History Main / ConfessionCam

In {{Reality Show}}s, a camera which is set up in an isolated location (a small room or, in outdoor environs, a secluded area), where the show's participants appear individually to speak candidly about tactics, motivations, the other players, etc. A common feature of the RealityTVShowMansion. In many cases, ConfessionCam interviews are produced in such a way that they can be spliced into the regular footage at any point with ManipulativeEditing, and may be used several episodes away from when they actually took place. A few very smart competitors (most of them female) have circumvented that by noticeably changing their hairstyles or make-up every day, very effectively limiting how much the footage can be misplaced.

The modern concept, similar in execution to documentary interviews, hearkens back to the granddaddy of television court shows, ''The People's Court'', wherein litigants would pause in the hallway after each case for a brief interview with the court reporter. Later, ''Series/JudgeJudy'' created the precedent (along with many many others) of eliminating the court reporter and having the litigants rant directly to the camera. And the ConfessionCam was born.

Trope name comes from an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' which parodied RealityTV; in this episode, the house which served as location for the reality ShowWithinAShow featured a closet equipped with a camera, dubbed the "Confessional" (which Marge interpreted quite literally).

Speaking to the ConfessionCam can be quite hazardous to the speaker's personal reputation -- it's important to not only watch ''what'' you're saying, but also ''how'' you say it, so that it's harder to twist around via clever editing. The above-mentioned hair-change trick is one method; another is to pay careful attention to what you're saying and deliberately 'bust the take' so that you can mentally compose a better response.

* ''Series/TheApprentice'' puts a ConfessionCam with the [[EliminationStatement eliminated contestant]] in the taxi ride to the airport, along with more standard invocations of the trope.

* On ''Series/GhostHunters'', TAPS members frequently use the ConfessionCam to explain the terminology used in their investigations. More often than note, though, they merely describe to the audience what we just witnessed actually being filmed. It can get tiresome.

* The documentary-style ConfessionCam employed by ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' is probably the quintessential incarnation.

* During the allegedly gruesome filming of ''Film/{{Dogville}}'', a ConfessionCam was set up for the actors by director Lars von Trier to help them cope. It's on the DVD extras.

* In the ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' DLC Enter the Dominatrix, Jane [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Valder(r)am(m)a]] interviews many of the Saints in this style about one of their "deleted scenes," a story that was partially "shot" but never released called Enter the Dominatrix. It's implied that many elements of ETD were later reconfigured and reused for ''Saints Row IV'' itself, mirroring [=SR4's=] partial origins in the unreleased Enter the Dominatrix DLC for ''[[VideoGames/SaintsRowTheThird Saints Row:]]'' '''''[[VideoGames/SaintsRowTheThird The Third]]'''''. [[NoFourthWall More lampshades are hung than in a lampshade factory.]]

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* An episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' meant to parody ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' naturally uses this.

* ''Series/LivAndMaddie'' does when the main characters have some comments about the scene at hand, for example, in Sleep-A-Rooney, Liv states that she did had fun times with Parker prior to her departure to Hollywood.
* Used in an episode of ''Series/{{Community}}'' in which Abed is filming a documentary about his friends. Shirley even films a confession cam segment without Abed's knowledge.
* On the Hulu original series ''Series/{{Battleground}}'' this occurs. The interviews seem to take place after the ending of the campaign, showing where many of the characters are.
* Some episodes of ''Series/DrewCareysImprovaganza'' do this with the audience volunteers and some special guests.
* The episode "Bad Wolf" from ''Series/DoctorWho'' starts off with the Doctor looking into the Game Station's Confession Cam, which also hides the way out of the local Big-Brother-esque deathtrap.
-->'''Davina-Droid:''' You are live on Channel 44,000. Please do not swear.\\
'''Doctor:''' You have GOT to be kidding.
* ''Series/TheKicks'' used this in the original version of the Pilot, but dropped it during the full season and released a recut Pilot that didn't use it.
* ''Series/{{Backstage}}'' uses this regularly.

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* Seen, of course, in the faux-reality show ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'' and its SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace''. Like much of the shows, it invokes the RuleOfFunny, so expect it to be used when it quite logically and explicitly cannot. For many reasons, including the fact that in ''Total Drama'' the confession booth is also an outhouse. Which is sometimes in use. When the camera is on. Thankfully, above belly button level.

* On ''Series/Endurance'', there is usually a small room provided where contestants can express their thoughts and comments on challenges and relationships that are occurring throughout the series.

* A regular feature of ''Series/TheMuppets'', which has a similar format to ''Series/TheOffice''. In the first episode Gonzo uses it to decry the whole concept, saying it just gets used for cheap laughs based on HypocriticalHumor. We then cut back to the meeting, where he tells Kermit it's a great device and he loves it.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' meant to parody ''Series/TheOffice'' naturally uses this.

* The children's adventure game show ''Series/Raven'' has this, usually having the contestants/warriors giving their thoughts at the beginning of each episode as well as after each challenge.

* The children's adventure game show ''[[Series/Raven Raven]]'' has this, usually having the contestants/warriors giving their thoughts at the beginning of each episode as well as after each challenge.

The children's game show ''[[Series/Raven]]'' has this, usually having the contestants/warriors giving their thoughts at the beginning of each episode as well as after each challenge.

* [[DoctorPhil Dr. Phil]] typically embeds a camera crew with his guests a couple of weeks/days before they appear on his show; the preparatory footage thus collected always includes several Confession Cams.

* ''ThePeoplesCourt'' still features interviews by the court reporter.

* In a similar vein, ''TheWeakestLink'' features contestants [[EliminationStatement ranting after they've been eliminated]].

* ''TheDoctorOzShow'' uses them for both serious (addiction, weight trouble, deadly disease) and not-so-serious (a funny-sounding fart, or another normal body oddity) conditions.

* ''AmericasNextTopModel'' also uses these.

* On ''GhostHunters'', TAPS members frequently use the ConfessionCam to explain the terminology used in their investigations. More often than note, though, they merely describe to the audience what we just witnessed actually being filmed. It can get tiresome.

* Rare non-television example: ''GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' and its debriefing 'video' clips.

* During the allegedly gruesome filming of ''{{Dogville}}'', a ConfessionCam was set up for the actors by director Lars von Trier to help them cope. It's on the DVD extras.

* Used in ''Film/{{Showtime}}'' for the Reality ShowWithinAShow of the same name. Since this was a police-themed reality show, the two protagonists are contractually-obligated to spend at least 5 minutes a day in the booth with the camera. [[EddieMurphy Trey]] uses the camera to the full extent, complaining about Mitch and boasting about his own skills. [[RobertDeNiro Mitch]] does anything in the booth ''but'' its intended purpose (e.g. reading a newspaper, shaving, making fun of Trey).

* In an episode of ''ThatsSoRaven'', Raven and Chelsea are on a dating game show where they compete for a chance to date a guy. They're filmed via confession cam saying what they really think about each other, but they producer turns them against each other by editing what they say (i.e. Raven's "Chelsea is such a good friend, I would never want to lose her, and that's coming from the heart" is edited to "Chelsea is such a loser, and that's coming from the heart").

* On the Hulu original series Series/{{Battleground}} this occurs. The interviews seem to take place after the ending of the campaign, showing where many of the characters are.

* The Episode ''Bad Wolf'' from Series/DoctorWho starts off with the Doctor looking into the Game Station's Confession Cam, which also hides the way out of the local Big-Brother-esque deathtrap.

* The diary room in ''BigBrother'' would be the second most common form.
** Additionally, both ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' and ''BigBrother'' use confessionals of the actual voting, with both apologies to the person being voted for and the vitriolic rants against them.

In {{Reality Show}}s, a camera which is set up in an isolated location (a small room or, in outdoor environs, a secluded area), where the show's participants appear individually to speak candidly about tactics, motivations, the other players, etc. A common feature of the RealityTVShowMansion. In many cases, ConfessionCam interviews are produced in such a way that they can be spliced into the regular footage at any point with ManipulativeEditing, and may be used several episodes away from when they actually took place. A few very GenreSavvy competitors (most of them female) have circumvented that by noticeably changing their hairstyles or make-up every day, very effectively limiting how much the footage can be misplaced.

* Seen, of course, in the faux-reality show ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland''. Like much of the show, it invokes the RuleOfFunny, so expect it to be used when it quite logically and explicitly cannot. For many reasons, including the fact that the confession booth is also an outhouse. Which is sometimes in use. When the camera is on. Thankfully, above belly button level.

Trope name comes from an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' which parodied RealityTV; in this episode, the house which served as location for the reality ShowWithinAShow featured a closet equiped with a camera, dubbed the "Confessional" (which Marge interpreted quite literally).

* In the ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' DLC Enter the Dominatrix, Jane [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Valder(r)am(m)a]] interviews many of the Saints about one of their "deleted scenes," a story that was partially "shot" but never released called Enter the Dominatrix. It's implied that many elements of ETD were later reconfigured and reused for ''Saints Row IV'' itself, mirroring SR4's partial origins in the unreleased Enter the Dominatrix DLC for ''[[VideoGames/SaintsRowTheThird Saints Row:]]'' '''''[[VideoGames/SaintsRowTheThird The Third]]'''''. [[NoFourthWall More lampshades are hung than in a lampshade factory.]]