Oh come off it! Stop giving me dirty looks when I say that I am a documentary producer who enjoys Reality TV. I don’t enjoy ALL Reality TV shows just like I don’t enjoy all Documentaries or Sitcoms. I have my particular poisons – Amazing Race and Survivor are long time favorites. I love Amazing Race because I love international backdrops. I also like to see what happens to team communication when there is a lack of rest and nutrition as well as a lot of stress. Okay, that IS a bit intellectual.
Concerning Survivor, I’ve watched every episode since season one when someone I knew appeared as a contestant. (Well, there is one season where I missed half of the shows because I was pregnant and had a toddler at home. I fell asleep in front of the TV a lot.) I admit I get sucked in emotionally. I really CARE about who wins or losses and get mad when the people I am routing against find a way to make it another day. I go to bed imagining what I would have done . There was a time when I didn’t have to imagine that hard because my job felt a lot like the show – cut throat politics and high school cliques.
Moving from a viewer stand point on to a professional one, I like to see what techniques are being used on the most popular shows. (My husband gets tired for me “working” while watching TV). I like to see what is going on with character development, editing, sound and story line. Survivor, by the way, has great intro pieces and a wonderful use of low angles with wide lenses. They could back off the sound effects during challenges though.
What a blessing to be able to learn and grow in my profession while relaxing with my friends and family in the living room. It doesn’t really matter if it is high-brow or low-brow. If borrowed techniques make it into a documentary or segment that I producing and it works, I just may have Reality TV to thank. I know a graphic artist who would get very upset if you so much as said “hello” to him during his lunch break while he was studying the commercials that were being played in the break room.
Is it hypocritical of me to develop a career around educational and informational programming and then go home and watch highly sensational shows? Perhaps. But at the end of the day I am a proud fan of TV. Now excuse me. The DVR is calling with a new episode of Run’s House.
Docs and TV 