Page 199 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 7

A popular shot used on reality TV shows is the “soliloquy” camera
confessionals, in which a cast member is filmed alone talking about events
and people on the show. In the first season of Big Brother, a shot of a cast
member in “the diary room” included a view of the lens and the voice
of the producer in the background, highlighting the “production” of the
show. The Real World, a production of Music Television (MTV), also uses
confessional shots but does not expose the production elements, creating
a direct connection between cast member and viewer. Big Brother has
since adopted the invisible crew method used by The Real World.
Eliminating the intermediary between cast and audience increases the
voyeuristic appeal of reality television. Mark Andrejevic suggests that this
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is a “form of false control,” the act of watching without being seen. As
discussed above, the viewer serves as a spectator only, but obviously has
no real control over the images he/she sees. Deery likens the voyeuristic
appeal of reality television to that of sexual voyeurism, in that the viewer
is promised the “thrill of seeing something intimate and taboo and doing
so remotely and without accountability.” 22

Figure 7.2 Soliloquies

50
46
45 45
40
35 37
Frequency 25 24
30

20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4
Program

Competition-based shows had a higher frequency of single-camera confessions than
the makeover program.

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