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flippyshark · 07-15-2010, 01:26 PM

I feel as though there is a detectable difference between real off-the-cuff conversation and unscripted but prompted improvisational acting. The drama in this episode seemed very prompted to me. ("Oh my gosh, did you see Jaclyn give me this note" Eric says to Ryan quite a bit louder than anyone would in actual confidentiality. Of course, there is a camera there, but really ...) Nothing in the main story seemed organic or spontaneous. I can't prove it at all - but my BS meter spiked at things like:

- Eric worries out loud that the judges will ask him what his contribution was. Simon de Pury walks in the door and doesn't miss a beat - "So, Eric, what did you contribute to this?" He's barely even looked at the piece. Very stagey, and this kind of "perfect timing" of events and reactions happened throughout.

- The whole drama from a few episodes back when Jaclyn didn't give Eric credit for his idea about writing on her photos - that felt awfully "do it for the cameras" - and her weird apology to Eric at the start of this challenge just clinched its phoniness for me. And that whole "Jaclyn wrote me a note" sub-plot - and the very Theater 101 improv feel of the dialog as he confided in Ryan about it had me rolling my eyes, even while I was enjoying it on a narrative level. There are genuinely spontaneous moments on this show, and every reality/ elimination show - and they always contrast with the manufactured drama moments. Again, can't prove it ...

- Eric is so worried that he will be sent home, then goes well out of his way to completely throw himself under the bus, in ways that just look stupid and melodramatically petulant. ("No, I won't help you carry it, I'm going to go sulk and chain smoke.") Yes, that could happen with these temperamental people, but I honestly feel I can tell the difference between real flare-ups and cosmetic ones, and Eric wasn't a very good actor. I would be willing to put a small amount of cash down that he was informed long ago that he would be playing the outsider, and that he would be instructed to throw his game in a later episode, making sure to say derisive things about "art school pussies" along the way.(He was never this vituperative before, was he?) A "teamwork" themed episode provides the perfect opportunity, because no one is creating individual works - and no matter which project might have won, his out-of-the-blue poutiness gets him ousted as planned.

- In every episode, you see the participants sitting in an indoor neutral space and talking to the camera about events that are going on in the main narrative. These talking head moments are scattered throughout the show. They are pretty obviously all filmed at the same time, presumably after everything has gone down, but the people talk as though they are still in the middle of the situation. So, we see footage of them arguing out in the public park, then cut to Eric in a chair back at home base saying "I'm not going to let them boss me around" as though he is still "in the moment" out at that park. This is common to every one of these shows, and is a good textual clue that everybody engages knowingly in creating an illusion. (I'm being generous in guessing that these interviews are made after the fact. If this episode is really as contrived as I'm accusing it of being, they could well have done it all before they filmed the drama.) Anyway, pay attention to this quirk whenever you watch reality TV. Artist splashes paint - cut to artist in chair saying "I really feel like this is going to be my best work - cut to continuation of same shot of artist splashing paint. Artist makes terrible error. Cut to artist in same chair saying "I ruined the painting. I'm going to have to start all over again." The apparent continuity of the footage belies the artist having taken two separate trips to the talky couch. I hope I'm making this clear, and I hope I don't look too silly blathering on about it so much. (This textual mistake even happens on The Office, where it certainly doesn't matter, but it is a kind of narrative impossibility.)

My gut feeling right now is that the show is going to keep building on the "no one wants to say out loud that Miles is a douchebag" theme - Miles is clearly just too good an instigator not to build conflict around. (I'm no expert, but Miles' OCD disorder seems to change in very plot-convenient ways. iThe assertive, aggressive type A fellow he played in this episode seems very different from the diffident afraid-of-sunlight, super sensitive gotta-sleep-can't-talk-to-anyone dude of earlier episodes. Seems like he can turn it off and on at will, and I'm guessing that's exactly what he's been asked to do.) Anyway, I say look for a Miles-Ryan standoff real soon, and look for a Miles vs.Jaclyn denouement. That's my guess, and I'm sticking to it for now.

So, I may be totally off base in my suspicions, but I do feel them strongly. This doesn't in any way prevent me from enjoying the show and wanting to see the next one right away.

07-15-2010, 01:26 PM	#24
flippyshark Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,852	I feel as though there is a detectable difference between real off-the-cuff conversation and unscripted but prompted improvisational acting. The drama in this episode seemed very prompted to me. ("Oh my gosh, did you see Jaclyn give me this note" Eric says to Ryan quite a bit louder than anyone would in actual confidentiality. Of course, there is a camera there, but really ...) Nothing in the main story seemed organic or spontaneous. I can't prove it at all - but my BS meter spiked at things like: - Eric worries out loud that the judges will ask him what his contribution was. Simon de Pury walks in the door and doesn't miss a beat - "So, Eric, what did you contribute to this?" He's barely even looked at the piece. Very stagey, and this kind of "perfect timing" of events and reactions happened throughout. - The whole drama from a few episodes back when Jaclyn didn't give Eric credit for his idea about writing on her photos - that felt awfully "do it for the cameras" - and her weird apology to Eric at the start of this challenge just clinched its phoniness for me. And that whole "Jaclyn wrote me a note" sub-plot - and the very Theater 101 improv feel of the dialog as he confided in Ryan about it had me rolling my eyes, even while I was enjoying it on a narrative level. There are genuinely spontaneous moments on this show, and every reality/ elimination show - and they always contrast with the manufactured drama moments. Again, can't prove it ... - Eric is so worried that he will be sent home, then goes well out of his way to completely throw himself under the bus, in ways that just look stupid and melodramatically petulant. ("No, I won't help you carry it, I'm going to go sulk and chain smoke.") Yes, that could happen with these temperamental people, but I honestly feel I can tell the difference between real flare-ups and cosmetic ones, and Eric wasn't a very good actor. I would be willing to put a small amount of cash down that he was informed long ago that he would be playing the outsider, and that he would be instructed to throw his game in a later episode, making sure to say derisive things about "art school pussies" along the way.(He was never this vituperative before, was he?) A "teamwork" themed episode provides the perfect opportunity, because no one is creating individual works - and no matter which project might have won, his out-of-the-blue poutiness gets him ousted as planned. - In every episode, you see the participants sitting in an indoor neutral space and talking to the camera about events that are going on in the main narrative. These talking head moments are scattered throughout the show. They are pretty obviously all filmed at the same time, presumably after everything has gone down, but the people talk as though they are still in the middle of the situation. So, we see footage of them arguing out in the public park, then cut to Eric in a chair back at home base saying "I'm not going to let them boss me around" as though he is still "in the moment" out at that park. This is common to every one of these shows, and is a good textual clue that everybody engages knowingly in creating an illusion. (I'm being generous in guessing that these interviews are made after the fact. If this episode is really as contrived as I'm accusing it of being, they could well have done it all before they filmed the drama.) Anyway, pay attention to this quirk whenever you watch reality TV. Artist splashes paint - cut to artist in chair saying "I really feel like this is going to be my best work - cut to continuation of same shot of artist splashing paint. Artist makes terrible error. Cut to artist in same chair saying "I ruined the painting. I'm going to have to start all over again." The apparent continuity of the footage belies the artist having taken two separate trips to the talky couch. I hope I'm making this clear, and I hope I don't look too silly blathering on about it so much. (This textual mistake even happens on The Office, where it certainly doesn't matter, but it is a kind of narrative impossibility.) My gut feeling right now is that the show is going to keep building on the "no one wants to say out loud that Miles is a douchebag" theme - Miles is clearly just too good an instigator not to build conflict around. (I'm no expert, but Miles' OCD disorder seems to change in very plot-convenient ways. iThe assertive, aggressive type A fellow he played in this episode seems very different from the diffident afraid-of-sunlight, super sensitive gotta-sleep-can't-talk-to-anyone dude of earlier episodes. Seems like he can turn it off and on at will, and I'm guessing that's exactly what he's been asked to do.) Anyway, I say look for a Miles-Ryan standoff real soon, and look for a Miles vs.Jaclyn denouement. That's my guess, and I'm sticking to it for now. So, I may be totally off base in my suspicions, but I do feel them strongly. This doesn't in any way prevent me from enjoying the show and wanting to see the next one right away.
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