Week 11

What signifiers of reality TV have emerged from the documentary genre?

The documentary genre is based in realism, such as life and how we live it. “Realism becomes measured through the subject matter being reconstructed and that realism depends on notions of suffering, raw experience and personal struggle as emblems of the real” (Biressi, A. & Nunn, N 2005 p. 36). The documentary genre is primarily based on using the example of ordinary people as a learning tool to depict how different groups of people live their lives. The audience gains insight from people who are struggling to carry out their day to day activities from behind the lens of a camera. “Grierson, who coined the term ‘documentary’ happily acknowledged the role of aesthetics in the genre, describing the documentary process as the ‘creative treatment of actuality’” (Biressi, A. & Nunn, N 2005 p. 36).

Documentary is popular due to the intimate style of filming which relies on the openness of the subjects being documented. This is brought over to reality TV in shows such as Survivor and Project Runway which depicts ordinary people living their lives, however doing so in a manufactured setting. Documentary originally started in cinema however, “it was television that was to become the most commonly used an accessible arena for both the screening of documentary and as a space for the representation of ordinary people – men and women” (Biressi, A. & Nunn, N 2005).

Those that made television programmes aimed at producing shows that could connect with the audience by showing real people in situations that would garner an emotional response from viewers. This started the production of documentary dramas which showcased real people in the format of television drama. “The term ‘documentary drama’ itself also points to the perceived importance of dramatic realism at this time, which, together with an emphasis on truth-telling as the foundation of productions, led to the cultivation of a uniquely televisual lexcion of conventions” (Biressi, A. & Nunn, N 2005 p. 54). The influence of this form of drama lent itself to many other types of factual programming and reality TV genres.

How does Hill define reality TV?

Reality TV is encapsulates a wide range of different genres and sub-classifications of ‘popular factual programming’ (Hill 2005). Its main purpose is generally entertainment but also incorporates other styles such as documentaries, sports, news and the arts. “The term reality TV is so flexible that it can be applied to any type of popular factual programming the industry wants to sell to channels and viewers at home or abroad” (Hill 2005).

‘Popular factual programming’ can relate to not only what an audience may deem as reality TV but also what the industry may label it in order to market It to the television watching public. “Most television scholars who discuss reality TV tend to include a variety of television genres in their definitions of the ‘reality genre’ precisely because reality TV borrows from so many different existing genres” (Hill 2005 p. 49).

Programmes such as Survivor are not only based on the game show format but are also influenced by the popularity of dramas and soap operas. Similarly programmes such as Project Runway and Americas Next Top Model incorporate suspense and drama into the show in order to keep the audience interested in what will happen next. “The continuum between fact and fiction is a useful way to think of the relationship between contemporary factual programming and the various types of popular factual television that make up the reality genre” (Hill 2005 p. 50).

It is difficult to define the reality TV genre due to the amount of influences used from other genres and those sub-categories of the genre itself. Reality TV is in essence is a term used to describe any show based on real life events made for the purpose of television.