Plot: What’s it about?
Like it or not, reality television is here to stay for the next few years and I’m going to tell you why. First (and foremost), it’s cheap to produce. Instead of hiring actors to play parts, reality shows take ordinary people (that’s you and me) and give them a shot on the show. So I suppose it’s safe to say they’re hiring “potential actors” as opposed to real ones. There’s some debate as to which show actually popularized the reality show boom, “The Real World” or “Survivor”. I’d have to say that “Survivor” really made reality TV what it is today as opposed to “The Real World” (which, in it’s fifteenth + season) is still going strong, albeit on MTV. Out of all the reality shows out there, and there’s several that never made it to your TV, there are now a few thousand who could truly call themselves a “reality TV star”. But the question must be asked as to how many have actually turned their stint on “Survivor”, “Big Brother”, “The Bachelor”, etc. into an actual career? Not many, I’m guessing. Most go back to what they were doing before, but they’re more easily recognized in public now. It’s this inner circle of reality stars that seem to be getting confused with actual stars that bugs me and “Reality Unleashed” sheds a bit of light on some of these issues…
There’s not a lot of plot to “Reality Unleashed”, like many a reality show. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid fan of “The Apprentice”, “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race”, but the plot of those shows is simple: to win (or in the case of “The Apprentice” to get hired by the Donald). A web site called The Fishbowl has been established to sort of house reality stars. You can go there for the latest news, updates, etc. on whoever you’re looking for. They got together fourteen of “our favorite reality stars” for one night. Ok, well that “one night” was just fourteen people, some who I recognized and some who I didn’t, getting drunk in a bar bragging how much their lives had changed since they made it on “The Real World”, “Survivor”, “Big Brother” or “Temptation Island”. Some seem to have a pretty down to earth view on the whole thing, while others have had managers and fired them for whatever reason. The truth be told, no pun intended, “Reality Unleashed” doesn’t shed a whole lot of light on the reality TV craze. What is does try to do is show that these are everyday, average people like the rest of us, the only difference is that their applications got selected and they made the show whereas the rest of us didn’t (and I’ve personally applied to “Survivor” and plan to apply for “Big Brother”). I think most of these people will have reality hit them when they find out that they’re not really much more marketable than they were five years ago. And if they can snowball their supposed fame into a career, more power to ’em.
Video: How does it look?
“Reality Unleashed” is shown in a full-frame aspect ratio, which makes sense as it’s just footage shot by a camera at a bar. This is a few notches up from a home camera, mind you, so the quality is about on par with, well…a reality show. I have to admit that I really wasn’t looking for “edge enhancement” or “artifacting”, but I did notice that everything seemed consistent throughout. If the picture was dark, it was due to the lighting. Quite frankly, this looks just above average but I doubt that anyone will be too terribly torn up about how this looks.
Audio: How does it sound?
The sound is a Dolby Surround mix which, like the video, is just about adequate. Consider that this is being filmed in a bar and there are dozens of other people there all drinking and talking (albeit about themselves), so there is a bit of background noise that’s pretty lifelike. I didn’t seem to have too much trouble understanding what was being said, so in that sense it’s good. This might as well be a mono mix, though, as I can’t remember too much noise coming out of any other speaker than the center one. In any case, viewers should be satisfied with the way this sounds.
Supplements: What are the extras?
“Reality Unleashed” contains some extras, though it’s mainly just a bevvy of featurettes. There are really two that I found interesting, first is “When Editors Go Wild” which shows a conversation between two of the reality stars as it took place. We see an edited version in the actual piece itself and it’s amazing how they can take words out of context to illustrate a point. This is proof that in reality shows, the editors have the control over how you appear. Next was the “Tips for Getting on a Reality Show” which I had high hopes for. And as much as I expected to hear “Be yourself” like everyone else says, the advice might actually work. They say to take three things about yourself that embody you and to play out those to an extreme. After all, they’re casting you as a “character” and if you blend in, you won’t make the cut. Simple enough. A commentary and some additional clips are shown as well.
