History Main / ConfessionCam

* 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 ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird Saints Row:]]'' '''''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird The Third]]'''''. [[NoFourthWall More lampshades are hung than in a lampshade factory.]]

* WebVideo/Fishtanklive: Certain contestants, such as Vance and Sylvia, have spoken directly to the camera to speak about their motivations and strategies. Unlike with normal reality TV fare, the livestream format helps remove the risk of their "confessions" being selectively edited.

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

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

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

* Used one by Creator/IngmarBergman in Film/EnPassion. All four main actors have one chance to speculate on their characters.

* A regular feature of ''Series/TheMuppets'', which has a similar format to ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''. 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.

* While not a confession cam per se, the interspersed comments by the cast of WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSMASH

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

* ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' does a variant, as teammates almost always do them together.
* Golf Channel's ''Big Break'' has one. It almost always telegraphs the confessor's next shot: If they're boasting about their skills, it'll be a terrible shot; if they're admitting they're scared, it'll be a great shot. It doesn't matter whether it's a drive or a 4-foot putt.
* ''Series/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.
* In interviews, many contestants on ''Series/TheTester'' have stated that they're not really shallow idiots as they appear to be. The editing just makes it seem that way.
* ''Series/TheColony'' uses the confession room regularly to get more insight into what's going the subjects' minds after noteworthy events. The first season makes a point that the colonists film it themselves in a back room, but no explanation is given in the second season.
* ''Series/HellsKitchen'', keeping with the theme, has shelves of pots and pans in the background that make it look like the Confession Cam is located in HK's pantry.
* ''Series/TheRealHousewives'' has multiple talking head sessions for the cast members, filmed after the events of the episode take place.
* ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel'' also uses these.
* On ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow'', the time the actors spent talking to the confession cam was the time that they could actually be themselves without having to be their character. This caused a panic in the first season, however, when everyone thought that Matt Kennedy Gould (the season's mark) had heard Lance Krall ("Kip") talking out-of-character on the confession cam.
* ''[[Series/FaceOff Face Off]]'' has the confession cam but, due to the general FriendlyRivalry among the competitors, they use it almost exclusively to express their thoughts on the theme of the challenges, as well as to explain screwups and decisions made in the creation stage. In the reveal stage, the contestants talk about the final results of their work as they are revealed to the judges.
* The children's adventure game show ''Series/{{Raven}}'' has this, with the in-universe explanation of these thoughts being "seen" by Raven with the Raven's Eye. The contestants/warriors give their thoughts at the beginning of each episode as well as after each challenge. The spin-offs only have the thoughts on the challenges.
* ''Series/TheDeadFiles'' has two particular instances:
** Steve Di Schavi is often filmed talking about aspects of the cases and what he's going to be doing via a camera in his car.
** Amy Allen does this at times during her psychic reading (talking about her experiences), during the sketch sequence (talking about what she's describing to the sketch artist), and at the end of the episode (making a brief commentary about the overall experience and her recommendations for how to deal with the episode's haunting(s)).
* ''[[Series/DestinationFear2019 Destination Fear]]'': Used by whoever picks the location they are traveling to, to give a small exposition to the viewers before the rest of the crew know.

* Both ''Series/TheOfficeUK}}'' and ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' use a {{Mockumentary}} format that will frequently cut to characters in confession cams revealing their thoughts about the situation that is unfolding.

Not to be confused with the {{confessional}} at your local Catholic church. [[RealityShowGenreBlindness If you do mix them up]], prepare to be ConvictedByPublicOpinion sooner or later...

Trope name comes from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/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).

The modern concept, similar in execution to documentary interviews, hearkens back to the granddaddy of the reality show, Creator/{{MTV}}'s ''Series/TheRealWorld'' along with its younger sister series ''Series/RoadRules''. Episodes were spliced with clips of the castmates talking directly to the camera, sharing their thoughts on the other castmates and whatever drama was at hand. Initially, it was made to look like the speaker was alone in a room with the camera. However, there was always an unseen producer ''behind'' the camera asking questions, and they'd splice together the best soundbites for the episode. Nowadays, it's usually clear that the speaker is talking to someone offscreen, and you might even hear the producer respond during particularly emotional or unusual moments.

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, Confession Cam 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 Confession Cam was born.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', as the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/TheOffuceUS'', copies its use of confession cams while never actually establishing that there is a documentary being filmed.

[[folder:Notable Exceptions]]
* A certain few TV court shows are exempt:
** ''Christina's Court'' features the titular judge (no pun intended) offering up a pearl of wisdom.
** Similarly, Judge David Young lectures the gallery on the subject of each case -- or, really, anything the judge wants to talk about.
** ''Judge Karen'' and ''Judge Pirro'' avert it completely.
[[/folder]]

* The soliloquy-esque bits in the {{Mockumentary}} ''Series/{{The Office|UK}}'' ([[Series/TheOfficeUS both versions]]).
** Also ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.

* The British album cover of ''Music/MyGeneration'' by Music/TheWho shows a shot of the band photographed from bird eye's view.
* Music/FrankZappa is shot from above on the album covers of ''Music/LumpyGravy'' and ''Music/BongoFury''.

* ''Series/HighSchoolMusicalTheMusicalTheSeries'' have some set up as part of the mockumentary-style of the show, even though there's no recording occurring in-universe, so they mostly act as spots for soliloquys and inner thoughts.

* ''Judge Joe Brown'' shows them ranting ''before'' the show; after each case, they are shown leaving while the court report [[CaptainObvious describes what just transpired]].

* ''Series/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.
** Ditto [[Series/{{Maury}} Maury Povich]].

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Series/IAmNotInfected'' features a confession cam, which is a leftover from the series taking place in the house before the ZombieApocalypse, ''The Frat House of Representatives''. It's put to use by the characters frequently.
* ''WebVideo/BAMFGirlsClub'', being a parody of reality tv, has an obligatory one.
* ''WebVideo/OneHundredYardStare'' Ellie makes a startling confession at the end of episode ''18''

* The French web series ''WebVideo/ConfessionsDHistoire'' {{parod|y}}ies this with historical characters.

* 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.

* ''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.

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

* WesternnAnimation/The7D does this in almost every episode, even the main antagonists, the Glooms.