My dear friend H. whom I owe many of my personal interests in film and music, has been spamming me about John Wilson for a week or two. Wilson has a docuseries called How To with John Wilson that I’ll watch soon if I find a legal way, but How To Act On Reality TV was the introduction to the filmmaker for me: it documents a workshop by a media professional who helps people planning to join to Reality TV. He gives tips to the participants about how to introduce themselves better and improve their self-expression, educates them about how the producers and the audience desire to see them on screen, and warns about the pitfalls to avoid acting while being hyper-authentic. Of course, the video itself is a great example of Reality TV. The whole workshop is recorded similarly. In addition, there are some familiar missions for the participants such as trying to get phone numbers from strangers in a park or a sudden singing performance on a supermarket aisle. On the other hand, the camera —and the editor— does not avoid including the scenes about the participants yawning. All in all, we need boredom too.
He manages to achieve exactly the sweet spot where authenticity intersects with essayistic intent. As the trainer says, “it’s the improv factor, that I like most… it’s also an opportunity to serialize in a way where documentaries can’t… I guess I’m not patient enough.” I felt that it was the very reason why I, and I think several other people, like YouTube or any other sort of personal content.