Reality TV - Cathy Come Home

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

Hill (2005) defines reality TV is a genre that is being used in several ways to capture the attention of the audience, reality TV does this by using unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, non-professional actors and the audience are also able to view scenes live as they unfold in front of the cameras. According to Hill (2005) reality TV is used to describe a range of popular factual programming that the audience are able to adapt to, these reality TV shows that normally range from peoples personal experiences for example programs like one born every second, survivor, American idol or more modern reality TV shows like keeping up with the Kardashians (KUWTK) and Xfactor. Hills (2005) describes reality TV shows as the element that captures the raw emotions and lives of people, these range from "birth to death, people to pets" (p.41) anything and everything happiness and sadness, break ups to make ups. 

However, i was rather interested in the fact that when watching cathy come home, it did actually seem to be in a reality TV setting. What i mean by that is when it came to focus of the camera, it did not look as if it had been edited to capture only interesting scenes. Furthermore, there were no sound effects added to give the effect of "impact" on the audience. In my personal opinion Cathy come home genuinely looked and sounded unedited. 

Whereas, reality TV shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians (might i add, that i am a fan of KUWTK) there are a lot of edited shots and also sound effects added into scenes to engage the audience. Hills (2005) mentions the use of reality TV as a form of entertainment in order to capture the attention of the audience and furthermore gain more ratings. Hills (2005) states that people become engaged with the characters and story line on the reality TV shows because of the "mass appeal of entertainment stories about real people caught on camera" (p.39). Some of the family members of KUWTK had even mentioned in an interview that sometimes they edit scenes in their show and only air what they want to be shown to the audience, which personally is a bit of sting as i do religiously keep up with the Kardashians (no pun intended), 
Hill (2005) does mention that "there is no one definition of reality programming but has many competing definitions of what has come to be reality genre". Which is true in terms that all reality genre tv shows has its own intended audience, and furthermore engages which each audience member as different story lines can relate to different individuals. 

Reference


Hill, A. (2005). The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and popular factual television. (pp.14-40). Oxon: Routledge.

Shell Bongares - (Reality TV)

2) How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

Hill (2005) describes reality TV not as a one-dimensional genre, but a hybrid genre influenced by various television styles and formats, further utilising ‘popular factual entertainment’ as a broad term for it. Some of the most common techniques of  reality TV include “non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, [and] seeing events unfold [live]” (Hill, 2005, p.41). When reality TV first gained popularity, Hill (2005) explained that much of the content was based on law and order, or emergency services with shows like Animal Hospital concerning animal welfare. In recent times, reality TV is linked to “anything and everything, from people to pets, from birth to death” (Hill, 2005, p.41). Hill (2005) then categorises reality programming into three waves: first being ‘infotainment’ which are the aforementioned crime and emergency services; secondly, ‘docu-soaps’ or popular observational documentaries and lifestyle programmes; and third, ‘reality gameshows’ where ordinary people are placed into controlled environments to co-exist and/or compete with each other.

Nowadays, reality TV is popularised as “telling stories about real people and real events in an entertaining style” (Hill, 2005, p. 39). However, due to this entertainment factor, the authenticity of how these stories and events are structured are often questionable. For example, the reality show Keeping up with the Kardashians [KUWTK] centres on the lives of the Kardashian family. Originally, the only remotely familiar name from the Kardashian clan was Kim for being a celebrity stylist. However, thanks to transforming into a global fashion icon, and her high-profile relationships with NBA player, Kris Humphries, and current husband, world-renowned Rapper, Kanye West, Kim has firmly established her own name in the media. Also, her stepfather, Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) was an Olympic gold medallist. Despite their family not being completely ‘ordinary’, in that sense, their ‘real’ lives are still being documented, and are very much unscripted, with numerous accounts of sibling fights and family arguments being aired to the public. Although, all scenes from KUWTK are evidently manipulated and edited to show a certain angle, at the end of the day, their show does depict a view of a ‘normal’ family, albeit one much wealthier, with the same tussles any other ordinary family has. Therefore, whether it’s from relatability or the complete opposite, many people find enjoyment in watching reality TV because of “the mass appeal of entertainment stories about real people caught on camera” (Hill, 2005, p. 39).

References

Hill, A. (2005). The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and popular factual television. (pp. 14–40). Oxon: Routledge.

Reality TV - Cathy Comes Home

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

According to Hill (2005), “there are a variety of styles and techniques associated with reality TV, such as non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras, seeing events as they are happening” (p 41). Hill (2005) also states that reality TV is made up of many genres like documentary, drama and lifestyle.

Biressi and Nunn (2005) believes that Cathy Come Home (1966) made a significant impact on the development of drama television. The show was shot with a shaky camera technique, which is a signifier of reality. It gives the viewers a view of the unfolding events in a candid way. There was an argument that the idea of reality TV needed to be more relevant and authentic for the viewers as well as more accessible. Cathy Come Home contributed towards the re-fashioning of drama and reality TV. Cathy Come Home delved into the lives of an ordinary person, to which whom many viewers could possibly relate to. The situations that she found herself in could happen to anyone for example, how life can have its ups and downs, one moment life has a positive outcome and one event can change that all. The downwards spiral that Cathy ended up in could happen to anyone and relates to the viewers as this show is an indicator of how life can be turned upside down as a result of misfortune of bad decisions.  

Nowadays ‘reality’ in reality TV has changed as a genre, it is now associated with anything and everything such as audition, survivor and game types etc. There are hundreds of shows based on reality. There are even TV networks specifically made for reality TV and many celebrities have created their own reality TV shows to increase their celebrity status. Reality TV shows usually have a high rating, most likely because the viewers can relate to what happens in them and in the case of celebrities we are obsessed with following them due to their status in society. An example of reality TV today is The Bachelor, a dating game show which creates drama and tension between the girls who are fighting for The Bachelor’s affections. This show is currently on its 19^th season and has produced many spin-offs. There is a lot of conflict with the authenticity of this show as participants have stated that the producers play a hand in what they say. Which leads to how Hill (2005) states that the most powerful for reality TV is the editing and effects. Producers are able to cut out anything they do not want in the shows and edit it what they want which questions whether reality TV is 100% real or just scripted.

References

Biressi, A., & Nunn, N. (2005). Real Lives, documentary approaches. In Reality TV: realism and revelation, p. 35-58, London: Wallflower.

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television, p. 14-40, Oon: Routledge.

Jae-Hwan Jung, [RealityTV/CathyComeHome]

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents outwardly unscripted real-life situations. It is different from documentary television. Documentary television focus on drama and personal conflict but reality television much focus on simply educating viewers. Hill (2005) says that “The category of reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming. There are a variety of styles and techniques associated with reality TV.” Hill (2005) also mentions that “Reality TV is associated with anything and everything from people to pet, from birth to death.” For example, there are number of reality TV shows in Korean. For now, reality TV is the most popular and major genre in Korean. They use jungle, babysit, virtual marriage, travelling, football, baseball and etc. to make reality TV. There is no limitation. Hill (2005) describes that it is hard to define reality TV. “Many competing definitions of what has come to be the reality genre but, no one defines reality programming. Reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary. These television genres have merged with each other to create a number of hybrid genres that we now call reality TV, or popular factual television.” (Hill, 2005)

According to Hill (2005), reality TV has been constantly changing over past decade. I will talk this through a film called Cathy Come Home in 1966. I never know this film before. In my idea, the film was shocking at that time. It is not for fun or high rating film. The film tells me about something I do not know. The film is teaching something and, give message to audience. I found difference between old show and these days show in sound. Cathy Come Home does not use any sound effects. Technical problem can be one of the reason or some other reasons. Recent TV show put many sound effects to focus on the show.

Hill (2005) says that “As the genre continues to develop, perhaps it is only a matter of time before the television industry, scholars and audiences begin to include other types of factual television within the category of ‘reality’.” I agree with his mention. There are hundreds of TV shows in this world. All producers are looking for different and fun format. They will find, mix, combine themes to make audience to watch their shows.

Reference

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular FactualTelevision. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.

reality tv - ema mihaere

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show

Hill (2005) describes reality TV as being general term. This is due to the fact that reality TV is not contained to a single style. Talent shows like X Factor, documentaries and a variety of other shows fall under the reality TV genre. Another umbrella term for reality TV given by the industry is popular factual and factual entertainment (Hill, 2005). Different countries can have varying notions of what is classified as reality TV. Where one country may classify a fly on the wall series about Jamie Oliver as a documentary and another as a reality show. A definition of reality TV given by Scholar Kilburn (as cited by Hills, 2005) is reality format. This is in relation to the production of reality TV and the need for it to conform to an established formulae of the docu-soap. Kilburn (as cited by Hills, 2005) suggests that one aspect of reality TV is fictional drama in real life, similar to docu-soaps. This is evident in such shows like The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Often simple arguments are exaggerated in order to create drama and pull in audiences in order to create better ratings. Hill (2005) mentions a study where a focus of television watchers were also asked to define reality TV. Hill (2005) also noted they were unable to classify reality TV under a single category but listed things like documentaries of the real life and people programmes. Hills (2005) states that viewers tend to define reality TV as camera’s following people around. If you think of reality TV as such then it much easier to see the similarities of shows such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Undercover Boss. In conclusion the various styles of reality TV but they all fall under the popular factual and factual entertainment umbrella term. 

Reference:

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV:Audiences and Popular Factual    Television.(pp. 14 – 40). Oxon:Routledge.

Reality TV - Grace Dowden

How does Hill define reality TV? Describe his definitions in the context of a contemporary Reality TV show.

The reality TV show ‘Keeping up with the Kardashian’s’ is an American reality television series that has airs on E! channel and focuses on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian-Jenner family. The series mainly focuses on sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian. It additionally places emphasis on their parents Kris and Caitlyn Jenner (previously known as Bruce), their half sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner and brother Rob Kardashian as well as significant others of the Kardashian clan. Hill (2005) says that more recently reality TV is associated with anything and everything form people to pets, from birth to death. Since we are able to view every little detail of the Kardashian's lives - even their dogs. But their aim of the show was so everyone could try and relate their lives to them in some way. The programme proves its successful due to the millions of people who watch it. The soap opera and observational documentary came together in the creation of docu-soaps that in turn dominated peaktime schedules in the USA (Hill, 2005). Keeping up with the Kardashian’s took off in 2007, whereby the family thought the series would be a failure. However they now say they are shocked by the success it has gained. The members of the family are now seen as celebrities even though they are not actresses or singers which are the norm celebrity jobs. However they have actually gained fame through their reality show and by this their businesses have become more and more successful as time as gone on. Under the genre of popular factual television included celebrity profiles whereby the family members have gained celebrity success through being rich, famous and successful business persons (Hill, 2005).

Television audiences may define reality TV shows as ‘people programmes’; ‘documentaries of the real life’; ‘public real life sort of thing’ (Hill, 2005). These statements are all true, because the Kardashian's is not sugar coated to anything different. What we see, it really what occurs. Reality TV has become more popular over the years and it has been prevlent that people tend to watch reality TV first, before they watch the news (Hill, 2005). This is due to the entertainment factor and that it seems more interesting then what is actually going on in the world around them at the time (Hill, 2005). This is a sad thing to say, but it is the truth. People choose to watch reality TV series because they appeal to broad ranges of occasional viewers. I am one of these people who watch reality TV and agree that I find them a lot more interesting than the 6’o’clock news. I will continue to watch them, and so will everybody else because it lets you escape to another part of the country/world, its like a little holiday.

References:

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and
Popular Factual Television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.