Page 205 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

CHAPTER 7

thread the audience can follow. In order to accomplish this, reality shows
use a format that is common to documentaries. They repeatedly switch
among three “points of view”: voyeur—the hidden camera point of view
that seems to observe every action while remaining unobtrusive; narration/
diary—generally a first-person narrative with the subject speaking directly
to the audience, though occasionally done as a third-person voiceover;
establishing transitions—short transitional segments that indicate a change
of location, time of day, mood, character, or subject. Each of these points
of view uses a set of production elements that helps define its purpose and
also distinguishes it from the other points of view.

Lighting

Voyeur. The lighting in the voyeur sections of reality shows is a pri-
mary element in setting mood. Scenes are dark and shadowy when the
mood should be ominous, as when the subjects are not succeeding at
their tasks, or when there is an overpowering force or person affecting
the action. Scenes are bright when all is well and the action is moving
along nicely. The boardroom of The Apprentice is dark when Trump
is doing his “You’re Fired” scene, but the same room is much brighter
when the triumphant players are given their next task. When the family in
Colonial House talks about defying the religious mandates of the colony,
or battles the rain and mud, the house is dark. But when the same family
is celebrating a birthday, the house is bright.
The lighting in the voyeur section tends to be direct and somewhat
harsh, with very pronounced shadows. One of the defining looks of the
voyeur section is that it is shot to make it appear to use only ambient
lighting, but a closer look reveals that the ambient light is nearly always
being supplemented with additional sources of light. This means that the
lighting designer is purposely trying to re-create the look of ambient light
by heightening the effects with direction and shadows. It also seems that
the female subjects are often lit better than the men. This is particularly
obvious in a boardroom scene of The Apprentice in which Donald Trump,
Bill Rancic, and the two subjects being fired are all wearing black and
lit very darkly (except for Trump’s hair, white shirt, and red tie), but
Carolyn was lit very well and very softly.

Narration/Video Diary. This section is meant to be an informal chat
with the subject who tells the audience what is going on behind the scenes

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