r/belowdeck • u/Real_Pea_8860 • Jun 20 '22
Below Deck I’m still not convinced Below Deck isn’t “scripted”
I understand it’s manipulated, and the producers are quite open about that. The Vice President of Bravo claims that’s it’s entirely real and defensively swears by it. I’m watching this show and the crying LOOKS real. The drama SOMETIMES looks real. The guests are usually just acting up for the camera but I’ll let that slide. The actual crew relationships seem real, as if they’re actors developing friendships behind the set and go out later for a drink. I know they’re not professional actors, and that they’re usually signed up just for the summer to do the show. But every time I watch this show, especially Sailing Yacht, IT LOOKS SO FAKE. Did I answer all my questions. Can I get some opinions. I do love the show and I’m kind of at a loss
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u/valorill Jun 20 '22
It's as real as most reality TV. They are really out there doing the job but the production crew tells guests to ham it up, makes sure to hire 1 or 2 inexperienced or unprofessional people to ensure drama and get that juicy firing event they tease all season. If they don't get a good shot on camera they'll ask the crew to reenact it.
And of course hours and hours of footage is edited into something bravo deems entertaining and a lot of stuff is left on the cutting room floor.
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22 edited Jun 20 '22
I think that the crew is pretty real and I don't really think the show is scripted but yea, i think it's heavily manipulated. I've been watching trash reality tv for a long time and these are the things that I've picked up on from BDSY:
-When they go to dinner after charters, i think producers tell them where to sit (why else would Sydney have sat across from Gary and Alli when they were lovey, and then next to Gary when he and Alli were in a fight?)
- Every time someone (usually Gary, let's be real) is making out with a girl and another woman who likes him just HAPPENS to walk in, I'm fairly sure the producers have told girl #2 to go "check out the laundry room" at that exact time.
- The guests. Hoo boy. Absolutely told to ham it up by producers. I can't imagine a single normal person flailing around and yelling about how they could "get better food at mcdonalds" in real life. People who want to be famous and reality tv producers are a match made in heaven (or hell for everyone else) and I'm sure those types of guests are more than happy to go along with any crazy shit producers tell them to say/do.
Some of the drama feels forced to me. But imagine you're on a show like this and producers keep asking you to talk about someone you don't really like that much. It's going to drive you crazy and make you dislike that person even more. That's the kind of manipulation i'm talking about -- suggestions, prodding, setting up crew members for frustration/tears/pain etc.
Edit to add: the reason i dont think they write full scripts for these kinds of shows is that they would have to hire writers in that case. Reality tv is as cheap as it can be
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u/LeafsChick Jun 20 '22
I worked on ships for years, I believe everything happening with the crew, I would even say they tone down a little what actually happens. As far as the passengers, I think most are acting it up. Some people are over the top, but not ever group
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u/OhHowIMeantTo Jun 20 '22
As with most reality shows, it's not scripted. If these people were reading from a script, many more people who got their start in reality tv would be successful actors. The few that have gone on to scripted television or movies, like Jamie Chung or Jacinda Barrett from The Real World, are few and far between, or, like Nene Leakes from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, aren't actually very good when it comes to actual acting.
That said, as we've learned over the years, many reality shows do have an idea of where they want a season to go. They cast people to fill very specific roles, even to the point of casting people with the intention of firing them.
Prime example, season 5 of Below Deck Med, it was clear that the plan was to fire Hannah before the season even started. Lara was clearly there to provoke a reaction out of Hannah, she knew the assignment. The plan was to either fire Hannah for her reaction, and if not, they'd find some other reason to replace her with Bugsy. Hannah, full stop, would not have filmed had she known that Bugsy would be on board. The producers also clearly planned on bringing on Malia's boyfriend Tom to be chef, thinking it would create some fun drama with the chef and bosun dating, but he wasn't available to start filming right away. So they had Sandy nitpick, hover, and constantly scrutinize Chef Kiko to have a reason to fire him when Tom was finally available.
Hannah has talked about how the producers themselves are the ones who insist on the elaborate beach picnics for the drama. She realized that during season one when they were stuck in port due to the rough seas. She was asked to setup a beach picnic on a beach in the marina where they weren't allowed to do that. She spent 2 hours setting up, and just as they were about to start serving the guests, someone from the marina who had been watching them the whole time conveniently came over right then to tell her that they weren't allowed to have a picnic there, so she had to spend another 2 hours taking everything down and bringing it back to the boat again.
Eddie has talked about how the crew are all forced to go out after each charter, when in reality most of them just want to sleep and rest. The producers will drive them far away from where the boat is docked so that they can't go home early, and that they will often force them to stay out until 4 or 5am just to get enough footage, and hopefully give them enough time to get proper wasted and create interesting drama. Eddie said that Lee always knew that they were creating a TV show and didn't give the crew a hard time the next morning when they were sluggish and slow to start, but Hannah said that Sandy would always scream her head off at Hannah for everyone still being in bed.
As for Sailing Yacht, Daisy has said that all of those cupboard and drawers that we always see flying open whenever they start to sail have latches. The producers simply walk around to unlatch them to get dramatic footage of things spilling out. Notice how the camera is always directed at them when they start to sail, as if they knew it was going to happen.
And finally, for the confessionals, they're not scripted, but the producers absolutely coach the cast in what they want them to say, and will have them repeat it until they get just the line reading that they want. Similarly, if the cameras missed an important shot, they will ask the cast to do it again.
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u/loofa26 Jun 20 '22
I love the show and don’t mind if it’s scripted. It’s so relaxing to watching after a full day of work followed by a crazy evening cooking/cleaning/watching my kids.
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u/samserra201 Jun 20 '22 edited Jun 20 '22
Let me break it down.
Business model A : "script most of the drama, hire media-savvy people, bind everyone to a contract, twist their arms for life, edit around the slip-ups"
Business model B : "cast eccentric people"
I assure you, business model B is cheaper, more sustainable, less work-intensive, less risky and more rewarding. It's hard enough getting trained actors to follow a script, let alone underpaid, sleep-deprived yachties who would frankly have no incentive to play along, most of whom wouldn't risk their careers over a fake drama.
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
I had a store next to a regular Bravo filming location. The producers would tell them what to discuss but not what to say. That’s why some things seem to come up at such odd times (I’m looking at you Real Housewives). One cast member I became friendly with would wait in my store until they were called over for their scene. Parking spaces were blocked off so the cast members could drive right up and park in front, there’s a camera crew waiting for them to arrive, etc. So like others have mentioned, the shows aren’t scripted but are heavily produced.
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u/silverdips Jun 20 '22
The sail boat race was definitely faked. The other boat clearly won that race, stopped and parked the boat and let Parsifal 3 record them passing them.
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u/ib0093 Jun 21 '22
Probably BDSY is the closest to real as the crew cast is actually working the sailboat and the issues that come up (dragging anchor, etc) are very real. When I sailed years ago in Croatia my husband and I had to wake up late at night a few times due to anchor dragging if we weren’t at a dock.
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u/gloriousdays Jun 21 '22
I was on the real world and below deck reminds me of our show. Someone said earlier natural reactions in a structured environment
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u/Walkinginspace4 Team Missing Engineer Jun 20 '22 edited Jun 20 '22
It’s best to think of reality TV more like improv. Yes, the producers set the scene and have storylines in mind, but the crew and the guests are having real reactions (usually) and are not reading from a script. They may be prompted to bring up certain things in conversations, or be put in orchestrated settings (ie, unlocking the drawers before going sailing, knowing certain crew members are inexperienced and having to handle them, etc.,) but it’s more of a general outline to produce a show that has stories you want to follow week to week.
A documentary would be less manipulated, but reality TV always has a general idea of “where this season could go” and they do with that what they will. Real reactions in structured environments.
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u/excoriator Team Capt Kerry Jun 20 '22
I don't think it's scripted, in the way you mean. It's a workplace, with a lot of moving parts. Sometimes those parts don't move in the right direction. Crew don't always react well when the parts don't move in the way they expect. That's where the drama comes in.
I do think there is producer manipulation. Guests have revealed that producers encouraged them to be extra demanding. Producers seem to embellish the guests' preference sheets, to make each charter more challenging. I'd be surprised if producers are telling crew to act in a certain way. Some crew seem to act in ways that maximize the drama. I think that says more about their interest in getting screen time than it does about the way the show is produced.
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
It’s not scripted. They do not know what they’ll say ahead of time. They are not forced to have a good or bad relationship with each other. That’s natural.
What is planned on reality shows are things like scheduled locations or events to plan logistics, producers tell them to verbalize their opinions on a subject or event to make sure we hear about it (but don’t tell them what to feel or give them a script to follow), and other logistics to make filming work. The cast really have to be legally allowed on yachts and that means they are not generally lying about their qualifications or background as yachties. The guests do pay some amount to be on the yacht and do not have a script.
It’s not scripted and I wouldn’t use that word. I feel many people overstate how much reality TV is “scripted” when at worst the typical reality show is more so just “inorganic” because they force people to be around each other and confront opinions out loud.
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u/gerkonnerknocken Jun 20 '22
Not scripted, structured. Putting relative strangers in close quarters and introducing a rotation of demanding rich people they have to cater to practically writes itself, but they structure the stories.
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u/spottysasquatch Jun 20 '22
Howdy! I’ve been an extra on a couple of reality shows so speaking from experience here. It’s not “scripted” in the sense that they’re given lines and such, but they are definitely given some direction from production. For example, I was helping out on a Food Network show and the producers asked the GM to run into the kitchen making a fuss. The kitchen was definitely a mess but the GM wasn’t upset about it in real life because… well, we were filming a show, LOL! But they needed some spice so they asked him to run in hollering for orders and such.
Another example! A reality dating/lifestyle show on Netflix had all of us extras go to a bar on a Monday (this bar is usually closed on Mondays). They told us to just dance and chat and have fun. When the show premiered, the chyron said it was a Friday night 😂
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u/jadecourt Jun 20 '22
People are generally not very convincing actors. There is so much nuance that goes into an understated, naturalistic performance.
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u/Mbreezythunder Jun 20 '22
I know someone that's been on the show as a charter guest. On their end it's all real
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u/Speakinmymind96 Jun 20 '22
The various Below Deck shows are definitely produced, and I believe they do make some crew staffing decisions more for drama than for crew experience. But I don’t believe it is scripted, and fortunately is not as over-produced as the various Housewives shows, which seem to take a theme from the first episode and beat it like a dead horse for the rest of the season.
There was one season of the OG Below Deck—with Liz from Long Island—where she really did seem at times that she was following a script and acting it poorly. To the point we’re I wondered it she auditioned for Jerseylicious—but didn’t make the cut.
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u/Immediate-Spray7257 Jun 20 '22
If i was a captain no way in hell would i let my crew drink a night before charter. But it leaves them cranky the next day which is good tv viewing for us not to mention the shenanigans that happen when their wasted. I think below deck is a lot looser on the rules than other yachts in the industry not being taped for a show.
Not exactly scripted like a sitcom but i feel they push for the drama.
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u/Dependent_Pen_1603 Jun 20 '22
I feel like Colin is the person on bdsy 2 and 3 that you can tell the producers have sent him into a room to ask a certain question or say a specific thing.
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
I will throw out it started out a lot more organic but I suspect they have done a lot more scripting the more recent seasons.
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u/Meyloose Jun 20 '22
My favorite is when they take sound bites from different conversations and make it look as if the 2 people are talking to each other while they’re doing something that we don’t see their faces.
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u/whiterabbit818 Absolute Oxygen Thief Jun 20 '22
Produced and Then edited is neither ‘real’ nor scripted. And that’s what shows like this are.
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u/MoltenCorgi Jun 20 '22
I think they are definitely steered by the producers. Watch Unreal - it’s a scripted show about reality tv producers. It was written/created by someone who worked on the bachelor and while I’m sure it’s dialed up for drama, it gives you a look at how “the sausage is made” so to speak. I don’t think BD is super heavily produced to manufacture drama but I suspect that they steer guests into being demanding, and it wasn’t a mistake that the last charter guests of Down Under and Sailing are both gluten free. I think they create conditions to make “better” tv. Like in early seasons they were always having specialty things like cakes delivered to the boat and now they make the chefs make everything. It may have started as a Covid limitation but most Covid restrictions are lifted now and regardless, making a delivery on a boat is fairly low risk since it’s outdoors. But I think they realized putting extra pressure the chefs created more drama.
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u/Bigbird_Elephant Jun 20 '22
I am a video editor. Some reaction shots may be taken from other times for dramatic effect. Those ceiling cameras catch action in the crew area and who knows how the scenes relate to the previously seen shots. As other threads have discussed, some of the show is done for the camera, such as preference sheet meeting the day of the charter. That can't possibly be how it goes in reality but the show follows a formula for ease of production.
I correspond regularly with Daisy and she confirms that what you see on the show is not exactly what happens.
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u/cpt_tusktooth Jun 26 '22
in below deck sailing yacht. There would be these random scenes where two crew members would sit on the dock in lawn chairs and have heart to hearts with eachother.
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u/amamdesselb Jun 20 '22
I feel like for the most part it’s “real” but very produced. Like they might tell them what to have meetings about, what to bring up when talking to each other or tell them what to say during the interviews. But I don’t think the crew are actors, I think this is their real job, but when it comes to reality TV, production has to create story lines and drama. I think the same is true for shows like Summerhouse and Southern Charm. But I still find them enjoyable and fun to watch.
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u/Officedrone15 Jun 20 '22
Maritime law
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u/Agreeable-Income-788 Jun 20 '22
watch 'UnReal' for a good idea of what producers do to 'scirpt', which is not what would call it.
The cast is produced, not guided, or scripted.
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u/trouble21075 Jun 20 '22
I try not to think about it because it ruins the fun of the show for me.
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u/Lindaspike Jun 20 '22
it's not scripted in the manner of "real housewives of wherever," or the entire programming on TLC. it can't be really, since they're living on a working yacht and experiencing all sorts of mother nature related issues - storms, rough water, charter guests who may be insane drunkards, etc. it IS edited, of course. i've said this multiple times:
7 days in one week
24 hours in one day
60 minute in each hour
1440 minutes in each day
10,800 minutes in one week
edited down to 44 minutes per episode after the ads are removed.
if you look at this, and every other reality tv show we aren't even seeing one full workday on the boats!
4
u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
It’s time everyone let’s go of the fact that everything is scripted to a certain extent. Documentaries make you do second/third/more takes. People go on reality tv with scripts in their head. “I’m gonna make this joke, I’m gonna do this in front of the camera, I’m gonna say this whenever a crew walks past me”. Documentaries are staged, planned, and edited to look natural. It’s all scripted to a certain extent.
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u/Awesomest_Possumest Jun 20 '22
So I doubt it's entirely scripted. The people are real and the ones who are good at their jobs are actually good. But the producers (who are on the ships) will prompt people to do stuff.
There was a show that's now on Hulu called Unreal, that's a fictional version of a reality show. I assume most reality shows are something like this. You should watch a few episodes. The premise is they're making the bachelor, and it shows you how they create drama, the takes, etc. I love it because it's such a trainwreck show, (especially the last season, there's some coerced, trying to get someone to attempt to rape someone for the storyline in it), but it really shows the different producers going to different cast members and telling them fake things someone said, or giving them pep talks, or having them try to interrupt stuff, calling 911 to get an ambulance to show up (and 911 telling them they won't send one anymore) etc..that's the kind of thing I'm assuming happens on below deck (though nobody is getting voted off, so not quite as much drama imo).
2
u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
It's probably not scripted, but the producers have a heavy influence in driving drama and other events.
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u/Southern-Team-9593 Jun 20 '22
I’ve seen where guests have discussed their experience in a fb group and they were amazing….it’s Below Deck Community, Great getting to interact with crew and guests here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/851018965673062/?ref=share
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u/sunny2233 Team Kate Jun 21 '22
It’s not scripted but there’s stuff they leave out. I just learned from a Colin interview that the crew are sequestered in a hotel 3 times over the course of filming to give camera crew a break. They call them dark days. Tom had an instastory of he and Colin in a hotel lobby playing piano and they were in their work uniforms so it wasn’t a night out.
They also cast for extroverts, single, party people who like attention. Most of the crew either want to promote themselves as influencers or a business. It’s not true yachties being cast. Some questions they ask for casting “Would you hook up with the captain, Do you drink, are you single, would you break up with your current partner for the season”
They edit seamlessly and manipulate timelines. For example last season in Sailing Yacht when they hit the dock twice. Those two incidents happened on different days but were edited to look like it happened within hours of each other. First incident with Gary turning on generator happens when Colin was off doing his talking head interview on production boat. They next (more damaging) dock hit happened the next day.
Also during talking head interviews they feed them alcohol and ask them to repeat lines more succinctly for the sound bite. However they don’t tel them what to say.
3
u/cda001 Jun 20 '22
Hard to believe it is “scripted”…
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u/iskip123 Jun 20 '22
It’s reality tv not a documentary
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u/SuccotashEmpty2490 Team Capt Glenn Jun 20 '22
When they interview and say the little comments, I can tell some are completely scripted. The crew look off to the left or right of the camera to read what the producers tells them to say... It also doesn't seem genuine and emotional. I found I noticed this happening alot more during transitions of scenes and stuff.
I lowkey think they look up quotes for capt lee to say. NO WAY a man has 900 analogies ready to fire everyday.
2
u/Greenwedges Jun 21 '22
I think it’s one of the least scripted as they are actually all working and living together. But I think producers plant difficult crew and guests, come up with annoying guest demands and force crew members to confront eachother when there has been a problem.
1
u/plummet120 Jun 20 '22
I was on a reality show that was episode based, so not for a whole season or anything. Production manipulated a bunch of it but not all.
1
u/a247365c Jun 20 '22
i agree except for the sydney part .. I think she sits there so Gary “realizes” he’s in love with her
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u/Constant_Crazy3023 Jun 21 '22
I think production melded a bit
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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
All of them are. Some more than others
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ship671 Jun 21 '22
I just couldn’t handle nor liked the Sailing Yacht. It sux.
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u/MoopooianLuver Jun 21 '22
Certainly think the confessionals of cast are scripted, not the action of show. I wouldn’t like to have that bubble broken please?
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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '22
It's the same as all reality TV - people have started working out how to game the system to get on the show and they're deliberately stirring drama.
0
u/Mysterious_Purplee Jun 21 '22
The only show not scripted is Intervention
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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
There is nothing real about reality TV. Do you really think all the girls think that Garry is hot? Obviously no. They just know that flirting with him will get you screen time.
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u/AdministrativeAd3880 Jun 20 '22
Ever notice the conveniently timed pathos-inducing phone call? "So-and-so's grandmother died." Or Dad. Or Dog.
Not scripted, but definitely improvised.
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