Thinking about the perspectives I was seeing on Big Brother, and reflecting on their affect on me as the viewer has brought me to several conclusions.
1. Big Brother is a constructed reality- although it is constructed, it does exist.
2. The physical setting supports the intent of the producer.
3. Camera angles obscure what the viewer is not to see.
Below I have four sets of images. The first image is what a viewer would see on a weekly episode. The second reveals what is just outside the parameters of the first perspective. I have grayed out areas that would be seen on a weekly episode so that we can better focus on what we don't see.
Image 1: The contrasting set
Producers and set designers create what I call "staging areas," places where characters should interact in order to create the most visually exciting image to the viewer. Cameras are in full view of the characters; they are aware they are being filmed. The show has much less to do with the latest annoying strategic plots of the characters then it does to do with creating something that is visually stimulating to the viewer- whether that is the background, the bodies of the characters, or the some elaborately staged challenge.
This perspective shows the contrast that has been overemphasized between a fiery wall and ice cold furniture and accessories. Even color and texture heighten the contrast with the hope of stimulating either the characters or the viewers.
Image 2: The fantastical set
This perspective further accentuates the producers' attempts to stimulate the viewers with its use of fantasy sets and an unashamed overhead perspective to give the watcher a complete view of this "constructed" reality. Even the participants are forced to become part of the scenery via their costuming. Furthermore, what is meant to look like the outdoors, however imaginary, is really the courtyard of a warehouse or something similar. See the gray walls extending above the house's extents and the catwalks for filming in the image above.
Image 3: The set geometry and illusion
Looking at this perspective makes one wonder, "What am I really seeing?" The viewer is forced to look through the participants at a brick wall with a television, while they look at each other. The top and bottom planes of this wall are obscured so that the geometry is unclear. The room is meant to appear warm and cozy, but the participants experience something else. The right photo reveals that above the visible extents of the set are harsh stage lighting and cool, gray unfinished surfaces. The set reveals dramatized geometry focusing the viewer toward the brick wall.
Image 4: Set and perspective exclusion
The purpose of this perspective seems at first to be only to showcase a visually stimulating setting, but it also serves to isolate us from the character and what he is really doing. We can't see where he's come from, or where he is going. We miss his perspective and environmental experience from that location, but it is clearly visible in the photo to the right. He sees the cool blue staging area, but he also sees the warm staging area below and all of the unfinished areas between. The character knows he is in a discontinuous set with definite staging areas, but do we?
My hope is that the diagrams above show just how much we are meant not to see about reality shows, and how different the experience is for the characters than we perceive.
2 comments:
These are really fascinating. Truly. What you expose is the (typically non-exposed) "infrastructure" of the Big Brother House - i.e. what is required for the house to "function".
It would be interesting to study or create the 3-dimensional boundary line (or party line) that exists between "house" and "infrastructure" and do see what happens on either side of this line. Are the same types of "infrastructure" present everywhere in the house? (bathroom/bedroom?) is there a logic to how/where they are located?
Tangent: In the book "House of Leaves" the protagonist in the story measures the outside dimensions of the house and then measures the inside dimensions of the house only to find that the outside is significantly longer ... implying that there is a "hidden space". I always wondered how much of this "poche" space existed in the Big Brother House. (This leads very well into assignement #2).
Very interesting to interpret what the "outside" of the built environment versus the "inside". Can the extrior form be derived from the interior?
"to construe or understand in a particular way" - interpret, dictionary.com
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