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Clip description
Ian Stapleton and his latest recruits have arrived at a remote bush setting after hiking into this wilderness. He talks about teaching all these city kids to become more self-reliant, especially the small number of disadvantaged girls who have been included with a larger group of girls from more fortunate families. Their first task after the exhausting hike will be to have a well-earned shower.
Curator’s notes
Compared to later reality show offerings such as Brat Camp (2004-07), the tone of this clip is restrained and formal. Here, both camera and voice-over maintain a polite distance. This was typical of the 'observational’ documentary style in the early 1980s (particularly on the public broadcaster). Absent are the shocking tantrums and tyrannical camp leaders of contemporary reality shows. Also missing is the opportunity for the audience to form – or be thrust into – a close relationship with the teens, leaders or anxious parents back home who, in Brat Camp and shows of its ilk, get the opportunity to talk confidingly to camera. However, the material in this clip is immediately engaging, giving us a sense of the girls responding quite naturally and openly to their experiences in the bush.
