week 11 ✿

How does Hill define reality TV?

Hill defines reality TV in different ways.

Firstly, he said “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, such as non-professional actors, unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage, hand held cameras, seeing events unfold as they are happening in front of camera"

Secondly, on page 42 of Hill it says“the most traditional industry term for reality TV is factual entertainment”. I think this is sensible as people usually attracted by things that make them happy which made it the goal for reality TV in the past.

Lastly, Hill summarised that “there is no one definition of reality programming, but many, competing definitions of what has come to be called the reality genre. This is because the reality genre is made of a number of distinctive and historically based television genres, such as lifestyle, or documentary.” It is not possible to define what reality TV is in just one sentence. Reality TV includes too many types of genres which combine several TV genres and they include everything from everywhere.

Reference:

Hill, A. (2005) The rise of reality TV. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and
Popular Factual Television. (pp. 15 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.

week11

How does Hill define reality TV?


Hill defined the reality TV in three dimensions; television industry, scholars, and audiences. He states that the television industry is “flexible in its categorization of reality TV”, because popular factual programming can fit lots of traditional categories. However, he mentions that television industry pushed reality TV to create new hybrid formats. I think the Television industry tends to classify these popular factual programs due to the benefits these programs generated.

Hill also argues the TV scholars define reality TV tends to under the “realty genre” and include a variety of television genres, but it can be in danger of genre overload. Hill (2005) points that the audience classifying reality TV according to fact criteria, because they want to see what is actually happening. Their definition in relation to reality is connected with their individual understanding of the performance.

Within these discussions we can see that, reality TV seems to attract viewers, because reality TV creates a reality atmosphere for viewers. However, although the non-professional actors, unscripted dialogues, surveillance footage bring us the factual feeling, the cameras are the eyes of the producers to decide how to capture their valuable on-site scenarios.

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

Week 9

Week 9
What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?

According to Hills (2004), the cult TV fans are distinctive, because they support their TV programs with their loyalty. They can organize or reorganize TV programs into an intertextural network and describe them in the term of “Cult”. They also form their appreciation society to maintain the cult status. Moreover, Cult TV fans contribute the fan-fiction and fan talking enrich their cult culture. So, we can find that such Buffy’s success largely due to the fans loyal support and love. I think, the most impressive influence is that the fans permeate the cult elements into their daily life. When these influences become widen enough in the society, the certain element could become a social culture trend. As a result, the Cult TV itself becomes mainstreamed super popular and the fandom would be bigger and the interaction and activities can be more rich and colorful. Therefore, I think, a smart media producer might pay more attention on the fans activities to monitor audience interests.


The new media played a great communication role in the fandom. For example, the internet provides a big platform for the fans. The virtual spaces such as E communities, Twitter, Facebook, gather the fans to share their ideas and comments; blogs and fan space are the good places for the fan-fiction writing. Furthermore, the cult TV Videos and audios transmitted among the smart phones bring the fans the show updates and comments; the e magazines publish the fans works and activity announcements etc. These various Medias are the important communicate medium between the fans. I think, the media is open to everyone, the nonfans and different Cult TV program fan group can participate in the discussions as well. This not only helps to promote certain TV program but also helps to distinguish the “cult TV” from other genres.

Hills, M. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York:Routledge.

Week 10

In what way is Buffy influenced by the romantic gothic tradition? Yet how does Buffy also provide a contemporary critique of this tradition?

Buffy is a good show. It is especially good because it is open enough to allow any number of possibilities to eventuate. Given its darker themes, it has provided a good outlet to rework some classic romantic gothic traditions, and bring them alive again for the viewer. Themes central to these involve the predilection for the medieval, exotic, the remote, the mysterious, the weird, the occult, the monstrous, the diseased, and even the satanic. (Pioch, 2002)

We will start with the most obvious comparison. Bram Stoker's Dracula (a frighteningly long book which starts off amazing then continues on for a few centuries). His very name conjures up images of dark, looming castles, black capes, silence, seduction and evil. He has frightened children and given Translvania an odd reason to welcome tourists. Stoker's story presented a man who seemed only slightly not normal, one so regular that he could invite people over from abroad to discuss business. He has two faces: the seemingly good and the bad. Buffy reworks this by presenting us with Angel, the vampire with a soul who just wants to help people. However, his evil side, known as Angelus, is historically one of the most evil vampires in creation, who inspires legends similar to that of Dracula. Stoker’s Dracula is revealed to be truly evil but possesses the (very useful) powers of seduction. We see this mirrored in Angel – both before and after the gypsy curse. Similarily, Spike is also portrayed as seductive however these two characters are the only vampires in the series I can recall as being this way. Buffy utilizes the general ideas of Stoker but only to develop stereotypes. For example, the everyday vampires are ugly and evil whereas Angel and Spike only turn this way when they revert to their vampire side – this way we know when they are enveloping stereotypical vampire qualities. Furthermore, Buffy herself is a prime example of tongue-in-cheek critique – the three vampire women in Stoker’s story were blonde, and blonde’s are stereotypically the damsels in distress and the first to die.

Buffy also draws upon popular myths such as werewolves. This is a subject that has been noted in folklore around the world, and is visited regularly in fiction. I am not personally up to speed with werewolf stories; the Were-wolf (1896) by Clemence Housman is the only novel I have read. This is one of the first stories that developed the idea from folklore and established the werewolf as a person rather than just a crazed monster. The wolf is a woman who comes to live with a family in Switzerland, which plays on the emotional level, and is not controlled by the full moon. This idea is borrowed and critiqued in Buffy by the early central character Oz. Although Oz is dangerous, we are anxious for his survival in the series due to his personality and closeness to the Scooby gang. At first Oz struggles with his werewolf side but eventually comes to accept it and control it, and achieves the ability to change at will. Furthermore, his struggle which is shared by the woman in the Were-Wolf story, perfectly mirrors the light and dark in people. The wolf-as-a-person idea is critiqued in Buffy by Oz’s lack of “wolfness” – he is clearly a man with wolf like urges, and his refusal to kill. The character of Veruca presents a character more similar to the Were-Wolf, in that they accept who they are and give in to their inner curse.

Buffy also embodies the ideas of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (1886), which explores the evil in all of us. Jekyll’s split personality is personified by Oz and Angel, and the episode “Beauty and the Beast” includes a direct reference to the novel. I found the idea of shadows in people is perfectly put in the following quote from www.tvtropes.org, “the point is, the villain lives inside the hero's body, and therefore hides in plain sight… the hero is trying to catch himself.” Dr Jekyll willingly chooses to become Mr Hyde (negating the whole point of separating the evil from his soul) and eventually begins to become evil. Buffy provides Angel, an evil character who is forced to turn good, and who brings out the vampire nature only in necessary circumstances. He spends a lot of time miserable until his new life (in spinoff series ‘Angel’) renews his sense of purpose. Oz never himself remembers what he does in werewolf form, and originally starts off battling his evil side, until he defeats it and embraces his human nature.

I am only going to mention Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein briefly, as many of its central themes are mirrored in the above examples. There are some obvious comparisons in the series, such as the episode we viewed in class, which involve humans creating a monster (as a weapon) which wreaks havoc, and borrows images from classic Frankenstein cinema scenes. However, I am just going to mention the general theme of good and evil in Frankenstein, and how Buffy critiques this. I personally find Frankenstein the most enjoyable text to read in the romantic gothic genre due to the fact that it raises profound philosophical questions. Whilst reading the book, I found myself disliking Dr Frankenstein more and more, and rooting instead for the creation – who really just wants an identity in the world, and to ease his loneliness. In Buffy, we see a similar dynamic occurring. The wittiest lines are usually spoken by the demons, and the central character [Buffy] is selfish and cocky. She is forever lonely despite being surrounded by a tightknit group of friends and endless lovers (whose character profiles are much more interesting).

To conclude, we can see that Buffy borrows many ideas from famous literary romantic gothic traditions, and develops them in its own style, in a way to make us think. In particular, Buffy concentrates on themes rather than direct character portrayals, often embracing the fact that good and evil are not necessarily black and white, more shades of grey, the lines often blurred by human nature rather than demonic interferences.

“I guess we're all two people. One daylight, and the one we keep in shadow.” Bruce Wayne, Batman Forever

REFERENCES

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2011, September 2). Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_%28Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer%29

Buffy Episode Guide. Retrieved October 13,20ll, from http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/beauty.shtml

Damsel in Distress (2011, October 7). Retrieved October 13, 20ll, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damsel_in_distress

Rose, A (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy does Frankenstein, in R.Wilcox & D. Lavery (eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.

The Were-wolf ( 2011, October 7). Retrieved October 13, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf

Week Ten

How does Buffy deconstruct traditional literary notions of good and evil?

Just to get some dictionary definitions the Collins English Dictionary (2010) says that 'evil' is expressed as wickedness or morally bad. 'Good' is morally excellent, or a person is seen as reliable or well-behaved. Even from these definitions you get the sense that morals is an important determinate of what is good and what is evil. Moral/s is said to be “concerned with right and wrong conduct” (p.381). So knowing what good and evil means how is this related to Buffy? On a basic level we see the good as Buffy the Vampire Slayer killing the evil – Vampires / demons.

Looking at the article from Braun (2000) he uses the character Angel as an example of showing both his good and evil sides. As Angel was in his past before he met Buffy, one of the most evil and powerful demons ever, his family had to place a curse on him which meant he would gain a human soul. Because of this he agrees/wants to help Buffy and they become a team – showing goodness. When Buffy eventually loses her virginity to Angel she is the innocent – good, from this Angel regains his vampire tendency / nature and evilness as the curse is lifted from his experience of 'perfect human happiness' - good. There is a change in Buffy where she is overcome with aggression to kill Angel which is some form of 'Evil' – Anger. “We all have the capacity for evil” (p.6) is a strong quote from Braun (2002) that really shows the changes that Buffy and Angel go through.

Rose (2002) looks deeper into Buffy and compares it to Frankenstein – Mary Shelley's masterpiece of creation which shows the themes of learning what is right from wrong and what is good and evil. Rose (2002) uses the episodes in Buffy “Goodbye Iowa” and “The I in Team” to relate to key scenes in Frankenstein. In “Goodbye Iowa” a creation 'Adam' made by Maggie Walsh is similar to Frankenstein's creation. Both creations escape from their birthplaces / laboratories and go out to find who and what they are. Along the way they both kill a child as they find out that they are monsters. These ideas of creator and creation are both twists of good vs. evil. The creator is evil to have made this creation therefore the creation is evil. However as the creation tries to find the truth they show some side of good. Each creation turns against their creator which makes the creator vulnerable so would appear to be good and the creation is evil as they try to kill their masters and innocent people.

Quoting from Rose (2002) “without the combined efforts of the full community, it is impossible to defeat demons, both those that manifest and those that lie within”. “Evil – demons – are a part of that order, but, as Buffy and the Scooby Gang demonstrate, the combined power of the community can defeat them”(p.142). Rose (2002) has addressed another theme of Buffy about the joint power of the community and that you can never fight your battles alone. Regarding this to good vs. evil, working together as a community it is easier to fight the evil.
So we see in Buffy that there is a constant play of going from good to evil and each character trying to find within them if they are good or evil. The themes within Buffy are deeply involved with so many different human emotions / situations that it has used the themes of good and evil to show these hidden messages of the good and evil concepts / issues in today's modern society.

References:

Braun, B. (2000) The X-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The ambiguity of evil in supernatural representations. Retrieved 18 October, 2005 from: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_2_28/ai_64688900

Collins English Dictionary (4ed.). (2010). Glasgow, UK: Collins

Rose, A. (2002) Of creatures and creators: Buffy Does Frankenstein. In D. Lavery & R.Wilcox (Eds) Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the vampire slayer (pp. 133 – 142). Lanham, England: Rowman and Littlefield.

Week Nine

Wilcox and Lavery (2002) identify 9 defining characteristics of ‘quality TV’ – can you apply any of these to other television series that you have viewed recently? Are there any other characteristics that you could add to their list?

When looking at the television series that I watch, I have tried to compare them to this week’s cult TV series Buffy. In general I find that they are so different to Buffy but overall the series around currently are mostly American or New Zealand comedies about groups of friends, dysfunctional families or Vampire related which is Buffy in a nutshell really. I have looked at the series I watch and related them to the nine characteristics of ‘quality TV’ to see if they can be classed so and if they can ultimately be compared to Buffy as cult TV.

The first characteristic is ‘quality’. What do Wilcox and Lavery mean by ‘quality’? Wilcox & Lavery (2002) say “quality TV usually has a quality pedigree” (p.21) and then refer to Joss Whedon the creator of Buffy and his credentials as a film script writer. Referring to our PowerPoint slides as well the main point of the ‘quality pedigree’ that was addressed was how Joss Whedon himself relates to quality TV and is quoted - “I designed Buffy to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can’t be loved” (p.8). I found on NZ On Air’s website a press release regarding the new TV series ‘Nothing Trivial’ made in New Zealand a statement from NZ On Air chief executive Jane Wrightson, "we've been looking for a quality drama to serve TV One audiences for a while now, and this one has all the credentials”. Wrightson has even used the word ‘quality’ to describe this show which I believe it is. ‘Nothing Trivial’ is written and produced by the makers of two NZ hit shows ‘Outrageous Fortune’ and ‘Go Girls’ so there is definitely a quality pedigree with the makers of this new series.

The second characteristic is that it is common for there to be a struggle to get a quality TV show aired. This is usually due to small networks and perhaps they are not nominated for awards as they are on such a small scale. I would probably relate that to my new favourite TV series ‘Nothing Trivial’ which is made in New Zealand showing on TV One. Being a show in New Zealand it would be hard for it to get a wide scale audience compared to an America show without some kind huge scale marketing. Also with it being on channel One it would only be watched by certain range of audience whereas if it was on channel two the more main stream popular shows are there for a wider range of viewers. However as it is produced by South Pacific Pictures New Zealand’s most successful production company there would be a lot of people involved with making this program a success, but I like how they have chosen TV One instead of TV Two which gives it a more quality boutique feel.

The third characteristic is that quality TV usually has a large cast. With a variety of casting characters for different story lines to branch of and to have the special role for each character: hero, villain, mentor, comedy relief etc. I could relate this to a lot of TV series I currently watch like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ which its main cast consists of four guys who are all science professors and the blonde bombshell. ‘Nothing Trivial’ has a cast of two guys and three ladies in their last thirties, early forties. And I can also relate this to ‘The Mentalist’, which its cast consists of the protagonist - Patrick Jane who is ‘the mentalist’ and four crime detectives who he works alongside with.

The fourth characteristic is that quality TV has a memory it often refers back to in the past and carries on forward in time. With a lot of other shows it always stays in the same time period for example cartoons like The Simpsons. Then there are shows like ‘Shortland Street’ which only move forward and hardly ever look back into the past. An example of a show which does often refer to the past would be ‘Desperate Housewives’ which shows scene shots of the past and explains to new characters what happened in the past, particularly regarding the mysterious death of ‘Mary Alice’ who never appears on the show but is a mystic figure whose voice often used for the narration. ‘The Mentalist’ often refers back to the protagonists past as he experiences flash backs of the haunting reality which is the key theme of the storyline. Another way some shows refer to the past is when they show a recap of the last show before they start into the new show.

The fifth characteristic is the creation of a new genre by mixing old genres together to make something new. I have tried to think of a TV series that is different and ‘new’. It was hard to think of something with a new genre so instead I have looked at a few different examples of new crime investigation dramas. ‘The Mentalist’ is a slight twist of the common crime investigation series. Instead of it having the troubled detectives like ‘Cold Case’ or ‘CSI’ they use an outsider from the crime department to add a different feel, comedy and realness to it. This would be Patrick Jane who has a mental talent of reading people and uses this ability to help solve murderers. Another example of adding a different character would be ‘Medium’ which is based on the true story of a woman who is a clairvoyant / medium who can experience connections with the dead which help her to solve crimes for the police department. And ‘Castle’ which is about a mystery novelist whose stories become reality and he needs to help the police find the killer.

The sixth characteristic is that quality TV is tends to be “literary and writer-based” Lavery & Wilcox (2004), giving the series a strong foundation and gives the viewer’s something to think about. Looking at ‘The Mentalist’ it is compared to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle with his Sherlock Holmes novels. Looking at the ‘Big Bang Theory’ who Chuck Lorre is one of the creators, Executive Producer and head writer’s, his background includes writer, director, producer, composer and song writer. I can only go by what Lorre’s credentials are to think that he would have a definite effect of the writing of his TV series. I have found it quite hard to determine what is literarily based and an example of this.

The seventh characteristic is that it shows self-consciousness through humour. Perhaps an example of this would be Raj’s character from Big Bang Theory who is socially awkward especially with females. The writers have exaggerated this by having his character seize up around girls and cannot talk to them directly only through Chinese whispers with another character Howard who speaks for him.

The eighth characteristic is that it is seen as showing controversial issues. I would believe that ‘Nothing Trivial’ shows controversial issues from the character of’ Michelle’ who is experiencing depression, and on ‘Shortland Street’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ there are big influences on gay and lesbian relationships and also ‘Shortland Street’ has examples of adultery when ‘Callum’ starts dating his son’s ex-girlfriend.

And the ninth characteristic is showing of true representation of Emotional realism, real life experiences with real life emotional portrayal. I think ‘Nothing Trivial’ shows this through all the characters experiences strife’s such as coping with divorce, new relationships and depression. Jane’s character in ‘The Mentalist’ although the storyline and circumstances seem unlikely when he’s character starts to let some of his emotions show it is an example of real raw emotion.

In Conclusion I have found that some TV series have most of these nine characteristics and have some relations to Buffy. The true characteristic I think of Quality TV is emotional realism, which helps to capture and connect the audience to the characters and to the stories the characters tell.

References:

Chuck Lorre. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 12, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Lorre

Lavery, D., Wilcox, R. (2004). Defining Cult TV; Texts, Inter-texts and Fan Audiences. The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.

NZ On Air. (2010). New Drama for TV One [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.nzonair.govt.nz/news/newspressreleases/pressrelease_2010_12_23.aspx

Week 11

How does Hill define reality TV?

Hill (2005, p.107), states that reality TV is commonly used to describe a range of popular factual programming”. According to Hill (2005), reality TV can be related to a variety of styles and techniques for example, non-professionalism like events or scenes which seem like as if they are happening in front of the camera at that moment or in other words live scenes. Unscripted dialogue, surveillance footage and non-professionalism with camera techniques such as hand-held cameras, but ‘reality’ programming has changed overtime by developing a new genre over the past decade.

Hill (2005), states that the early genre of reality TV was related to law and order footage or programmes associated to emergency services. Now with the new genre, reality TV can be associates with everything, from pets to people and from birth to death. Hill (2005), asserts that reality TV can be categorised under multiple genres which gives it a good market value. Hill (2005p. 106), states that the “most-traditional industry term for reality TV is factual entertainment”. Hill (2005), further says that this term merges factual programmes with entertainment based TV programmes and produces a product which highlights the most reality based programmes.

In addition to that Hill (2005), states that the digital channels and satellite TV category mark reality TV under a vast variety e.g. ITV marks reality game shows as entertainment, lifestyle under lifestyle etc. but factual programmes do not come under its genre structure. Hill (2005), further explains, what non-terrestrial channels term reality TV. According to Hill (2005), SKY one produces in-house reality programmes. Channels like SKY travel and B SKY features reality TV programmes in their own rights. Some reality TV channels focus on crime and emergency services, experiences of near death or danger, documentaries, game shows and talent shows and all these programmes are also categorized under the reality TV genre.

According to Corner (2003, as cited in Hill, 2005, p. 109), “the term originally appeared in the US television industry in the 1980s and was useful in defining ‘the appeal of the ‘raw’ admist so many inventive as well as traditional varieties of cooking”. As reality TV became more famous it was taken from ‘raw’ into producing and presenting more ‘cooked’ programmes or more professional programmes with a mix of different genres (Hill, 2005). Hill (2005), also suggests that there is no one definition of reality TV but many definitions have come together to be called the reality genre. This is due to the fact that reality TV can now be associated with many different genres such as lifestyle or documentary or docu-soaps and talent shows.

Many of TV genres have merged together which we now call reality TV. Hill (2005), also believes that due to reality TV having so much variety in its genres, starting from fact to fictions, docu-soaps and game shows etc. soon the TV industry, scholars and audience will begin to include other types of TV genres in the reality TV category.

Reference:

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