Wednesday 10 November 2010

Reality bites: documentary in the 21st century (Relevant Quotes)

"‘The creative treatment of actuality’ has adapted to the changing media landscape and to audiences often believed to be switched off from current affairs" - Reality has been structuralised to fit the audience as audiences change

"Critics often point to the dreaded ‘dumbing down’ debate when discussing recent documentaries, suggesting the documentary form has been tabloidised with a stronger emphasis on sensationalism and voyeurism in order to make them more palatable to mass audiences" - This can also be related to reality TV as no intelligence is needed and this is becoming a worry

"Scripted drama, documentary needs opposing characters, tension and a strong sense of narrative"; "Documentaries, like every other genre, have developed to keep pace with changing audience trends and this has involved ‘borrowing’ from fiction, particularly narrative techniques, structures and characterisation" - Characters and narratives are constructed

"Voiceover is a key documentary device used to direct audiences towards a preferred reading" - The voiceover in reality TV such as The Apprentice also helps to anchor specific meanings and directs audiences to certain readings

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