One camera for all angles in a scene — broadcast standard for drama and film. Slower pace but absolute visual control and cinematic consistency.
You set up a scene with a single camera and reset it for each take—this is the workflow that defines feature films. While series crews often shoot with two or three cameras simultaneously to save time, here you consciously work serially: one shot after another, one camera, full control over lighting, framing, and movement. This costs time on the production floor but saves it in the edit and, above all, in visual quality.
The practical consequence: You plan your coverage—establishing, medium, close-up, reverse—and shoot it sequentially. The advantage lies in consistency. Lighting, focus, motion blur—everything remains stable because you're not juggling multiple lenses. On set, you need fewer cameras, less crew, less chaos. In the edit, your editor has real dramatic control: they're not cutting together what three cameras happened to capture, but what the cinematographer deliberately shot. The screenwriter and DP speak the same language.
Typical procedure: Master shot of the entire action, then you narrow the frame. Medium shots for dialogue, close-ups for emotional moments. Each pass uses the same lighting—or you adjust it deliberately because you have time for relighting. Reverse angles of the other actor follow in the same session or later in the day. Technically, this also means: you need stable rig positions, good pre-planning in the storyboard, and a crew that can quickly reset without destroying continuity.
The rhythm is slower than multi-camera, but denser in intent. You do five or six takes per shot, not two, and each take is precise because the camera doesn't capture distracting background elements. The result: cinematic craftsmanship instead of documentation. That's why the single-camera setup is the classic method for all productions that can take their time for quality.