Behind Big Brother
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday May 7, 2003
IT took three security guards, a large Rottweiler and his handler, across a moat, through two soundproof doors, but I was in inside the Big Brother houses.
At first I thought it was a joke. It was pitch black, the only light coming from incongruous fairy lights dotted around. Black curtains covered the walls and floor.
A shard of light and a hesitant pulling back of the cloth and all was revealed. I was looking in at the round house bedroom.
I was told not to make a sound because, although both Big Brother houses have hidden cameras, you could not attract the housemates' attention.
It was day 10 of Big Brother, 85 to go and the Big Brother production was up and rolling. The houses have been built inside a huge shed in the middle of bush on the outskirts of Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, 300 metres from the ever-watching control room.
The houses are separated by a high wall and inside this there are hidden cameras.
The camera run where I was looking in from follows every wall of the houses.
While walking around the camera run in the dark, every now and again you'd come upon a silent cameraman filming the housemates' every move.
With seven cameras in each house, the producers have ensured this year that there is no getting away from each other. As we peered through the glass into the bedroom the sitting room and the outside area I was amazed at how small each house was there's nowhere to hide here.
Thirty five hidden cameras are dotted throughout each house, four on pedestals operated by the cameramen, three on rails inside the dividing wall, 10 automatic ``hothead" cameras that pan, tilt and zoom and are operated from the distant control room, 10 fixed cameras, six Zerolux cameras which use infra-red light enabling viewers to see what happens in a bedroom in the dark. Forty hidden microphones ensure that no word is missed.
At one stage, opening a curtain, I found myself staring straight into the face of Leah, who was curling her eyelashes. It takes 255 people to get this show to air. Up to 10 staff watch each monitor, controlling the shots. Four staff log every conversation on computer, every second is accounted for. The night producer comes in at 3am. Work starts then on each show we will see that night at 7pm on Channel 10.
Twenty four hours are diluted to 24 minutes. By 4pm each day that night's show is sent down the line to 10 in Sydney.
You can't help but think that despite the $250,000 prizemoney that maybe each inmate secretly wishes the evictee might be them.
© 2003 Newcastle Herald