I found that often I was thinking or feeling something but just wasn’t saying it to the cameraperson- until he asked. Now, recall that the documentary had no narrator. Viewers also did not hear the interviewer –i.e. the cameraperson asking us questions. Hence, we were instructed to repeat the question in our answer for the benefit of the audience. For example, if we were asked, “Do you think that you are a good catch?”, we could not just say “yes” or “no”, viewers would not have a clue about what we were answering. So, the response had to be phrased, “I think that I am a good catch.” A more modest variation could have been, “Well, I guess you could say that I am a good catch.” However, this could be easily shortened during editing to “…I am a good catch.”
Well what did that just do? When viewers hear, “I am a good catch”, it seems like the woman saying this is full of herself. The audience may think that she thought of this all on her own and just blurted it out! This was a generic example. Mind you that sometimes the questions were way more salacious, edgy, or controversial – because that is what sells. In the end, documentary or not, ABC’s business is to attract viewers and sell advertising space.
The camera people were well versed at crafting the questions in a way to achieve a response that would be intriguing or sensational. I must admit that my experience with this aspect of filming Hooking Up was a little worrisome. My biggest fear was not so much about my actions on camera but about what questions would be asked and how my responses would be portrayed or edited.
One thing that I have learned is that more concise answers are better when filming a “docu-reality” show. Although we were encouraged to talk for hours until we were blue in the face, it just created more of a chance for words to be taken out of context and misunderstood. Editors had the challenge of trying to capture the truth, in 5 – 10 second sound clips, without a narrator and only using our words. If I had to do it again, I would have still talked openly about my feelings as I did, but I would have also summarized the points I found to be most critical in a very succinct sentence, in less than 9 seconds. Hence, giving the editors what they need without them having to piece it together. A friend of mine that worked as a publicist actually confirmed my theory. She advised her clients to adhere to this very rule when being interviewed. Of course, there are no guarantees and in the end the editors and producers have complete control.
After seeing my Hooking Up episodes, I feel that in most cases my responses were integrated into the footage without distorting my true thoughts. However, in some instances, I wish that the audience could have heard the conversation with the cameraman that led up to the clip. I found that some viewers did not have a correct understanding of some of my comments that resulted from questions asked of me.
I always tried to not answer something impulsively and, as obvious as it sounds, took time to think before responding. (This is very hard when emotions and matters of the heart are involved. Also see blog post “Relationship with my Cameraman”- it was very easy to vent or open up to the cameraperson). All of my answers were honest and I kept it real while trying not to lose total restraint. This made me comfortable with the end product. Unfortunately, some of the ladies on the show have been embarrassed, upset, or caught off guard by how their responses were portrayed.
So there is one more reason left as to how I think that someone on the show could do or say something extremely private, personal, or embarrassing on TV. I will address the third reason in a post upcoming in the next days. Reisha