Isn’t it weird and disconcerting having cameras pointed at you all the time? That’s always in the back of my mind whenever I’m watching Survivor, especially since we occasionally get behind the scenes shots from the show where you can actually see a cameraman. Well, as part of the beloved reality show’s Emmy campaign, longtime cinematographer Scott Duncan and legend of the game Aubry Bracco decided to tackle my biggest question head on.
The two recently sat for an interview with Gold Derby to promote the show since it was nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition Program thanks in part to its recent landmark Survivor 50 season. During the chat, Aubry admitted that for the first couple of days, you really feel the cameras as a contestant. You look for them and notice them everywhere, but as time goes on, they fade into the background “like that Homer Simpson meme.”
The first day, you're gonna notice them — before the game starts. I will say, this guy comes packing with some new camera and I'm always like, ‘Where did that come from, or what's this bubble thing that goes in the water?’ But very quickly, the camera crews aren't there anymore. You don't even see them. It's almost like that Homer Simpson meme where he goes into the bush and he's gone.
Some of that disappearing act is because players get used to the cameras, but some of it is also due to how good Duncan and his team have gotten at moving around Fiji and blending into the background. Tribal Council is apparently set up in such a way that the crew can film from a ton of different angles with cameras built into the set without being visible, and during moments where players are moving around the island, the team has developed methods of tracking them without literally running after them.
Here’s how Duncan summed it up…
From the early seasons until now, our camera operators and documentarians are literally some of the best in the world at disappearing… Tribal is a set, but we try to make it feel real without any cameras.
So, long story short, it’s a combination. There are times in which, as a player, the cameras and camera operators are clearly visible, but at some point, your focus is on the game. You’re there trying to win a million dollars and forming relationships with real people. Your attention and mental presence is on what’s happening, not the cameras recording you. In addition, there are other times in which the cameras are a lot less noticeable, and it sounds like as Survivor has gone on, there have been more and more of those moments, especially since they're now doing it in the same location every year.
Despite being the landmark reality competition show, Survivor has actually never won an Emmy in the prestigious Outstanding Reality Competition category. It’s picked up trophies for sound mixing, cinematography and hosting, but the big prize has remained elusive, thanks in part to a dominating run from The Amazing Race, which has won the category ten times. More recently, The Traitors has dominated, but with Survivor celebrating its fiftieth season, maybe this’ll be the year where the show finally gets the job done.
Regardless, Survivor will return with an all new season on September 23rd. 51 will launch the so-called Open Era, which will reportedly feature a wider diversity of challenges that will seek to rectify one of the main complaints about the New Era, which featured many seasons that roughly followed the same format. 51 and 52 have already been filmed, and there is speculation we’ll likely get another returnee season after that, which will, of course, feature contestants like Aubry who are already used to the camera situation.
