Week 11- Reality TV

What signifiers of reality have emerged from the documentary genre?

There are variety of styles and techniques associated with reality tv, such as non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the camera. However, the treatment of 'reality' in reality programming has changed as the genre, has developed with one scene footage such as emergency and birth. Now days Reality Tv is associated with anything and everything. You can turn on the tv and find hundreds of shows based around reality. There are TV networks specifically for them. Many shows have emerged in the documentary genre such as lagona Beach, The Hills, the City, The Real world, The Osbournes, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kendra, Police 10 seven, Airline, and even shows such as American Idol, X facotor and Master chef. Many celebrities are even getting their own 'reality' tv shows, as it is a way of upper their star appeal. Reality = Big ratings. A Reality tv category has even been included into the Emmy Awards as it is so popular and often gets more ratings than other shows on prime time TV.

How has the Documentary genre influenced reality tv and how it presents the 'real'?

Documentary genre has been a huge influence on reality tv and the so called notion of "Real". It gives viewers a chance to get an insight into what is happening in peoples lives or what is happening on the streets of their town. It is like the audience is in on this secret that they are not supposed to know about, and that power is addictive to addictive to audiences. "There is a huge future- just as theres been a huge past - in British tv for so-called real people on tv.. some of those so-called reality shows are more factual, some are more formatted, like pop idol. A lot of them used to be called documentaries, but people are now just more inventive with them." The Hills is a Prime example of how a documentary style of reality represents the 'real'. The setting is as though they are being secretly watched, the camera is around in the most private and complicated situations, every little piece of their lives is displayed on tv, and that got audiences hooked, the fact that they could be in on other peoples drama sent shock waves across the world, and soon it was a sensation. There was a contrivers e on whether or not it was fake, and the series finale when it shows the actors on a sound stage and ditching the scrips, just proves how they took us all for a ride, but it was affective. and it is still being talked about now. Documentary genre is a way for the camera to catch every moment, it is supposed to be like you are looking in the mirror of realism. Most of these reality shows are like that, but you do get the ones when it is scripted to look 'real'. "Far from being the faithful depiction of reality it is assumed to be realism through the various forms it has taken throughout its history, shows itself to be neither window nor mirror but a set of convections."

Rererences -

Hill, A. (2005) The Reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular factual Television. (pp.14-40). Oxon: Routledge.

Biressi, A and Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In Reality TV: Realism and Revelation. (pp. 35-38) London: Wallflower.