Survival Show Alone, We are in Trouble

Those are 100% fake but not in the way you think. They are given freedom to do what they want but the show will step in and "suggest" (tell them) to do a or b. Its all for entertainment reasons or at least thats the idea. They make common mistakes that majority of people wouldnt make so the viewer can get that "satisfying" feeling that they know better and could have done better this then complels you to want to watch more. Is the next guy also gonna make the same mistakes? Is he better or worse?
Its about viewer retention and getting you to watch the next episode.
Cliffhangers are the baseline for pretty much all tv shows like alone and that is a great example of ways to retain viewers. We hate unfinished things and fear the unknown (for good reasons) so they use that instinctual reaponse to their advantage.

a reply to: StoutBroux

originally posted by: eManym
Its fake. The survivors are more than likely paid actors. The prize, if there really is one, is awarded to the survivor that roughs it the longest.

Every reality show I've worked on is fake.

I worked on this one back in 07 and it set the tone for all to follow. We had a crew of 30 on set union members to make this POS. Not to mention all the mothers that were there. We set up an AC equipped large tent to give them and their brats a place to get out of the NM desert sun and to keep them out of the way.



They must have a crew of at least 50 on set for "Alone" plus all the office personnel and vendors supplying all the real food, medics, drone ops, Union transpo people, etc. The production value of "Alone" is fantastic.

The purpose of movie majic is to make fantasy look real.

Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

I watch it to see the contestants do some ingenious things to survive. I’ve learned a ton from the show about hunting, survival and bushcrafting.

I’ll say it again, the show isn’t fake (even though 99% of reality tv is).

If people actually watched it, they would see these people starve and lose massive amounts of weight in a very short time. It’s real.

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

Brain rot television I call it stare at a screen in the corner of your box then go into a smaller box and sleep for 8 hours ,get up leave your box and go work in a box , then jump in a box and go home to the box and watch the box ,rinse and repeat .

We have a thousand channels of nothing now compared to 3 when I was young

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

People watch it for background noise while studying or doing a hobby or to help them wind down and sleep with the tv on sleep mode. Kinda like having background sleep sounds.

A silent house is kinda distracting sometimes.

originally posted by: 38181

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

People watch it for background noise while studying or doing a hobby or to help them wind down and sleep with the tv on sleep mode. Kinda like having background sleep sounds.

A silent house is kinda distracting sometimes.

Get a high velocity floor fan .
Works wonders for those with sleep problems and tinnitus .

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

You actually learn some things. Even if it is what not to do.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Gothmog
Why do folks even watch that kinda crap ?
(Don't take that as being rude , my opinion only)
I cannot for the life of me determine a valid reason .
Please help me to understand .

You actually learn some things. Even if it is what not to do.

Exactly! Like when you’re watching them cut with a knife towards themselves. It’s like watching a slow moving train wreck. Multiple people had to tap out due to wounds sustained from that stupidity. And that was just the most simplistic of mistakes. The show really is eye-opening.

I've just got to weigh in on this one! I watch the show, but it's getting pretty tiring now. The real reason I watch it now is...I'd like to figure out how to cheat (because I just hate reality TV shows in general)! LOL! So, why not?

Real or fake? - It's really kind of both. There is a survival element to the show, and the contestants are roughing it. But, as Olaru points out, there is also a very carefully orchestrated and production-heavy element which creates all sorts of illusions. Additionally, if you research the rules, and watch (carefully) the pre-launch episodes before each season, you can see there are also a LOT of rules which have nothing to do with survival and everything to do with making a reality TV show. For example, there is a very heavy emphasis for all contestants to get multiple camera angles for everything they do. This takes tremendous time away from actual survival activities. Just the batteries for the cameras alone is something you don't see but is going on behind the scenes (i.e. no way can they have enough batteries for the cameras to last for months, so there are supply runs going to contestants just for that. This also allows the producers to make sure the contestants really are filming everything. If the contestants aren't filming as their agreement (contract) says they must, then the contestant will get DQ'd on a med-check. And, the med-checks are done far more frequently than the ones they do show on air.

More rules - Where the show really falls apart is when a contestant gets a shot on some protected species, but then can't take the shot. If this were a real survival show, then all bets should be off regarding what you can take (kill) as food. In the earlier seasons this wasn't an issue, but now most of the shows are filmed in Canada, so...more and more rules start showing up.

Safety and content - I've timed the show on several occasions. There's really only about 15 minutes of true survival contents on a 90 minute segment. The rest of the 'show' time is spent on baiting viewers with scary music, flashbacks, mashups and innuendo. Practically every season they've filmed in Canada has made a huge issue about bears, practically every commercial break shows bears, yet not one contestant has had a (real) run in with a bear. The show makes a big deal about bear tracks and scat. I've spent a significant amount of time camping, hunting and fishing in AK, and bears are a frequent headache. Rarely would more than a day go by without having some kind of a bear encounter. Did we get eaten or attacked? No, but that was because you always have to be thinking about the bears and what a PITA they can be. They can, and WILL, get into anything and everything! And, there are definitely bears where they filmed the current season (lots of 'em!). Point being...if the contestants on Alone were really as 'alone' as the show makes it seem, they'd be bear-dinner in a matter of days, but they're not. Why? Well, the producers are more than likely scaring the bears off with helos or aircraft on a daily basis. This also explains the almost complete lack of wildlife to hunt (so they can only catch fish). The producers are scaring off the bears, but by doing so they're also scaring off everything else. Haven't you noticed the almost tunnel vision like focus on fishing on the show? I think only one or two contestants have gotten any big game, and even that was probably staged to keep viewers invested. Otherwise it's fishing, eating berries, fishing and more fishing.

Location - Ever notice how contestants hug the shore? They rarely ever set up camp more than a couple hundred yards from where they get dropped off. Why? Because it's easier for the show's producers to gain access to them near the shore. Every time someone taps out they're like 12 feet away from where the boat comes to pick them up. They create the illusion that the reason they stay so close to shore is because of water, but there's plenty of water inland from where they are. Plus, the show makes a big deal out of someone hiking even a mile. A true survivalist would hike tens of miles, several times a week, but not on Alone; they just huddle by their drop off point while they waste away. All just more clues to the illusions created by the production.

Emotional breakdowns - I can't stand this element of the program! They must encourage the contestants to get all emotional (maybe a bonus or something). Why? Because the average viewer loves this kind of stuff. It's what makes reality TV. Real survivalists wouldn't give two F's about all this touchy-feely sniveling BS, but it takes up about 50% of every episode (i.e. miss my family, talk about my wife, kids, husband (sob, sob, sniff, sniff)). Drama. It might as well be ...Housewives of Central Canada.

Candidates / Selection - Lastly, here's the proof that things are not what they seem on Alone. This season they had an Eskimo guy from AK, Lee Ray DeWilde. This dude lived his entire life off the grid. He was a slam dunk to win it, but then just decided to tap out for no apparent reason. (???) But then there's this dude Wyatt, a Canadian from Ontario. He's like watching a bad episode of the 'hosers' Bob & Doug McKenzie. In real life, he probably wouldn't last 3-4 days without a 12 pack of Moosehead and some poutine, and yet he's practically got fish paying him to catch them. And there's several other examples of questionable contestants this season too. Take the beach surfer dude from HI; he gets all sentimental about the animals and taps out. Really? How did he not get screened out? So, there's a whole bunch of non-starters (fillers) who get picked for no other reason than to fill up air time.

I could go on (probably for hours), but you get the idea.

Is it real? Heh, sort of, but not really.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
For example, there is a very heavy emphasis for all contestants to get multiple camera angles for everything they do. This takes tremendous time away from actual survival activities. Just the batteries for the cameras alone is something you don't see but is going on behind the scenes (i.e. no way can they have enough batteries for the cameras to last for months, so there are supply runs going to contestants just for that.

Speaking with one of the earlier winners this was a question I asked.

We get to see the edited cuts. The reality is the contestants have to set up their own equipment, film for a bit then move and set it all back up again (rinse and repeat) before they can get down to the actual survival stuff. fishing, fuel gathering. shelter building, trapping, or whatever. Every week they get a health check and the previous week's recordings are removed and batteries replaced etc.

When they get lethargic due to lack of nutrients they still have a show to make. This alone can seriously demoralizing effect on them. Living alone for 70-90 days can be a serious challenge, try doing it whilst you have filming tasks in between.

Some are not the survivalists they portray themselves to be. The producers know this, These contestants are evaluated by psychologists. Some are selected. Selected to fail early...or the show could go on for years. lol.

You might think 500k would be a great motivator but the reality is the mind is a powerful beast that can see you quit for what most of us would think were the most mundane reasons. ie, Boredom, Family, Fear of being alone in the dark. Fear of being alone in the dark with predators etc.

A classic example of the mind playing tricks was the guy who nearly starved himself to death while he stashed away food for later. He had something like 50 smoked fish hanging up when he got pulled with kidney problems caused by malnutrition. This phenomenon was seen in victims of concentration camps and ghettos during WW2. This guy looked like a camp survivor when they pulled him he had lost so much weight. Skin and bone.

What I have also noticed in these types of shows is most military guys can't hack it for a number of reasons. 1, They are used to working as a team. 2 they are used to having the best equipment money can buy and 3 they don't have a firearm to cuddle up to when the sun goes down, 4 some are just full of it.

I saw the show where one Military guy pressed the big red button not even 24 into the game. He got scared of the dark and the unknown in the dark. once again, he was probably picked for this reason.

I have no doubt there will be security teams patrolling close by just in case a predator decides one of the contestants is looking mighty appetizing but for the most part they are...Alone.

It is what it is, a show. The participants are insured. And no insurance company would insure them if there really could happen something really bad. There is an invisible back-up team of physicians and psychologists and what else around that can help in seconds.

Of course the participants have to act stupid to entertain the sofa and keyboard warriors, the backyard survival experts, to make them feel sublime so they continue watching and maybe even pay to watch that scripted and all around 100% secured BS. Even the last idiot has to feel sublime when watching such shows otherwise they would change the channel and watch something else.

And if you think that shows (or better the participants of such shows) like Alone are bad and if you really want to laugh then check out 7 vs Wild on Youtube, a german "survival" show.. There you have people running around who do exactly nothing "to not harm the nature", no shelter, no fire, nothing. Or injure themselves after not even 3 minutes and have to leave again. The participants are mostly Youtube "survivalists" or "bushcrafter" but in that show you see most of them failing miserably with the most essential tasks like starting a fire, building a shelter, getting water and food, keeping themselves dry and warm and whatever else. It´s so awful to watch such shows and "survival experts" that it sometimes even hurts. But i bet exactly that is wanted to entertain the mainstream crowd that watches such shows.

Naked and afraid runs on fridays on german tv and in the beginning i watched it a few times. But i had to stop watching that show because i can´t understand the participants (if it would be not all only scripted BS and has exactly to be like it is). Why the hell isn´t the first thing they do to craft some simple shoes (like bush flip-flops) and some simple clothes (like a bast skirt) to protect themselves from getting injured, burned by the sun and/or eaten by insects. No, they stay nude and hurt their feet, burn their skin and get eaten by insects all the time. I am pretty sure the simple reason is that naked people sell better than people in clothes and they have to stay nude for the mainstream audience that otherwise wouldn´t even watch that show.

I rather watch every Les Stroud Survivorman episode and everything with Ed Stafford for the thousandth time from my hdd than to waste my time with shows like Alone, Naked and Afraid , 7 vs Wild and such crap. Because the shows of Stroud and Stafford were made for people who really are interested in the subject and not to attract youtube "survivalists" and their mainstream fan base only to make a lot of money with scripted and to 100% secured BS. They are still TV shows but your brain doesn´t start to hurt when you watch them like when you watch Bear Grills for example. And they even had big success among the mainstream crowd without being stupid as hell.

Its not a fake show. And it’s great. Some people are great. Others not so good.

The contestants get better as the seasons go on. First season winner i think ends up staying warm in a small small crawl cave. Another contestant season 3 i think is much more civilised and has a jug used to pour water and wash his hands. Has a more camping setup. Others stick to a tent setup and make mouse traps that catch didly squat.

Others lose their flint stone in the first or second day. Others call for rescue because their terrified of black bears around their tent first night, etc

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Candidates / Selection - Lastly, here's the proof that things are not what they seem on Alone. This season they had an Eskimo guy from AK, Lee Ray DeWilde. This dude lived his entire life off the grid. He was a slam dunk to win it, but then just decided to tap out for no apparent reason. (???) But then there's this dude Wyatt, a Canadian from Ontario. He's like watching a bad episode of the 'hosers' Bob & Doug McKenzie. In real life, he probably wouldn't last 3-4 days without a 12 pack of Moosehead and some poutine, and yet he's practically got fish paying him to catch them. And there's several other examples of questionable contestants this season too. Take the beach surfer dude from HI; he gets all sentimental about the animals and taps out. Really? How did he not get screened out? So, there's a whole bunch of non-starters (fillers) who get picked for no other reason than to fill up air time.

I just lol’d through this entire accurate description you gave. Did the Eskimo dude tap out on episode 3 because for some really odd reason that is the only episode that isn’t available to us. I wonder if there was some kind of issue or dispute.
Also Wyatt…….Lord have Mercy. He reminds me of a lot of Wisconsinites.

I knew the beach surfer dude wouldn’t last long.

You’re right about the fishing. Also being by that much water there has to be other water creatures that are edible.
I actually looked up what did indigenous people eat in that are and one of the main staples were mollusks.
I know that is one of the thing my mom survived on growing up. I’m not just talking huge mussels, but tiny little creatures/snails etc. You don’t see any of them eating those. I wonder if there is a “rule” of what they could really catch/eat.

What else is there to watch?

And does it really matter? Someone's going to complain about something someone's doing. And who cares if it's scripted? I'll tell you right now, I've lost 50 pounds since November, and I've had some pretty emotional days. Surrounded by creature comforts, no less.

Take the Bear Grylls show for example. People freaked out because he stays in a hotel at night.

So?

The point of that show was to demonstrate how SAS might tackle an obstacle in the field. It was designed from a SERE standpoint.

Compared to Les Stroud, aka Survivorman, where the show was a nature documentary...

Completely different concepts, but because people can't distinguish the underlying concept from the fancy buzzword "survival," they immediately shut down to the ideas contained therein.

If only one idea or concept from any of these shows helps you in a survival situation, it was worth watching.

originally posted by: frugal
I love that show. I am surprised how many quit over emotional separation anxiety. When a million dollars is involved what is 100 days (3 months) of separation? College kids leave parents for 3 month at a time, so do the armed forces. The people spend too much time setting up camera shots, they need to be at work surviving. I would not like the sleeping outside in the dark part…. Or killing animals. But I would do it if necessary. A simple mouse trap would provide protein.

I could probably survive the emotional separation but there's no telling what I'd do once I got hungry enough. 3 months doesn't sound like much as long as you're fed. The show does a pretty good job with the on-screen explanations of effects of not getting the necessary chemicals from food and a lot of the bad decisions these "experts" make is due to lack of one thing or another.

I like the show! It's one of the very few TV programs I watch and it's recorded so I can zip through the emotional breakdowns and the commercials. It ends up being 30 minutes of entertainment.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

Also not to my shock, but maybe to many, women are freaking strong... um possibly stronger then men both mentally and physically (long term)...

They can be. Especially when we talk weight to strength ratios. A 120-pound woman needs a lot less strength to their weight than I do at 270. I can be 3+ times their strength, but they could still double me in strength-to-weight ratios.

the wife and I love the show!

The one perfectly dumb one was the suvival guide filtered all his water through some moss on a tree, eventually started vomiting and hallucinating.

Its a train wreck and Im here for it!

No it's not fake...they even have a make-up department, special effects, casting dept, PAs to do all the dirty work, an art dept., special effex dept. and more producers than you can count.

www.imdb.com...

I'm glad people enjoy it, watch it and find it entertaining; I'm sure a lot of my IATSE bros are glad you like it as well.
I would love to work on a show like that with all the exotic locations, instead of this one that I worked on a few episodes.

www.imdb.com...