Week 11 - Reality TV

Hey guys, the two questions up for this week are as follows;

How does Hill define reality TV?

First up Hill states straight off "The category of reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming. There are a 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 camera" (Hills, 2005).

So from these is that as cited in Hill 2005 that with a given variety of categories for reality TV, that it really is no surprise that the TV audiences have several different ideas for what reality programmes like for an example of this is British television viewers, definition of reality programmes; "people programmes, documentaries of the real life", a 26 year old real estate agent summed up the way viewers perceived content of factual programmes as " real life doco's like things which have happened to people, eg getting evicted, so from this is viewers equated reality TV ' with camera's following people around', so this means that an issue to overcome was to find a neutral category for reality programmes. cited Hall 2005.


Hill also states that Reality TV is “perhaps the most traditional industry term for Reality TV is factual entertainment.” (Hills, 2005), which he then goes on to state six categories they are; “documentaries and contemporary factual; specialist factual; current affairs and investigations; arts and culture; life skills; and new media,” (Hills, 2005) Reality TV is everywhere like for example the shows we watch on TV like Survivor, road cops, highway petrol and things on sky like MTV, kardashians are examples of reality TV.


Next question is; How has the documentary genre influenced reality TV and how it presents the ‘real’?

In the Biressi, A. & Nunn (2005) they state that the documentary genre has influenced the reality TV from the time since “Direct Cinema, and Free Cinema”.


To start off, documentaries was the ' original' reality TV. Some things that documentaries and reality TV have in common is 1) The fly on the wall camera technique, 2)

Documentaries influences reality TV in a sense of 'copies' from say wild animal shows, why i say this is because the animals get followed around with a camera crew, watching every move, and now that's what made reality TV as shows like Kendra and the Kardashians were made, as they are followed around all day, with a camera crew.

As noted in Biressi and Nunn (2005) they state "how the documentary genre exposed the everyday lives of the ordinary working class citizens and presented them in their raw and natural state while also letting the viewer see their struggles and pain as they go about their everyday lives"
An example of how reality TV and how it presents the 'real' is say Police Ten seven, this show isn't staged it shows what exactly goes on in a cops life and what happens on our streets, this is 'real' as you cannot stage something like someone being for the possession of drugs, i mean even it even shows the camera crew sometimes getting some grief, this is whats real, unlike say a show like Big brother where there is hidden cameras and it does seem 'real', but in saying that a lot of it would be scripted!.



REFERENCES

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.

NO SCREENING WEEK 12

No screening is planned for this Thursday (week 12). This will give you all an opportunity to catch up on your blogs and begin working on the second brief assignment (Fanfic or an essay).

Week 10 - cult TV

Hey guys this week I’m answering the following questions;

First up...... In what way is Buffy influenced by the romantic Gothic tradition? Yet how does Buffy also provide a contemporary critique of this tradition?

" The initiative and the creature Adam, Buffy and the Scooby gang embody a modern re imaging of Romantic ideology that Mary Shelly herself would likely appreciated" (Rose, 2002).

In many ways Buffy is influenced by the romantic gothic tradition as it follows the redemption of man, the main men in the show are constantly trying to redeem themselves and get their souls back in order to become better people. Buffy is the main centre around this focus, which is the centre of the romantic gothic tradition their relationship is kind of dark, twisted and un-natural. With Buffy having relationships with Angel and Spike who both are vampires but have had their souls re installed to them. Most of the focus of these relationships are them fighting for good, and spending time within the evils of sunnyville. The show is basically a med evil setting with monsters, vampires, bugs, wolves, demons, all being the main focus of the show. The relationships have darkness about them that you don't see on television these days, it creates an electric tense vibe, and secretly the audience wants Buffy to be with the vampires, even if they are bad.

This provides a contemporary critique as the whole time Buffy just wants to be a regular 16 year old year, in a normal relationship, which she is obviously not. She often refers that she is not a damsel in destress that needs saving, although she does want her knight to come along.

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

When watching Buffy the traditional literary notions are all in reverse. Buffy is a blonde, hot girl who wears short clothing, she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and sure knows how to kick butt. She isn’t some pathetic girl waiting for someone to come rescue her in every situation. In Buffy, you don't really know what is good and what is evil, according to The Ambiguity of Evil in Supernatural Representations, Braun states that Buffy is a good example, but not a new example of “using supernatural settings and characters to play out narratives of good versus evil,” Braun (2000, p.1).. The bad characters turn out to be good and the good turn out to be bad, it can get confusing at times, but I think that is what makes the show so interesting, a prime example of this is when Spike was once a evil person turns into a good person and ends up helping Buffy, now with Angel, he is a vampire and this is because of a curse given by one of his victims that Angel’s evil side is controlled by the human essence. When Angel meets Buffy, he helps Buffy to fight other vampires, which shows him being good.

The guys on the show are often being rescued by Buffy which is a big chance to what the "Literary notions" are. With hell being underground in Sunnyvillle, it is ironic that all these people are walking on top of it without being physically aware on what is beneath them. The characters no what is right and wrong, which is weird to have in a show as usually the bad guys have no conscious at all.

REFERENCE PAGE.

Braum, B. (2000) The X-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The ambiguity of evil in supernatural representations. Retrieved 18 October, 2005 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_2_28/ai_64688900

Rose, A (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R.Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

Reality TV - Week Eleven

How does Hill define reality TV?

Hill (2005, p.42) defines ‘Reality TV’ stating that “perhaps the most traditional industry term for Reality TV is factual entertainment.” Yet he goes onto note that there are also six different categories which reality TV can fall under. Perhaps one example which Hill’s points out was ‘The Ship’ (a documentary of Captain Cook sailing around the North-East Coast of Australia). Between the documentary’s use of ‘fly on the wall’ filming style and use of “ordinary people as part of the experiment” Hill (2005, p.42) as well as BBC commissioning it to be ‘History and Education’, “made it difficult to categorise as specialist documentary,” Hill (2005, p.108).

The six categories dubbed, “documentaries and contemporary factual; specialist factual; current affairs and investigations; arts and culture; life skills; and new media,” Hills (2005, p.42) all fall under the main category ‘Reality TV’. This helps us to define exactly what the ‘new genre status’ actually is according to the BBC
Yet in the USA it is a different story again. Reality TV in this instance is coined as something slightly different and according to Hill (2005, p.44) “reality TV in the USA primarily refers to the type of formatted popular factual that has dominated primetime network schedules since 2000.” Contemporary reality game shows and talent shows are just two examples of reality TV in the USA.

Overall Hill (2005, p.55) sums this ups nicely by stating that “there is no one definition of reality programming, but many, competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre. This is because the reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary.”

How has the documentary genre influenced reality TV and how it presents the ‘real’?

One of the main influences on Reality TV would definitely have to be the documentary genre. Documentary was coined as “the creative treatment of actuality” by John Grierson himself (1898-1972).

Some of the similarities which appear to be in both Reality TV and Documentaries are the use of fly on the wall filming technique as mentioned afore, valued intimacy, immediacy, the ‘real’ and the edginess of spontaneity. Also one other similarity which was pointed out in this week’s PowerPoint (slide 7) noted that “by entering the frame the filmmaker avoided the pretence of objectivity, thus creating a more equal or truthful relationship with the subject.”

This was one of French Documentary style filming traditions. It can also be reflected in some of the modern day Reality TV programmes which we watch. Take ‘NZ Next Top Model’ for example. While my sister was watching it the other night I noticed how the girls had a time where they could go to talk to their ‘visual diary’. It meant that there was no one in the room but themselves so they could let down their walls and just be themselves. Nothing was interfering with them as the object and they had no one to impress. This showed the real characters traits and personality and like (Ouellette and Murray, 2004) suggest the “use of hand held cameras or lack of narration is reminiscent of the documentary style - a form which claims to “provide direct access to the experience of the observed subject”.

Another interesting aspect which Ouellette and Murray pointed out was “research has found deep suspicion on the part of viewers towards the ‘real’ nature of behaviour captured in reality shows and docusoaps. Viewers overwhelmingly believe that people overact for the camera, and part of the appeal of the reality TV experience is revealing the concealed ‘true self’ or ‘real face ‘of a contestant.” And by using this time where the ‘object’ can escape from all that is surrounding them into a place where they can reveal the ‘real face ‘of the contestant via the video diary makes for so called good ‘reality TV’ but it is also a feature that is similar from Doco style television.

Other factors of reality TV which are also obvious in Documentary Style television are: voiceovers to construct narrative over observational shooting, subjects as ordinary culture/ordinary people (although often poetically staged), interweaving of different stories in soap opera style – cliff-hangers, the list goes on.

Reference List

Biressi, A. & Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In Reality TV: realism and revelation. (pp. 35-58) London: Wallflower.

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

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.

NO SCREENING

There won't be a screening this week or next week - this will give you all more time to focus on the blogs and the assignment.

Week Ten - Cult TV

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

Reading through Beth Braun’s critical study on ‘The Ambiguity of Evil in Supernatural Representations’, she states that Buffy is a good example, but not a new example of “using supernatural settings and characters to play out narratives of good versus evil,” Braun (2000, p.1). She goes onto say that hundreds of films and literacy examples have focused on the exact same theme. Yet, referring back to Buffy as an example of good versus evil, we can see that by mixing this whole good versus evil theme with the likes of teenager ‘angst’, how this theme is a lot “less fixed,” (Week Ten Slide Show, Slide 6). This whole idea of good versus evil, as suggested, has been slightly deconstructed in comparison to traditional ‘good versus bad’ notions.

One example of this in Buffy is where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ becomes a lot less defined. Good characters such as Buffy herself, express emotions of anger and bitterness towards ‘Angel’ as she feels as though she has been betrayed by his change in ‘demeanour’ and ‘character’ since making love to him, something that he cannot help due to a curse he is under. Even Braun talks about this idea stating that “good characters may develop in frightening sinister ways; villainous ones surprisingly reveal complex and even selfless motivations,” Braun (2000, p.1). So this whole idea of Good characters and Bad characters is slightly more ambiguous.

“Although initially portrayed as a dark and somewhat morally ambiguous character, Angel quickly became a romantic interest for Buffy.” Braun (2000, p.2). Here we see that Angel has already undertaken a change from evil to good as he initially like Braun suggests, was an evil character who used to go round sucking innocent peoples blood. Angel eventually makes love to Buffy; “however the curse that gave him his soul states that if he ever experiences a moment of perfect happiness his vampire nature would return.” Here again we also see another change in Angel, from good back to evil. “Angelus begins to kill again and tries to destroy Buffy. Buffy struggles to come to terms with the idea that Angel is now her enemy,” (Slide 19). So like stated earlier, this whole idea of good and evil being fixed terms are challenged and changed from that of traditional ideas which have been portrayed in similar literacy genres.

Braun (2000, p.3) sums this whole idea up nicely stating that “what makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer different from many current television offerings is that it portrays these psychoanalytically charged themes so effectively through the use of supernatural mythology.” She also mentions how this “moral ambiguity” is also reflected throughout the “development” of other main characters on the show. Mainly referencing Anya, (a non-human) who “was once an immortal and avenging demon,” to the sensitive band member Oz who, for three nights of every month, transforms into a werewolf are fine examples of this whole moral ambiguity idea portrayed throughout Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “Current episodes continue this theme of the shifting nature of good and evil, as characters are portrayed as sometimes making not only bad choices but also morally wrong choices,” Braun (2000, p.3).

Reference List

Braum, B. (2000) The X-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The ambiguity of evil in supernatural
representations. Retrieved 18 October, 2005 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_2_28/ai_64688900