here ya go..
The real story behind
'Laguna Beach'
Or perhaps the unreal story: Reality fictionalized
By Lorraine Sanders
We know this is a reality show just by its title, "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," and it's on MTV, which gave us "The Real World." The cameras follow eight students through their senior year of high school in Laguna Beach, Calif.
How much more real can you get?
But watching "Laguna Beach" we see something entirely different, a show far more reminiscent of "Beverly Hills, 90210" than "Real World," something almost unreal.
"Laguna Beach" appears a stylized "Sex in the City" with wealthy, gorgeous teens as cast members and social dramas that play out on the beach instead of in trendy New York bars. It's the stuff of real theater.
There are no bouncy "Cops" camera shots. There are no confessional interviews where one cast member dishes on the others. The cast never speaks directly into the camera. Our central character, Lauren, occasionally narrates.
If anything, "Laguna Beach" has almost a staged air about it. At times the dialogue sounds too totally teenie-bopper not to have been written.
What is going on here?
Good question. It's one for which Tony DiSanto doesn't have a neatly scripted answer. He may still be figuring it out himself.
"I hesitate to even use the term reality TV. It's just not what this is," says DiSanto, sounding laid back and entirely unpretentious, more like a kid from Laguna Beach than a producer of 15 years. DiSanto is an MTV senior vice president and the creator of reality hits "Made," "Boiling Points," "One Bad Trip" and "Room Raiders."
"Laguna Beach" could well be his next. After debuting two months ago, an episode of the show, which airs Tuesday nights at 10:30, ranked No. 18 among viewers 18-34 for all of October, MTV's highest-rated non-"Real World" show.
With "Laguna Beach," DiSanto says the show's creative team wanted to step outside the reality mold.
"We want to approach everything from a whole new creative angle, deliver something that hasn't been done before. It made our jobs a lot more difficult," he says.
With that in mind, DiSanto's creative crew set out to document the various lives of a real high school clique. But their aim was to do so without making it look like a documentary, and they realized that would depend heavily on getting just the right cast.
"For most reality shows, you go around the country and hand-pick people. With this show, the idea was to find a real group of friends," says DiSanto.
That the creators ended up in Laguna Beach, an idyllic setting in Orange County, is hardly surprising. Last year's surprise hit from Fox, "The O.C.," had already fascinated audiences. A show about Orange County's real quote-unquote teens was sure to follow.
And how similar these shows are, at least at first blush. On "Laguna Beach," eight perfectly coiffed, impossibly stylish high school students cruise through their hometown in expensive SUVs. Our occasional narrator, Lauren, a.k.a. "L.C.," and her friend Lo commiserate about tanned heartthrob Stephen, whose on-again, off-again girlfriend Kristen spends most of her time badmouthing L.C. and playing mind games with her male admirers.
Our kids have beach bonfires, get their nails done, head to LA fashion shows and party as only 18-year-olds can when they hit Cabo San Lucas for spring break. All that's lacking of "The O.C." is a tad more teen angst and screwed-up parents acting out for the cameras.
DiSanto downplays the "O.C." connection with a brief dismissal: "You can't really ignore the show or its success."
But there is a huge difference, says DiSanto. "Laguna Beach" is about real people, and therein rests its true art, no matter how much it looks like the dramatic series or predecessors "90210" and "Dawson's Creek."
Casting director Morgan Fahey found the future cast all attending high school in Laguna Beach.
"They all happened to be friends to varying degrees," DiSanto explains, though not exactly the insular crowd the show suggests.
After casting, the show's producers got a surprise from the local school board. A group of parents wanted to keep the show off campus, and they ultimately persuaded the board to ban cameras from school grounds, so there are no classroom scenes of students taking tests or hanging out in the cafeteria. "Laguna Beach" became a show about what high school kids do when they aren't in school, which make it a significant departure.
But the real difference is in how the show is filmed.
Instead of documentary techniques, "Laguna Beach" uses those of feature films. Producers chose not to use handheld cameras, filming the show in wide screen and intentionally using what DiSanto describes as cinematic, over-the-shoulder shots. The editing process also took cues from narrative film.
"Even the pacing of editing is different. It's done in a more narrative vein," DiSanto says.
With its cinematic look and high drama, the show has been criticized by some viewers for not being real enough. Orange County publications have quoted disgruntled Laguna Beach residents saying that the show's portrayal of their town looks nothing like their lives.
They do have a point. Perfect sunsets, a mysterious lack of parental guidance and an unbelievably beautiful cast do make "Laguna Beach" look like pure fantasy.
Yet it's this almost supernatural beauty that gives "Laguna Beach" its strength. Even when the plot falters and strays, the show remains visually hypnotic, like the glossy pages of a high-end fashion magazine.
Besides, whether the show represents the average Laguna Beach lifestyle is not a thing that's particularly tormenting DiSanto. The show is not about reality as its critics understand reality. It's about how the kids perceive their reality.
"Everyone has their own individual experience," he says. "But this is the real lives of that group of kids."
stephen pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaase...
well ol i can say iz that im just here...supporting the laguna beach forever..
just hoping as well that they can give chance and time for people like me whoz been always dying for all the cast.special mention to stephen...
i mean be with the cast n crews....>>laguna beach rocks!
attention to the directorof course!