To me, a multi-cam is just like the feeling you get from the audience.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The live performance aspect of shooting a multicamera sitcom is wonderful. You have that instant audience reaction.
I love a good comedy, but the slapstick sitcom belly-laugh sort of comedy - the multicam thing - is not really where my interests lie. I'm very interested in single-cam, in intimate portraits. I like it when comedies have a little bit of realism and a little bit of darkness to them. It makes them more palatable and more relatable and grounded.
I really enjoyed multicamera comedy. You film in front of a live audience, and it's kind of the best of both worlds. It's like doing a one-act play every week, but if you screw your lines up, you get to do it over.
A lot of cable television is shot on a single camera. Our eyes are more trained to that. It takes the camera off the crane, away from observing the action, to becoming a character in the story along with everyone else. People are getting used to that.
Once you get into your stride, the camera becomes like another person in the room. It's like being in a very small theatre where there is no getting away with anything because the audience is centimetres away from you.
If you've got five cameras, you're making sure that you're in the right position for each one of the cameras.
I admire people who can step out on their own and work alone - that takes a lot of guts. But I'd rather have the camaraderie on and off camera of working as a part of a group.
I'm always aware of the camera and it feels like that's the audience.
I was never one for multi-cameras; my approach was always... I always considered there was only one place to be to do a shot.
I had to learn a lot on 'Victorious' because I had never done multi-camera before. It's like music: You need to be on it, and there's no room for subtleties.