Exploring this year’s Human Nature theme, we ask thought leaders about their vision of the future. What does human nature mean both personally and professionally? In the third episode of our Human Nature Forecast series Karin de Groot tells us what ‘human nature’ means in her work as producer at IDTV, an independent production company that makes television programs, films, events and documentaries. Before she used to work as producer for EndeMol and as program manager for Net5.
Boundaries of truth
“Production manipulates the truth in a friendly way”, Karin says. “We don’t portray people differently than they are, but we do give directions to the story line. The production team has a big influence for example on when and where the filming is taking place, what budget is available and which obstacles the candidates have to take in a game. The challenges in television games can create friends or enemies.” The editing process might be the biggest manipulation moment. “When all the material is shot, we start again at the beginning and create a story. This is how production can make heroes out of people. The extremes you see with the ‘scripted reality’ programs in the US, in my opinion, have not yet reached The Netherlands.”
Human mistakes
“What often goes wrong within production work is that the makers haven’t asked the question: why are we doing this? Why do we choose a park as background? Why do we ask candidates these specific questions? This needs to be clear for the viewers”, Karin says. Time pressure is another challenge. “Working for television means working with a very tight schedule. It’s very important to value the work of the creative team, as they have to reach a high level of quality in a short period of time. Although it is good to make mistakes once in a while, it’s in our human nature to cover up for our mistakes as much as possible.”
Human future of television and film
Gathering together with the whole family in front of the television, like in the past, is not the case anymore nowadays. “While watching television we’re playing games on our phone or checking email. Our attention span becomes shorter and viewers need more stimuli than before. On the other hand, partly due to financial cuts, we can observe the trend of slow television. Programs lasting over an hour are less noisy than they used to be and clearly fulfill a need, since they score high viewing ratings.”
Karin says that we have a need for heroes. “Programs with celebrities used to be very popular, but now we see shows looking for normal people with a fascinating story. What you often see is how normal people on television become heroes.” Talent shows are here to stay, Karin thinks, whether it is a contest for singing, dancing or cooking. “There is also a great need for drama on television. And lastly, we can see a trend of how productions show social responsibility by creating informative programs in an entertaining way, for example about obesity or homosexuality.”
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