on the main presenter/main singer which is Bob Marley so people can see him singing all his songs as he was the main singer. The Bob Marly concert would of used wires for the camera's even though they would have to cover a massive distance (km) like multi cam setup's have to at football games except now the technology is a lot better so all the camera's are wireless so when the Marly concert was filmed that would have to have metres upon metres of wire and they would have to think a lot more about camera placement. A lot of studio productions use cranes when filming this is done because it enables them to get a range of different angles and shot types, they are also mainly used to get shots of the live studio audience or to get an establishing shot of the stage/studio setup, The cube, QI and The Jonathan Ross Show all use these cranes. Something all these multi cam examples have in common is that they use a number of pre recorded and live elements to make the shows possible e.g. The Jonathan Ross Show, The Cube, QI, Mock The Week, and the Bob Marley concert all have a live audience but are pre recorded so they can later be edited so all the best bits can be shown on TV otherwise the audience will tune out. The football examples also use a live audience and is broadcast live however they also use a pre recorded element as why it is being broadcast live they are also recording it so it can be edited later so they can capture the best bits and turn them into highlights. All these multi cam setups are setup so that the camera's can cover multiple different sections, shot angles, and shot types, in order so they can best portray and follow the actions as the shows are all about entertainment and keep the audience interested and if they can only see half of what is going or miss key parts so they don't understand whats going on the they will zone out get bored and stop watching which is exactly what the tv channel doesn't want. The two football examples are very good with shot variation as they use a range of different types of shots and angels to be able to effectively capture all the action. The only problem with a multi cam setup like this is because of the amount of camera's used and the size of the football ground it can be very complicated to setup and even to effectively plan and execute as you have to storyboard all the potential shots, pick the best camera positions, work out shot duration and direct potential 15 or more camera's. So this setup may be good at keep up with the action and live events but a big disadvantage compare to a studio production like Mock The Week where there is only about 5 camera's and the shots can be scripted and storyboard as the show follows a specific layout is that its to hard to plan and to plan something like this you would need to do it weeks in advance, in other words its far to complicated. Mock The Week is good at focusing a camera at each separate team then cutting to a medium shot or two shot if two people on the same team are talking this is good because it allows the audience to focus on the person telling the joke or responding to the joke. It also makes the show hard to predict which makes it interesting e.g. when you have the shot of one team with all three of them in one shot it is very hard to tell who will speak next or to judge how people will react. I think the one major weakness with Mock The Week is that they never cut back to the live studio audience to see their reactions to any of the jokes, which is a big flaw because the live studio audience help enhance the atmosphere and reminds people that although it is filmed in the studio it is still real and the comedians come up with their own jokes. The Bob Marley concert is more successful then Mock The Week at involving the live audience in the filming of the concert by showing how they are interacting with Bob Marley and by showing their reaction to the music by doing this it helps enhance the atmosphere and makes it feel almost like you yourself are at the concert even though it happened 30 odd years ago. I think this multi cam example could improve on its shot durations as they are simply to long e.g. some shots are over 1 minute long. The shot variation in the Bob Marly concert is some what limited as they only stick to basic shot's such as long shots, medium shots, and closeups occasionally there are a few others like wide angle but that are the main ones. Even though there isn't loads of shot variation it is not necessarily a bad thing as it helps keep things simple otherwise it would mean having to spend twice as long on planning the multi cam setup and you would need even more camera's and camera people which they probably don't have the budget for. Some more cameras would of helped because they only have a few camera's it means the ones they do have has to cover larger sections of the stadium and because of the lack of camera's it limits their camera placement as they are going to have to place them in a position that they feel best covers the action i.e. the concert, where if they had more camera's they could place them in more places that had slightly different angles then they could cut between them all and as a result the shot length would be dramatically reduced. The Jonathan Ross show multi cam setup is very successful at the lighting aspects as every shot is well lit and they are all the same brightness and contrast, because of this the show looks visually appealing especially when you see the backdrop behind the host Jonathan Ross which is a beautifully colourfully lit backdrop of all these skyscraper type buildings. The Jonathan Ross Show multi cam setup is also very good at scripting and blending the shots together e.g. when Adele's journey to the show is shown it is filmed from about 3 different camera's at multiple different angles which are all different so again it is visually pleasing especial as the angles used are interesting. It is good how they consistently throughout cut between the guest on the show talking to the host and the other guests waiting to go on the stage, this is good because it means the other guests can interject and give their opinions which helps make the show more interesting and flow better. My main criticism of The Jonathan Ross Show multi cam setup is that some of the shot could of been framed better i.e. more head room, smaller wide angle shots, and better angles i.e. when Adele is singing some of the shots are shot from the wrong angle so its almost visually off putting. The Cube is very good at mixing live footage with pre recording footage because when you watch it at first it is not very noticeable that they use pre recorded footage to demonstrate how to do the cube game. The pre recorded and live footage works well together as it flows well and feels like its part of the same time frame and programme even though it was shot earlier when the studio was empty. The shot variation of The Cube is good as it uses a number of different shot types and angles e.g. medium shot, closeup, long shot, closeup, extreme closeup, wide angle shot, zoom shot and pan. This amount of shot variation helps to keep things visually interesting as you are constantly looking at new shot from a different angle, which is also because the shot variation is quite quick. This is good because it keeps up with the pace of the programme and it shows how fast the action is moving, what is interesting is some of the shots seem to almost mimic how the game contestant feel as occasionally they are shaky emphasising that the contestant is nervous, sometimes they are very quick suggesting the contestant is pumped and ready to go. The shots tend to slow down when the host and contestant are talking suggesting this is because at this point the game show slows down so the contestant can get a breather and become composed for the next challenge it also gives the host time to explain the next game and by slowing down the shot change it allows the audience to focus on the host explaining the game so they can clearly understand how the game works. One of the best aspects of the multi cam setup for The Cube is that they show the contestant doing the challenge in slowmo for the replay this is good as it gives the audience a chance to see how the contestant is feeling through his facial expression and body language, the slowmo also gives the effect that time has slowed down and almost stopped as everyone is nervous and on the edge of their seats to see what happens. Straight after the replays it cuts to the host asking the contestant how they felt while doing the challenge which is good as the audience can relate that to the facial expression and body language that they saw. Another positive about The Cube is they get the host to ask the contestant family and friends how they think they did this is good as it reminds the audience that the show is live and it demonstrates that the show is very interactive as it interacts with members of the live studio audience which very few shows do. I would go as far to say as The Cube is the best multi cam example I have. The QI multi cam setup is very similar to Mock The Week what is good about the QI multi cam setup is it has a good mix of shot variation and shot length so the shots are constantly changing which keeps it visually interesting as you are never left with the same shots. It is interesting how they have the digital graphics on the wall behind the guests and host this is good because it gives you something to look at if your getting a bit bored. QI is successful because it is scripted and follows a basic layout that is the same for every show, this is good because it means the camera people already know what shots are required so they can just focus on shot length and shot framing/composition, so the shots will be at the highest technical standard possible. QI uses a crane which allows the show to increase its shot variation and it allows interesting establishing shots taking from an ariel view which again makes it visually interesting even if what the people on the show are saying isn't.