For my initiative post, I have decided to reflect on a television series I watched for one of my other courses, Television Cultures. The scripted series, UnREAL, focuses on the behind the scenes of the production of dating reality TV shows, such as the Bachelor. After watching the first episode in class, I was astonished at how dramatic and ‘crazy’ they made the producers, directors and other crew out to be. Like the title says, it almost seems too “unreal” to be true. In the first episode alone, it shows the main character (a producer) manipulating the cast of the show to make the episode more interesting. For instance, in order to create their villain on the show, the producer takes a note of her troubled past and uses that to fire her up and cause a scene. It shows how scripted reality television can be and leads us to question what is real and what is fake.

Although events are exaggerated in the show to make narrative sense, UnREAL gives the audience a look into the behind the scenes of media producing in all of its glory. For a viewer like myself who is studying media, it is extremely interesting to note how reality television producing is quite different from scripted film producing. When you think of reality television, you ultimately have the impression that the show is unscripted, in fact in most cases you expect it to be. But in recent years, many of our favourite shows have been called out as being scripted. MasterChef, although casting authentic Australians to be on their show, sets up from the beginning who is to be eliminated, especially if the contestants break their contracts. Love Island Australia has come under fire as research on the contestants has shown that most of them are actors or actresses. Even the show Catfish, which focuses on the hosts catching people who have lied about their identities online, appears to be scripted by the producers who cast people to be the ‘catfish’ and then not tell the hosts so the hunt to find them is authentic.

Upon seeing UnReal, I was also able to reflect on media producing as being quite a difficult career path. Although it is different in a film sense, seeing the casted producers in the show being directed to manipulate in order to get better footage made me almost uncomfortable. The contestants became puppets and stereotypes for the crew to take advantage of in order to get ratings. In the show, the producers are even offered a cash prize to whoever could create their next ‘villain,’ and the main character claims she can make or break the male ‘bachelor’ on the show. Although this could be heavily dramatized, the pressure on producers to create quality content would be extreme. I have never been drawn to film or television producing but seeing how difficult and draining this job could have definitely allowed me to rule it out as a career option. However, with that being said, I also have more respect for screen producers who are under this type of pressure and do their absolute best to entertain us as an audience.

One of our first homework assignments was focused on the shot construction exercises we did in class. The task was simple; film yourself performing an action and construct as man shots as you desire. However, it HAD to be boring and this initially links to one of my discoveries made in class. As said by Paul, shot construction has to be boring in order for scenes and segments to be perfected. To gain experience creating a stunning shot, there needs to be practice done beforehand. Hence, by doing the homework task, I experimented with different shots of myself making a cup of tea. Reflecting back on it now, I realise that by habit I made the short 30 second video not as boring as it could have been. But to my defence, I am a creative thinker and learner and I believe it positively assists me to making satisfactory work. Although the clip was short, shot construction can be time-consuming and tedious in order to be perfected.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nWJtujUCU1DBv2a5LfMbaXMTFdSLw4ld

Used to inspire our homework exercises, the first shot construction work we did in class also links to my epiphany had about shot construction and film-making having to be tedious and boring in certain cases. This exercise involved us getting into groups of 4 or 5 and shooting different shots of the same action. Paul instructed us to not to go crazy with our shooting, as some other professionals believe is necessary. Instead, he told us to shoot to edit, meaning we should experiment with shots so we don’t have any regrets when we got edit, and also meaning we shouldn’t go overboard. By creating different shots of Alex contemplating what to drink from a vending machine (with the help of others in my group), I was able to later see in the editing process how different shots work together nicely. With multiple shots, different versions and edits of the same scene can be conducted. Therefore, if you were to be working with a client, you have different options to show them in case your first one was to not be of their taste.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=16VhJdwNyPRgTeme5JvybbRNR3P5SkfF5

I was initially interested in this studio due to the idea that we would be guided by prompts and instructed to work on smaller projects instead of one major assignment at the end. As film-making isn’t something I am super passionate about, this was one of the studios which didn’t seem to be as full on, where I could work slowly on my work and not be forced to delve into something I am not entirely ready for. I am excited to work with Paul as he is a professional in his field and has an abundance of knowledge to share with all of us. I am confident that by the end of this studio, I will have learnt many new skills and practices, and will be able to take that knowledge with me during the rest of my time at RMIT.

I believe this studio will allow me to expand my knowledge on film-making and allow me to investigate if it is something I can become more involved and interested in. I don’t want to rule out film-making as something I’m not interested in completely, I am always eager to give something a go and I might find that I enjoy it more than I think by the end of the semester.

However, what I hope to get out of this studio is somehow incorporating online media into the mix. I am more passionate about online media, in the sense that it is a major media platform that can be accessed by billions of people. In terms of a business point of view, social media managing is extremely important, and it may be a career that I might delve into when I leave University. Hence, throughout my time in studios at RMIT, I hope that I am able to obtain experience with online media, so it can help me achieve my future goals and ambitions.