Reality TV, How it's Made - Pt. 3 Production

Disclaimer: these posts are written from my experience and are not meant to be authoritative and are written with reality TV in mind. The following processes may vary from one show to another but this is my basic understanding.

I can't tell you exactly what will happen during production because each show is different. I would like to list a few things to note regarding production

1. You will have to re-shoot "spontanious" events. For instance, on Shot of Love with Teila Tequila, the hopefuls were all instructed to cheer when Teila showed up. They did several takes before they were happy with it. Some shows such as Survivor purportedly re-shoot from the sky, elements of challenges that weren't captured the first time. (I can't verify this nor would I for fear of losing my job).
   
2. Producers may stick an earpiece in the participant's ear and tell them what to say and do during certain parts of the show.
3. During OTFs (On The Flys)/Confessionals producers will ask questions to shape story elements. For instance they will say "Tell me about when Joe was upset that Sarah was flirting with Andy." Sometimes the questions are about stuff that never happened, which participants usually answer as if it happened.
   
4. OTFs/Confessionals may take place a month or two after the actual event. The participant has to act like it happened that day.
   
5. Cameras are literally in your face, most of the time only a couple feet away. There is an art to having 3 or more cameras running simultaniously without seeing the other operators in their shots.
6. Producers will purposely keep comforts (food, friends, family, etc) from show participants to keep them on edge and emotional.

There are probably other things I can add and may at some point, but these are the biggest that stick out in my mind. If you ever saw the terrible movie, The Condemned, with Steve Austin, it actually gives you a pretty realistic look into reality tv. Producers in general don't care about the show participants, it's all about making "good" TV. Producers will also do whatever they can that is legal to shape the story to what they planned it to be from the begining.

Read Pt.4 where I'll cover a little about post production.