ABSTRACT

In this article I explore the nature of the expert presenter character, in particular the relationship between that character and the person playing the role, and also between that character and the narrative structure of the episodes they present. I use Robert McKee's separation of ‘character’ and ‘characterization’ to explore how the presenter character can perform the same actions in different series, and yet be played by different presenters. I find that the presenter is a type of hero who achieves wholeness at the end of each episode once they have ‘discovered’ the knowledge. However, I find that there is a unique form of the hero's journey that takes place in some presenter documentaries where the presenter hands the ‘elixir’ of this knowledge to the viewer to take back to their real world, rather than the presenter returning to their world with it. To understand the nature of the presenter character I use my own experience as director of presenter documentaries, interviews with presenters I have worked with, and an interview with one of the producers of the landmark BBC series Simon Schama's A History of Britain (2000–2002).

摘要

在本文中，我探讨了专家演示者角色的性质，特别是该角色与扮演角色的人之间的关系，以及该角色与他们所呈现的剧集的叙事结构之间的关系。我使用罗伯特·麦基（Robert McKee）对“角色”和“表征”的分离来探索演示者角色如何在不同系列中执行相同的动作，但由不同的演示者扮演。我发现主持人是一种英雄，一旦他们“发现”了知识，他们就会在每集结束时实现完整性。然而，我发现在一些主持人纪录片中，有一种独特的英雄旅程形式，主持人将这种知识的“灵丹妙药”交给观众，让他们带回他们的现实世界，而不是主持人带着它回到他们的世界。为了了解主持人角色的性质，我使用了自己作为主持人纪录片导演的经验，采访了与我合作过的主持人，以及采访了具有里程碑意义的 BBC 系列的制作人之一西蒙·沙马的《英国史》（2000-2002）。