Welcome to "How do they do that?" ... a new column that investigates and reveals the secrets of TV shows.
Exposed today: the secret behind reality TV monologues. I've often wondered about the details of how shows capture the monologues from contestants, particularly when they happen in rapidly paced competition shows.
They'll often be madly competing in something and then cut to them talking about the experience as if they've paused in the challenge or task to give an update. They're usually very emotional too, as if it really is in the moment of things happening.
It happens on MasterChef all the time - the contestants speak about their challenges as if they've stopped cooking to give an update of what they're feeling and facing. You know they can't have stopped the challenge though so how are these compiled?
I've investigated and got the lowdown from Season 2 MasterChef SA winner Kamini Pather. Turns out contestants are interviewed and filmed both before and after a challenge and they have to speak as if they're in the moment. So they get their challenge, give their thoughts and feelings and then they re-live it step-by-step afterwards, speaking in the present tense.
What struck me most about the set-up is that you really need to have a sense of being able to act. Speaking about something in the present tense when it's already happened is acting.
It confirmed one of the reasons I lurve reality TV so much - it's that trippy balance between the real and the acted. That line where the two are so close they become one and it becomes difficult to know which is which.