The presence of a camera changes the thing that its documenting — just look at any reality TV show to see how people behave when they are aware they’re being filmed. Do you think Shanae would have dropped a child’s birthday cake on the ground the way she did on Monday’s episode of The Bachelor if she wasn’t on camera, and therefore fully aware that she was on camera? She’d have no reason to behave so brazenly competitive at an event with so many kids in any real world, non-documented situation.
And it’s not just reality shows, where the action is often semi-scripted or forced; Peter Jackson’s eight-plus hour docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, released on Disney+ late last year, features a number of small moments where John, Paul, George, or Ringo make it apparent that they know they’re being filmed.