From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Style of documentary-making
A camera up on a wall recording what is happening in the room
Fly on the wall is a style of
documentary -making used in
film and
television production . The name derived from the idea that events are seen
candidly , as a
fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, the camera crew works as unobtrusively as possible; however, it is also common for participants to be interviewed, often by an off-camera voice.
[1]
Decades before
structured reality shows became popular, the
BBC had broadcast fly-on-the-wall film
Royal Family (a 1969 documentary produced in association with ITV),
[2]
[3]
[4] while 1974's
The Family , is said to be the earliest example of a reality TV docusoap on the
BBC .
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8] In the late 1990s,
Chris Terrill's docusoap series
The Cruise
[9]
[10]
[11] made a star of singer
[12] and TV personality
Jane McDonald ,
[13]
[14]
[15] while Welsh cleaner Maureen Rees
[16] became popular after her appearances on BBC One's
[17]
Driving School .
[18]
Other British examples include
Dynamo: Magician Impossible and Channel 4's
Educating... series, while in the United States popular examples include
American Factory ,
Cops ,
Deadliest Catch ,
Big Brother and
Weiner , a film about a political sex scandal which developed during a mayoral election in New York.
[19]
See also
References
^
"BFI Screenonline: 'Fly on the Wall' TV" .
^
" 'Royal Family': the fly-on-the-wall documentary the Palace doesn't want you to see" . HistoryExtra .
^
"Royal family documentary 'banned' by the Queen resurfaces online 50 years later" . Stuff . January 29, 2021.
^ Shaw, Neil (January 29, 2021).
"Banned Royal family documentary from 1969 resurfaces on Youtube" .
^
"BBC - History of the BBC, April 1974 - The Family - the first 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary" . BBC .
^
"The Family first episode" . bbc.com .
^ Miller, Laura (August 18, 2008).
"The family says goodbye" .
^
"The Wilkinses of Reading: Where Are They Now?" . The Independent . October 23, 2011.
^
"The Cruise" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^
"BBC One - The Cruise, Let the Dream Begin" . BBC .
^
"BBC One - The Cruise" . BBC .
^
"Jane McDonald | Biography & History" . AllMusic .
^
"Jane McDonald | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company" . www.officialcharts.com .
^
"New series of Cruising with Jane McDonald to start this Friday | GoCruise & Travel Franchise" . www.joingocruiseandtravel.co.uk .
^
"Biography" .
^ Owens, David (December 23, 2018).
"In search of Mo from Driving School" . WalesOnline .
^
"Driving School" . bbc.com .
^
"MAUREEN REES | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company" .
Official Charts .
^ Barnes, Henry (30 June 2016).
"Weiner – how a film about a political sex scandal suddenly got more intimate | Weiner | The Guardian" . The Guardian .