Fly on the Wall

Fly on the Wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, the camera crew is as unintrusive as possible; however it is also common for participants to be interviewed, often by an off-camera voice.

The fly-on-the-wall style is commonly used in the genre known as reality television, as well as cinéma vérité, and has also been extensively parodied.