As Media Studies- Lois Brown: Definitions of Genre Types

Fly on the wall documentary:A style of documentary where there is not much interference from the person creating it. The characters create their own narrative and are allowed to speak for themselves. Cameras are made to be somewhat unintrusive so that they can capture things that probably wouldn't normally be captured e.g. if the characters cannot see the cameras they will behave more naturally and show their true personalities. Therefore, the documentary is as natural and as close to reality as possible. (1)

Examples of fly on the wall documentaries:

Big Brother (Endemol)

Shipwrecked The Island (RDF Television)

Scripted reality television

A style of programmes where the characters would generally behave and talk as they would in every day life. However they are put in situations by the production team that they perhaps wouldn't normally face. Therefore they are not a representation of reality because these situations wouldn't occur naturally and do not show the realities of life. (2)

Examples of Scripted Reality Shows

Made in Chelsea (E4productions)

The Hills (Reel Security)

Fiction Production

Fiction is a broad term which can include many genres e.g. films, television programmes, novels etc. In fictional television programmes the narrative, characters, situations etc. are completely made up by the producers. These contrast 'fly on the wall' documentaries which show reality and are not completely made up by the production time. Scripted reality shows contain some parts of fiction (situations created by the production team) but are not completely fictional because the cast are real people and the narration is mostly real.

Examples of Fiction Productions