How Real is Reality Television?
The steps to identifying the authenticity of reality television
by Tim Suda
Issue date: 2/19/07 Section: Features
"Punk'd" and other non-contestant shows generally are partially scripted, but most contest-based shows are not. This does not mean that questions are not prepared for game shows or challenges for "Survivor" type shows. This only means that often the contestants are not given scripts.
This also does not mean that shows cannot be modified. Quite the contrary, in fact, it can be modified just as easily. Daniel Abrams, editor for "Joe Millionaire" recently recalled a scene where he was told by the producer to rearrange a sequence of events and sounds to make the scene look as if oral sex was preformed. This style of editing is called Frankenbiting.
Daniel Shriver, producer for Big Brother 2 recalls creating dialogue from audio. "There's a real art to it. Because of the inflection of the voice, some things just don't cut together, so you can't just look at a transcript. You actually have to watch tapes, cut them together, and see how they work," he says.
So, how real is reality television? The basic core is real, the contestants are real, the contracts and agreements the contestants sign are very real, and other than that, who knows. Everything else can be manipulated, and often is.
Take the advice of Hannah Buchdahl: "Without Frankenbiting… as well as manipulation of things like reaction shots and timelines… there would be a lot of holes in the storylines. So do not always believe what you see."
This also does not mean that shows cannot be modified. Quite the contrary, in fact, it can be modified just as easily. Daniel Abrams, editor for "Joe Millionaire" recently recalled a scene where he was told by the producer to rearrange a sequence of events and sounds to make the scene look as if oral sex was preformed. This style of editing is called Frankenbiting.
Daniel Shriver, producer for Big Brother 2 recalls creating dialogue from audio. "There's a real art to it. Because of the inflection of the voice, some things just don't cut together, so you can't just look at a transcript. You actually have to watch tapes, cut them together, and see how they work," he says.
So, how real is reality television? The basic core is real, the contestants are real, the contracts and agreements the contestants sign are very real, and other than that, who knows. Everything else can be manipulated, and often is.
Take the advice of Hannah Buchdahl: "Without Frankenbiting… as well as manipulation of things like reaction shots and timelines… there would be a lot of holes in the storylines. So do not always believe what you see."
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