Weeks 11 and 12 Reality TV

How has the documentary genre influenced reality TV and how it presents as "real"?

One of the first documentary style films released was Ken Loach's "Cathy Come Home" that was broadcast on the BBC back in 1966. Cathy Come Home is a docu-drama, meaning it is still a film with actors and scripted events, although it tackled a very serious situation that was happening in Great Britain at the time. Many families were left homeless because after World War II, the country didn't build enough homes for its growing population and  many fathers and husbands were left unemployed and their families had no where else to live.

Ken Loach (Cathy Come Home's director) used many film techniques and presentation to present what was happening on-screen as "real" As Hill (2005) states, reality TV uses are variety of techniques such as "non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras and seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of the camera".

Many of these techniques were used in Cathy Come Home to make it look like everything that was happening appear to be real. The great way Ken Loach approached this documentary-drama was the use of "passing of time". To make Cathy Come Home appear more real to the viewer was that filming actually took place on location in Britain over a period of 18 months as said in the ending credits. It wasn't as if everything was shot in a studio over a period of 3 - 4 months like most films are made. Some of the events in Cathy Come Home were improvised and unscripted too. According to the BBC (2011), many "scenes were improvised, and some include unknowing members of the public, such as the final scene in which Cathy's children are taken from her in a railway station (none of the passers-by intervened)"


Another technique that was used often in Cathy Come home was the prevalent use of narration. Cathy would always update the viewer of her grim situation during the course of the film. Another voice-over (which was usually a real-life news report) would also highlight how families are struggling in Britain right now. I remember hearing in the film that Germany were able to build more houses for its people after World War II than Britain. This is an amazing stat considering Germany was on the losing end of World War II unlike Britain...Obviously, Cathy Come Home makes use of a lot of close-ups and hand-held camera too. 

Cathy Come Home could be described as a pioneer in Reality TV film techniques as many of the elements seen in this are used in Reality TV shows we see broadcast today. Narration is somewhat been "changed" to show people confessing in front of the camera instead. Confessions are used in lot of competition style shows such as "Survivor" and "Hell's Kitchen" just to name a few.

Another thing I felt Cathy Come Home introduced to the Reality TV genre is the use of the "unknown public". Many reality-based TV shows now use the public to either shock or ridicule them on camera for humorous or entertaining purposes. A show called Candid Camera uses this to play pranks on unsuspecting members of the public. This technique is still being used as shows like Jackass and NZ's Jono and Ben at Ten use this as well. 

The only thing that Cathy Come Home did use that many Reality TV shows don't use is the use of professional actors. Many Reality TV shows nowadays make contestants "audition" for a spot on a TV show just so they can be on TV. Some of these people aren't paid or either paid little in comparison to using actual actors. Reality TV has become popular among TV networks mainly because it is cheaper to produce than say an original 1 hour action TV show. 

References:

BBC World Service: Witness: Cathy Come Home, November 16, 2011


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