Page 203 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 7

shots. Music is used as a secondary audio track and ties all of the shots
together. In one two-minute sequence all of the production techniques
are used and the audience receives a great deal of visual and auditory
information about what is happening.
These fast-paced informational exchanges appeared in all of the pro-
grams. The use of this format in the four programs in the sample may be
attributed to the fast-paced appearance of today’s media in general. As
discussed in the literature review, new technological advances, like the
Internet, have increased the pace at which people receive information
and perhaps this faster-paced television genre is performing so well due
to new viewer expectations.
Though the frequency of techniques differed between shows, all of
the programs seemed to follow a similar formula, a similar combina-
tion of production methods, to elicit a desired emotional response. The
programs in the sample were all manipulated in some way (e.g., charac-
ters, images, or the audience itself), which, as discussed in the literature
review, can be very appealing to an audience. One may assume that the
popularity of these programs is based, to an extent, on this manipula-
tion. For example, the study found that most obvious techniques used
to manipulate a viewer’s emotions were audio and music. In Survivor
(Program 2), during the two important competitions between the teams
that determined which team would have to vote off a member and which
team would win blankets and matches, the editing was extremely fast
and the audio clips were very specific. An audio clip of a team captain
yelling was inserted over a shot of team members falling down, which
magnifies the struggle of the players. The music was very fast-paced
and “tribal,” coinciding with the “outback jungle” theme of the show.
The combined use of layered editing, specific audio, and the fast-paced
music creates a heightened sense of drama and makes the viewer feel as
anxious and rushed as those participating in the game.
Though my research proved the existence of production techniques
in reality programming, the effects of these techniques on the viewing
audience and the possible correlation between these two aspects require
further study. Should a larger study be performed, a precise count should
be made of the production techniques present in at least twenty hit real-
ity programs. A random selection of audience members would be asked
to comment on the most attractive sequences and programs and would
be asked if they were enticed to watch the next episode of the program.
Another interesting aspect to research would be a presentation of a highly

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