FACTUAL TV


MULTI-CAMERA REALITY AND DOCS


FIXED RIG: FROM EVERY ANGLE


Multi-camera and fixed-rig reality and factual has been around for a long time but the technology and workflows they use is moving on apace. Tim Dams reports


B


ig Brother is cited by many TV execs as one of the most influential programmes of all time, ushering in a new era of fixed rig reality shows in the wake of its


Dutch debut in 1999 and UK launch in 2000. The UK multicamera reality TV sector is


now 22 years old, out of its troubled teens and heading into a more mature twenties phase. It’s perhaps fitting that many of the early reality stalwarts, including Big Brother and Survivor are soon to return to UK screens. Big Brother is being revived by ITV2, while Survivor will air on BBC One. Their recommissions prove that reality is


very much in vogue. “The big competitive area where both the broadcasters and streamers are competing head-to-head right now is drama and reality,” says Talkback creative director Laura Gibson, co-creator of Netflix hit Too Hot to Handle. Big Brother broke new ground by using new


tech – like camera rigs and non-linear editing – in innovative ways. Many of the new generation of reality shows – from Love Island to The Circle and Too Hot to Handle right through to multicamera docs like Ambulance and 24 Hours in A&E – build on Big Brother’s early advances. Gibson reckons that the current era of reality


success was kicked off by the 2015 reboot of Love Island, which has proved a huge ratings success for ITV2 – drawing in millions of younger viewers. It took the ‘love’ element from Big Brother and ran with it. And instead of just using a fixed rig and hidden cameras, it borrowed from structured reality series like TOWIE and Made in Chelsea and introduced PSC (portable single camera) shooting into the mix. Too Hot to Handle, meanwhile, took the


concept further – by challenging the contestants not to couple up, and also by introducing an Alexa-style host, Lana. “My analogy would be


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