In the clip below, Annette Hill talks about the different styles or genres of reality TV. She says that the BBC (because it is publicly funded through the Licence Fee) has produced more factual, educational Reality TV. Whereas the commercial channels like ITV and Living TV are free to produce more commercial, bitchy, trashy reality TV. Channel 4 is a part-funded broadcaster. In other words Channel 4 gets some money from the Licence Fee. As a result they marketed Big Brother when it first launched as a 'social experiment' in order for it to sound more educational and worthy.
Infotainment Shows (999) Docusoaps (Traffic Cops, The Family) Lifestyle programmes (Freaky Eaters) The Social Experiment Show (Wife Swap, Blood Sweat and T-Shirts, Secret Millionaire, Ladette to Lady) The reality talent show (Britain's Got Talent, X-Factor) The reality game show (Big Brother, I'm a celebrity...)
What genre are the following reality TV shows?
TASK: Choose one of the above Reality TV shows. How are we (the audience) positioned within the TV show? Who do we side with? Who are the good people? Who are the bad people? How does the voice-over encourage the audience to side with certain people? How does the editing combine the music, voiceover and images to generate a response from the audience?
List your thoughts under the following headings:
Locations - where do the cameras film? Why?
Mise-en-scene - what are the people wearing? Why? What information does the way people are dressed give the audience? What assumptions might the audience make about the people featured?
Editing - How do the TV Production company combine images, voice-over, filmed footage, titles, music etc? Why do you think they have chosen the particular combination of images, music etc?
Reality - In your opinion is the programme a true reflection of these people's lives?
Audience - In your opnion who is the target audience for the programme?
Broadcast - What channel was the programme broadcast on? What time was the programme broadcast on?
Production - Which company made the programme? Has the company made any other Reality TV shows? If so are they similar to the one you have looked at?
This resource pack contains everything you ever wanted to know about Reality TV. Do not be put off by its size! Pick and mix and read some of the articles that appeal to you.
Charlie Brooker investigates the way that EDITING can manipulate what we see and how we (the audience) are positioned to respond to characters and situations in Reality TV:
The Reality TV exam for AQA GCSE Media Studies:
25th June 2010 (9:30) The exam lasts for 90 minutes; you will be expected to write about your new Reality TV show (write a pitch) and produce a creative response (for example draw the homepage for the show's web site; or create a cross-media campaign for the launch of the new show).
You will also be asked 2 questions on Reality TV that deal with the Key Concepts (Audience, Genre, Representations, Media Language)
