Task 3 | Historical Textual Analysis

CANDID CAMERA

-          NERVOUS LEARNER DRIVER

Originally an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt. It was a series of theatrical film shorts. Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations. A British version of Candid Camera began in 1960 and ran for seven years.

It is similar to my main text – ‘The Only Way is Essex’ - as it films a scenario which is created and mediated by producers and has at least one person who conveys their natural reaction to the certain situation. The camera action is also quite similar as it is mainly static to film the situation at the time – like TOWIE, the scenes are quite stationary and based in one setting, this creates a sense of reality as there is no fast paced action – like there would be in, say, the action genre. The type of shots used are similar as a wide/long shot is use to establish the scene/setting and the camera is zoomed onto the person speaking or reacting a certain way to make it clear who or what to focus on. Furthermore, it is shot like a scene; potentially being part of a wider sequence – however it is not as it’s just a single scene which is unlike TOWIE as it uses different scene as part of a sequence to create a narrative. ‘Candid Camera’ does not have a narrative as it a programme of a collection of pranks on the unbeknownst public. Additionally, I assume the victims of the pranks are selected by the producers with their entertainment value in mind. As the man in the clip above seems quite serious and professional, his reaction would be more entertaining than someone who is was immature or un-serious. This is a similar element to TOWIE as the ‘characters’ are selected based on their personalities to create more spectacle and narrative (Propps Character Types).

A major difference is the genre, as ‘Candid Camera’ was a hidden camera prank show it does not have a narrative, the show’s purpose is to entertain the audience through the reactions of the victims of the pranks. Nonetheless, it’s still a form of reality TV as it’s recording a scenario which has natural reactions to a certain situation which are borne out of created scenario – like TOWIE.