'Reality Check'
Julian Mercer, Executive Producer, BBC1/BBC2, Observational Documentaries

Phil Wallington talked to Julian Mercer about the unprecedented popularity of ‘reality’ programmes of all shapes and sizes.  A master practitioner of observational documentaries, Julian talked about how ‘reality’ in the UK is evolving from ‘characters’ towards strong stories and actions.

Julian: Our unit supplies 30 hours of observational documentary to the BBC1 and BBC2 each year. Observational doc is fly-on-the wall television.  It is not about cinematography, or formats; it is about being there to capture human behaviour at the time it happens.

In 1996 we had the advent of the docu-soap.  Programmes like Vet School , Holiday Reps, and the very popular Driving School , for which one episode attracted an audience of 13 million, gaining a 53 % share.  Docu-soaps had a simple formula: concentrated on characters, often larger than life.  Programmes were designed to be upbeat and entertaining, the style was quick, pacey, and inter-cut with other stories accompanied by cheerful music.

They were a ratings success, which triggered a feeding frenzy, everyone was after a slice of action so the docu-soaps covered airports, shopping centres - but inevitably, a backlash developed.

In Bristol , we responded to that backlash by taking it to a more serious level with shows like Life of Grime (1999): each one set in a particular city or neighbourhood.  It wasn’t designed to be a feel-good show, however, it was nonetheless hugely successful.  A modus-operandi was established with small teams of around five people following stories for around six months. The strategy is all about building a relationship of trust with the talent.  The most important part of the behaviour was that it was not directed and not scripted.  Filming was unobtrusive, using small cameras, no lights, no re-takes, it was all about the moment and being there at the right place and the right time.

More and more projects are self-shooting, cheap is not a dirty word because we have to buy time with our subjects and with bigger crews being relatively costly then self-shooting makes sense.  The disadvantage is that there is a huge shooting ratio and that requires real discipline in logging what to use.  Material has a rough edge but there are ways a rough edge can contribute to the cinema verity quality of the show. On the plus- side self-shooting increases access and gain greater intimacy.  Now around 95% of our output is self-shot, for eg Anatomy of a Crime - a recent series of one-hours following a criminal investigation from start to finish.  It took 24 months to make – self-shot.

Another style of shooting is seen in series Seaside Rescue which is like Piha Rescue.  It has been very successful and shot entirely by remote cameras installed on life-boats and helmets. A new genre evolving from helmet cam, it gives access to situations that cannot normally be reached. Shooting ratio is about 30: 1 and about half of that you can immediately throw away. Particularly suitable for news subjects, police patrols, the military, even demolition teams.

Programs using remote cameras are not about characters, all about action.

Another trend is the use of celebrities in observational documentary eg “It’s not easy being green” about a UK celebrity and their family leading a kind of “good life” and being self-sufficient for power down on the farm.  Also illustrated in the programme which features Stephen Fry tracing his ancestors and finding his great-grandfather’s grave.  Or the project currently in production which features Lenny Henry travelling the UK to see what makes people laugh. This docu-style comedy features written material gleaned from his travels and performed at gigs around Britain .

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