Real Life Narrative

Question 1

What is “factual TV” ?

Answer 1

• dominant since the 1990s
• mix of raw footage and entertainment
• context narrativised

EXAMPLE
Real life documentary

Question 2

What is a “docusoap” ?

Answer 2

• focus on the ‘characters and self as performance”
• episodes focus on crisis leading to solution

EXAMPLE
Educating Essex

Question 3

What is “scripted reality” ?

Answer 3

• show events where participants have been staged
• aimed at generating discussion on social media

EXAMPLE
Towie

Question 4

Fiske (1987) Theory?

Answer 4

“Nowness”

• the audience feel part of events and feel emotions from on screen real life narratives
• Focus on the moment, made to feel part of the event
• These shows work on viewers daily routines and fit into viewers everyday lives

TOWIE

Question 5

Baudrivard (1994) Theory?

Answer 5

“Hypereality/Hypereal”

Hypereality:

• presenting audiences with constructed reality
• ‘real people’ deliver scripted dialogue

Hypereal:
- audience has lost contact with any type of real and rely on mediated versions of experiences

TOWIE

Question 6

Ryan (2006) Quote?

Answer 6

“Television audiences have sophisticated understanding of camera effects and how reality TV relies on these aspects”

• audiences know Towie is staged but choose to ignore this aspect as so engrossed in their lives.

Question 7

Bignell, Theory?

Answer 7

“Voyeristic Pleasure”
- “How audiences derive pleasure from real emotion”

Link to Ryan (2006)

• audience love real emotion and disregard their own intelligence to be totally engrossed into TV
• megan mckenna get cheated on

Question 8

Miller (2010) Quote?

Answer 8

“Reality TV is stuffed with possessive individualism, hyper-competitiveness and commodification”

• people are competing with each other, and pride themselves with materialistic things.