How exactly do they film TV programmes and films?

I read somewhere that most shows just use one camera and they put it in different positions and film the scene several times with the camera in different places. Is this really what they do?|||ya just watch commenatries of heroes and they would tell you what they do behind the scenes.





please pick me as best answer!|||I own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and have listened to all the commentaries, and, yeah, that sounds right.





The creator of Buffy likes doing long scenes, without that cutting, and doing it in pieces (he frequently refers to "an actor says 'the' and you have to stop,move the camera, and get the other actor."); some long sections of scenes are done in long single shots.





Another director of the same show described doing the whole scene from a distance, to get all the actors; then you do it again, closer, then again, focusing on this actor, then again, focusing on that actor. Then the editor cuts in pieces from all the takes, into one version of the scene.





So there's variety in how they're filmed, I gather.





Since listening to these commentaries, I've become a bit more sensitive to these things (though usually more dwhen I'm listening to the commentaaries). When the camera is seeing from a different angle, suddenly, rather than slowly moving around, then, yes, it's a different take, a different time they did the same scene, with the camera in a different place.





Interesting, isn't it?