In the wake of the recently hammered out Directors Guild of America (DGA) agreement that gives the union increased jurisdiction over reality TV programs—jurisdiction it had not hitherto enjoyed—perhaps it's not all that startling to hear directors insist that helming reality TV (contrary to what one might suspect) is not all that different from directing scripted fare.
As an example of the common ground shared by the two genres, reality TV director Craig Borders ("The Mole," "Cupid," "Married by America," "The Real World: Seattle," and "The Real World: Boston") says that the way a director employs the camera—determining how many cameras are needed, where to place them, and what shots to take—is the same for both reality and scripted shows.
"In either case, the director uses the camera to drive the story forward in visual terms," he suggests. "The director is always trying to get the right shot for narrative purposes and that's true with or without a script."
J. Rupert Thompson, director of NBC's "Fear Factor," adds that whatever the genre, "a director is concerned with the look and feel of the show. Directing 'Fear Factor,' for example, is not unlike directing a cross between an action movie and a live sports event. The goal is to make it exciting and get the right footage."
Like all directors, Borders and Thompson maintain, they are helping to forge narratives and reveal character, in addition to rehearsing cast members (not unexpectedly, neither refers to them as "actors").
In response to the contention voiced by many reality TV directors that they are indeed bona fide directors—some of whom are DGA members and others not—the guild felt compelled to increase the percentage of reality TV programs (network, syndicated, and cable) produced under DGA agreements. A committee comprised of DGA members, under the leadership of the union's president, Michael Apted, spearheaded an agreement that, according to all accounts, is very flexible for both producers and directors, making it possible for directors to sign single project agreements with production companies. Each contract takes into account the particular needs of the show involved.
Clearly, the next major stumbling block is getting production companies to go along with the agreement, which stipulates minimum salary rates, working conditions, staffing requirements, residuals, and travel, not to mention pension and health care contributions. Still, the benefit to production companies seems evident: They can now hire the most qualified union directors, who can help to make the already-popular programs even more competitive in a marketplace hungry for reality TV but at the same time overflowing with entertainment options. No one disputes the fact that reality TV is becoming increasingly glossy and sophisticated.
In fact, some might suggest that directing reality TV is a subspecialty with its own particular challenges.
Case in point: Unlike helming a scripted show, with reality TV programming, "there is only one take, which means you have to get it right the first time," asserts Thompson.
Borders echoes the view: "The key is pacing. Everything happens in real time."
As such, says Thompson, "Directing reality TV is about being able to listen carefully. It's also about having the intuition to anticipate what will happen next—what a cast member might do and how he might respond. With reality TV, there isn't the same kind of control you have with a script, although with a program like 'Fear Factor,' the director has a little more control because there are specific events [stunts] that have to be planned."
Obviously, the demands on the director vary with the type of reality show he or she is helming. Some reality programs are very similar to the structured game show, with polished, scripted hosts. Others are more closely aligned to the documentary.
Common to almost all reality TV, however, is the lack of a conventional script with dialogue written in advance. Equally significant is the absence of actors creating characters—inhabiting fictional roles—that have been written for them.
"The most important job for the director on reality TV is casting," says Thompson. "We seek out the gregarious, type-A personality. On reality TV, you're not really directing the cast members but rather creating situations for them to play in. The director relies on the fact that his casting was quirky and entertaining, which will make for drama."
Notes Borders, "During casting, the director's role is to set up situations to see how cast members react to various circumstances, which in turn helps the director create the story and move it along. Is this reality? Maybe not. But it's the real world and the interactions are real, with the director playing a director's role."
Borders is convinced that reality TV, with its new aesthetic parameters, "will raise the bar artistically" and suspects that a new "hybrid" genre will emerge, combining "scripted material and reality. Real stories will provide the basis for improvised dramatizations that may include real people and actors."
Besides redefining the world of television entertainment and perhaps even feature films, reality TV will also inform audience expectations and their insistence on authenticity, argues Borders.
"Because of reality TV, audiences will now be able to distinguish phony emotion from the real thing. They just won't buy phony emotions. We will need—and I believe we will see—a new level of acting and writing talent."
Thompson also talks about the "hybrid" entertainment forms that he expects to helm in the not-too-distant future, perhaps requiring yet another set of directing skills.