What signifiers of reality have emerged from the documentary genre? How have they constructed out conceptualisation of reality? (or at least what we recognize as being real on a visual level...)
The intorduction of realism began with Grierson who coined the term 'documentary' and defined it as the 'creative treatment of reality' (Biressi & Nunn, 2005) which, essentially gives realism structure and conventions. However, on a visual level, I would say that reality tv has many stylistic features owing to the pioneers of cinema vérité and its subsets (Direct cinema, Free Cinema and Candid Eye.) According to Leacock, cinema verite was all about wanting what you've got, rater than looking for what you want.' D.A Pennebaker made another interesting point in the documentary we viewed in class. He said that 'Life is a kind of drama when you find the right story..' which I think is extremely relevant when comparing cinema verite with reality tv. Both genres are concerned with the spontaneous and inclusive depiction of real life- but not in a way that it should necessarily be viewed as the whole truth. The filmmakers behind cinema verite were not disillusioned with their aim. Their films were the product of naturalistic filming techniques combined with careful editing in a way that would raise human consciousness and present the subject matter as provocative. Reality TV places an emphasis on the representation of ordinary people and allegedly spontaneous moments of unmediated reality, often the shows are filmed using the fly on the wall technique and shaky, hand held camera work that was first brought about in cinema verite. This technique helps the viewer to feel as though they are sharing an intimate space with the subject and promote realism.In the 60s, a significant development in technology came about with the invention of smaller hand held cameras, which in turn allowed for filming to move from the studio into the great outdoors, scenes that depict landscapes help to 'authenticate the fiction' Andrew Higson is quoted as saying in Biressi and Nunn (2005) these techniques are often employed in shows like 'Keeping up with the Khardashians' and 'Jersey Shore' where the viewer is subjected to all the activities that the subjects take part in over their day, we get to follow them around- I think by feeling like we are with these people in various locales, we can put ourselves in the frame and realistically feel empathy for the characters and see through an eye at their level.... it's important to the objectivity of the program
Another visual construct of realism employed by the documentary genre and reality tv is the depiction of time passing as an observational technique in order to 'foster a sense of unmediated connectedness between the pro-filmic event and the film shoot' (Biressi & Nunn, 2005). They show a flow that is removed from the fast paced dramatization of theatre and in doing so are another signifier of reality. I am not a big consumer of reality tv, or tv in general actually, but I have watched a few episodes of Survivor and Keeping up with the Khardashians- maybe a couple of Jersey Shore as well. I think a way in which these shows keep people entertained lies in the creative treatment of reality- the verisimilitude of dramatic scenes and exciting adventures, coupled with the mundane activities of everyday existance that we can relate to and in turn think of as 'real'. I think much of this is thanks to the developments in the documentary genre that happened with the Cinema verite movement.
References:
Biressi, A. & Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In Reality TV: realism and revelation. (pp. 35-58) London: Wallflower.
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