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If you can answer “Yes” to
all these questions, then read on:
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Do you want to be a TV
producer?
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Do you want a show all
of your own?
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Do you want to feature
your home town or community?
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Do you want to involve
the people you know?
Did you get all four
questions? Then this is for you. You CAN have all these.
The basic answer is in
“reality programmes”
What
are reality shows?
“Reality” is not really a
genre, it’s more a style. It started up years ago when
cameras got lighter and began to be used more and more for
news. Here the characteristic is the “hand-held” camera,
where those movements clearly show you that there was no
tripod.
As long ago as the 1980’s,
programmes like “Hill Street Blues” were using the hand-held
technique. It made the camerawork look “real” and
“immediate”. It also gave the impression that nothing was
rehearsed and that it was all spontaneous – even the
scripting and acting.
What’s “true” and “real”?
In those shows which
professed reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
Even the hand-held shakes were scripted – and rehearsed.
Thus, as long ago as 25
years, they were using the scripted and rehearsed hand-held
techniques to give the impression of reality.
Twenty five years down the
line, it’s still happening, only today we call it “Reality
TV”.
But there is one
fundamental difference between shows like “Hill Street
Blues” and “Survivor”. Both look real, and both look
spontaneous.
But Hill Street Blues is
clearly, and makes no bones about it, fiction. Survivor, on
the other hand, claims to be REAL. REAL as in “This is as it
happened”, there was no script, no direction, the camera was
just there, and this is exactly how it happened.
Again, nothing could be
further from the truth.
How did they come about?
Reality TV came about of
necessity when there was an explosion of TV channels that
caused havoc with the economics of the industry. Prior to
that, we had mainly what we called “full spectrum”
channels.
These are TV channels that
claim to cater for everyone, so that they have the usual
day-parts: morning TV - followed by pre-school TV, -
followed by lunch time. This is followed by Kids - then
youth, - then soap time. After that comes primetime, - then
watershed time, - and then the graveyard period overnight.
There’s something for
someone, all the time, scheduled so that you can tune in
when you are at home and want it.
Multichannel
But things changed with
Satellite TV.
First of all channels are
cheap, in that transmission costs, management costs and
overheads are much lower. So, if you have enough
programming, you have as many channels as you can manage.
This gave rise to the
niche, or speciality channels.
These are channels that
cater for a specific interest: like Food, Travel, Horror,
Sci-Fi, animals etc.
What’s nice about these
channels is that you can run them 24/7, and fill them with
only a few hours of new programming day.
The balance is filled with
repeats that are staggered in such a way that the viewer
doesn’t notice that most of the programming is repeated
(until he has watched for about a year, and then starts
noticing that there is nothing that he hasn’t seen before.
This is the cue to change the channel branding, and keep the
viewer with some sort of “new” look.
What’s even nicer is that
you can use the same programming on different niche
channels. For instance a documentary featuring a presenter
who is exploring the catering in game lodges can be used on
the wildlife channel, the food channel and the travel
channel.
There’s a catch
But, you can double the
number of channels you put together, or even triple or
quadruple them, but the total audience is no bigger. More
channels mean less audience per channel.
If for instance you had a
million viewers on your full-spectrum channel, and you split
it into four niche channels, the best you can hope for is
250 000 viewers per channel. But that’s really wishful
thinking.
Since you full-spectrum
channel catered for maybe 20 different niche interest
groups, and you are replacing it with only four specialist
interest channels, you stand a good chance of losing 80% of
your audience to other operators’ niche channels, or to
other full spectrum channels.
Either way, everyone is
losing. The full spectrum channels are losing to the niche
channels, and the niche channels can’t extend their interest
widely enough to attract a critical mass of audience.
So, more channels mean
fewer viewers per channel.
The increase in population
just cannot keep up with the overnight explosion of TV
channels.
And, when it comes to
money, fewer viewers per channel means lower revenues.
What’s the answer to this?
The answer is simply that
the cost of programming has to come down.
Along comes reality
And while the channel
managers where sweating and wondering if they should get a
job in public relations, along came “reality”, which we saw
earlier, had been around for a long time.
Only there’s a catch: Hill
Street Blues and other cop shows such as NYPD Blue,
Homicide, ER, Chicago Hope, and Law and Order, starred very
expensive actors and had costly script writers.
If we could find a way of
cutting the cost of actors, scriptwriters, scenery and
costumes, then we would be back in business.
And that’s exactly what
broadcasters did. They invented a style of programming
where:
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The
scriptwriter did not write the dialogue, only an outline.
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The
scenery was really there.
*
The
actors come free and they use their own clothes.
What a pleasure!
The camera, sound and
editing cost the same, but without temperamental actors, we
can really cut costs and get things moving.
How do reality shows work?
Reality is a style, more
than genre. The style can be used for game shows,
documentaries, and even drama (The Blair Witch Project).
The style involves the
following:
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The characters are
ordinary people, usually the artists playing themselves.
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The commentary
involves them speaking, often to the camera, about they
way they personally see things.
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Although what they say
is scripted broadly, they say things in their own words.
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The camera is almost
always hand-held.
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There is an element of
competition in order to create the tension, suspense and
drama. The competition may be between characters or
within them on their own.
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The settings are in a
real place that is identified and is not dressed.
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Costumes involve
everyday clothes.
Otherwise?
Anything goes, do what you
like, where you like, how you like.
That sounds easy, but it’s
not. Sometimes it’s harder to imagine, invent and
conceptualise than drama, but for all the work and the
planning that goes into a reality show:
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It is always cheaper
than if it were done in another way.
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There are rules to the
format and for those taking part. The simpler the
rules, and the more rigidly they are enforced, the
easier and cheaper it is to make the programme.
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It has a good chance
of audiences liking it.
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It is easy to market.
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It can be quick to
make (if you plan it properly.)
Planning
To be cheap, reality shows
need real people who are not trained to perform. This means
you can’t just take anybody. “Anybody” will freeze in front
of the camera, and the performance will be awful. What you
need are those (and there are many) outgoing people, who
have an overly confident belief that no matter what they do,
people will like them, or if they don’t like them, that it
doesn’t matter.
This takes planning, and
its takes time and foresight so that each shot can be done
in the least number of takes.
You cannot afford to go
more than four takes for each shot. There’s a very good
reason for this, and we call it “shooting ratio”. Shooting
ratio is the number of minutes of tape that you shot on
location, divided by the actual running time. So if you
shot eight minutes of tape, just to get two minutes of air
time, then your shooting ratio is 4:1.
If you have a high
shooting ratio, like 20:1, it takes so much time to edit,
that you are paying your costly editor more just to sort out
the shots than to actually creatively edit.
When you get to locations,
you have to know exactly what the place offers and how you
are going to use it. This means that key crew must visit
the place before. Your production manager has to know just
how each shot is expected to happen, and what will be
needed. To keep up the excitement, you need to shoot
quickly, and to keep the shooting ratio down.
You have to shoot quickly
so that:
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It looks like it.
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The artists don’t get
tired – don’t forget they are undisciplined, lowly paid
and not professionals who are used to waiting around.
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You keep costs down.
If it rains, then the nice
thing about “reality” is that you can have the characters
talk about unexpected rain, and you just carry on shooting.
So, where do I start?
You can start with the
plot, or the location, but the easiest way is to start with
the element of competition.
Regarding locations,
remember: they don’t have to be glamorous. You could as
easily use an idyllic island, or a squatter camp.
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Think of: all the
possible conflict situations that there could be between
people, and
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All the possible
conflict situations that there could be within a person.
Between
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Trying to win a fat money prize.
*
Trying to compete for a beautiful woman, or man.
*
Trying to show who is best at a job, or doing something
quite awful.
*
Trying to win at a physical feat.
*
Trying to win at a mental or intellectual feat.
*
Trying to discover if anyone has a hidden talent
Within
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Trying to lose weight
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Trying to look beautiful
*
Overcoming addiction
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Living with adversity
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Gaining self-respect
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Discovering hidden characteristics
Putting it together
Try this: get a pad of
different coloured Post-It notes.
On one colour, write a lot
of situations. On another colour, write the names of the
people you would like to use. In yet another, write down the
names of exciting places where it could take place.
Shuffle them around, until
you have enough notes of each colour from which to start to
develop the series.
Finally …
Yes, you can develop your
own reality show, using the people you like and the places
you love.
You need the same
heart-wrenching situations that you need in the most
touching drama. You need the same nail-biting suspense that
you need in an action film, and you need the same keen
competition that you get in a game show.
So, yes, it’s easy, and
yes, it’s also not easy.
But it is possible.
And a lot easier that
trying to write like Shakespeare.
© Howard Thomas 2007
Types of reality TV
Documentary-style
This is the “fly on the wall” type
documentary, where you the viewer are looking in, through
the eyes of someone quite ordinary.
Often the “plots” appear to be constructed in
the editing (although they rarely are). In this case, they
are sometimes called “docu-soap”
Special living environment
Here you take an artificial living
environment, put in people (who appear not to know each
other), and track their progress. Big Brother is the most
famous example.
Professional activities
Here you see people going about their
day-to-day jobs, and we track them though the process
watching them, and listening to their own words.
Elimination/Game shows
Big Brother combines the special living
environment with the elimination format. The attraction for
the audience is that they appear to be playing a part in the
elimination by actually voting.
Pop Stars, Pop Idols, Who wants to be a
Millionaire, Weakest Link – these are all examples of the
elimination game.
Dating-based competition
Here we choose between an elimination format,
or a winning format – it all depends on how you play it.
The characters appear to be ordinary, but they have to be
very carefully chosen.
Job search
Here contestants perform tasks in order to
compete for a chance to study and work towards a very
glamorous and sought after occupation.
This includes shows like Face of Africa.
Fear-centric
Shows like Fear Factor, puts contestants in
seemingly horrific situations. These shows are normally not
cheap.
Sports
These are contestant shows where ordinary
people context for extraordinary star talent.
Self-improvement/makeover
Here people compete, either with others, or
against themselves, to improve their, lives.
Renovation
These are very popular shows, where DIY
experts compete (usually against time and budget) to do home
improvements of some kind.
You can also renovate restaurants,
businesses, cars, motorbikes, gardens, or even public
places.
Dating shows
These are very popular especially with young
people.
Making up shows
These shows feature people who have been at
loggerheads, or even hate each other. The aim of each
episode is to show just how easily people can settle their
differences and make up again.
Talk shows
Almost every talk show is a type of reality
show. To be successful, talk shows have to be as
pre-planned as any reality show.
Hidden cameras
This is a variation of the age-old candid
camera type show.
Hoaxes
In these shows, the entire show is a prank
played on one or more of the cast members, who think they
are appearing in a legitimate reality show; the rest of the
cast are actors who are in on the joke.
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