EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 Release BB5 Press Pack
Another EXCLUSIVE by CALCIOFAN...
Hours before the kick-off of Big Brother 5, Channel 4, the broadcaster has released it's press pack. Here are the main areas they touch...
>>> Interview with Executive Producer - Shirley Jones
This year was the first year you did open auditions. How did they go?
The open auditions were fantastic. We started in February, over five weeks in seven cities across the UK . It's the first year we have done open auditions it's usually always done by videotape.
With open auditions of any kind, it's amazing what lengths people go to and the effort they make. There were loads of people dressed as chickens and loads of brides for some reason - they were the most popular. We also had quite a few naked people I think people thought that if they showed flesh, it would get them in. We auditioned in Newcastle in two feet of snow and the medical team had to wrap the naked people in foil blankets it was like the naked marathon.
People singing and acting up is entertaining but it's in no way representative of what we are looking for.
Was it a better process than video applications?
Yes, we purposely set out to try and see a broader range of applicants and we saw a lot of people who would never have applied if they'd had to send in a video. If you make a video, we have no way of knowing how long it's taken you to make it. It might have taken you a week, it might have taken three months, so you could have a brilliant video but you're not like that really. You can never underestimate seeing someone in the flesh as well. If you walk into a bar or party, there are certain people that stand out - and it's exactly the same walking down those queues. I'd say now that the people who really stood out in the queue are also the same people that made it to the shortlist, so that says something. I can remember all our final people from the queue.
Was there a specific criteria or character types you were looking for?
I think if you go out there with a specific wish list, then you are limiting yourself - so we didn't have those in mind. I'd say we approached the whole casting process with a very open mind. It's really been gloves off in the casting process this year and we haven't necessarily chosen people we like.
So exactly how are you getting evil?
The house has been designed to be difficult to live in. There's only one bedroom and not enough beds, the toilet and shower have glass walls, it's much smaller and ceilings have been lowered to make it feel claustrophobic. We want the whole experience to be a challenge for the housemates from start to finish. There will be no lie-ins, tasks will involve some really agonising decisions and although we've increased the prize money to £100,000, ultimately the winner could walk away with nothing. In addition, we've also got some nasty surprises planned. It's really not going to be a holiday this year and knowing what I know I wouldn't want to go into the house!
All the way through the interviews and auditions people made it clear that they expect certain things from Big Brother . They expect two bedrooms, they expect chickens, they expect to have a lie-in. But that's all going to change this year. We're not running a holiday camp. The housemates aren't there to get a tan and have a rest!
Why a spa then that's not very evil?
It would be a thoroughly miserable experience for both the housemates and viewers if it was ALL doom and gloom. However, I know what's planned and they'll definitely need a bit of light relief after some of it.
So how will one bedroom make their lives difficult?
It's all about adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere and challenging the way they think. They are expecting two bedrooms but they will be living on top of each other in just one. There will be nowhere to hide and they will have to make some tricky decisions from the beginning as although there are enough places to sleep there aren't enough beds so a few will have to share.
What do the housemates know about the house this year?
They are the only 12 people in the country who don't know what is about to hit them. They are currently in isolation away from the newspapers, radio, TV. They don't even know that Big Brother is getting evil.
You mention that the winner could walk away with nothing how will that work?
This year is also the first time that the housemates can win more prize money up to £100,000. But they could lose the lot, because every Saturday they have to do a live task just to hold on to that prize fund. If they fail a task, they get penalised in cash, at least £10,000 a week. So essentially, the winner of this year's Big Brother could come out of the house with nothing.
It'll be interesting to see people's motivations once they realise that the money is at stake. It's amazing how many people say you know what, the money doesn't bother me' but the minute that someone starts taking that money away, it's surprising what a focus that it suddenly becomes. In the group some people will really want that prize money and some people might be a bit more blasι about it. But that in itself is interesting, it can lead to all sorts of issues and they are going to have to address them. There will be some agonising decisions for them to make some very, very difficult choices over the coming weeks.
Do you make decisions as you go along or plan it all in advance?
You can plan a certain amount, and look at ways of changing and improving things, and adding elements of surprise for viewers and housemates alike. We've got a really strong and committed team that works really hard at coming up with all of those fresh new ideas. But, to be honest, most of the material comes from within the house, sparked by the housemates themselves - they're the ones who really keep it going. We can throw little things at them and make life easier or make life more difficult, but essentially, the content of the show comes from them. Once they are in there, you may just rip up everything you've planned because you might not need it.
Some of the most memorable things from previous years have all been unplanned. It's the character-revealing stuff, the things people reveal as they learn about themselves and about each other in there; that's the most interesting thing about it really.
The tasks are a key part of the week - is there some particular evilness in store?
We've upped the stakes on the tasks. They will involve some agonising decisions and more will ride on the outcome of the tasks and challenges. There will be some fun ones but we've got some quite evil things planned for them too.
Have you got any favourite moments from the previous Big Brother s on screen or behind the scenes?
I love the fights - they are brilliant. I love it when Big Brother throws the housemates a party or they are doing something like face painting and then someone has a fight. There is nothing funnier and more ridiculous than someone with face paint on having a scrap! Then there was Alex behind the door in BB3, which was a highlight for me. Plus Big Brother's Little Brother , which we started in BB2 with Dermot - he is so lovely to work with.
How do you find the job? It must be very intense for 10 weeks.
Yeah, this will practically be my home now until August but it's really exciting. Everyone is up here to do their bit and just gets on with the job, which really makes it a great place to be and work. It may sound really clichιd but it's true.
It is really intense too, but if you are watching these people all the time, it gets very hard to leave. At the end of the day, it's very hard to go home and walk away from it. You go home and you still want to carry on.
Do you get attached to the housemates given the amount of time you have spent choosing them and then watching them in the house?
It's strange because they are not your friends, but you know them better than your friends in some ways. You've been through this process with them right from the audition, through the interviews and all of the selection and like them or not you can't help but root for them.
It is weird for the viewers too as for a certain number of weeks they get to know people inside out and then suddenly they're gone, they've been evicted and that's it.
>>> TALK TALK becomes official sponsors
TalkTalk, the home phone company from The Carphone Warehouse where all customers talk to each other for free*, is this year's proud new sponsor of Big Brother .
>>> C4 Programming
Channel 4 provides daily coverage of Big Brother throughout the summer, giving viewers the chance to keep up with events in the Big Brother house every day during the series' ten-week run.
In brief, Channel 4 viewers will also be able to watch:
A live show with the 12 new housemates entering the house on launch night.
Nightly highlights shows featuring the previous day's events.
Davina McCall presenting two Friday night live eviction shows every week.
A live Challenge show every Saturday night.
Big Brother's Little Brother presented by Dermot O'Leary live every weekday teatime and on Sundays.
A one-hour show featuring psychological analysis from Big Brother 's team of experts every Sunday night.
Launch Night, Friday 28 th May
Big Brother's Little Brother , 8pm
Dermot O'Leary presents a special Big Brother's Little Brother as we count down to the start of this year's series. Before the new housemates finally move into the infamous house for the summer, viewers will get an insight into this year's selection process. For the first time, Big Brother took to the road holding a series of open auditions around the country. Thousands turned up and viewers will get the chance to see some of the good, the bad and the ugly who didn't make it. Dermot will also exclusively interview Big Brother presenter Davina McCall moments before she launches Big Brother 5.
Big Brother : Live Launch Show, 10pm
Big Brother is back! The televisual event of summer returns to Channel 4 with new house, new rules and, of course, 12 new housemates. Before the new housemates move in, Davina McCall will give viewers an exclusive look around the all-new Big Brother house. Then, after undergoing rigorous security checks, the 12 new housemates will enter the Big Brother house one by one live on Channel 4. Viewers will get a chance to form their own opinions on the Big Brother 12 by catching the new housemates' initial reactions to each other and their new-look home and watch their first moments together as they settle in for their first night within those famous four walls.
Regular Shows
Big Brother's Little Brother , weekdays at 6pm & every Sunday at lunchtime
Dermot O'Leary presents this half-hour fanzine show every tea-time from Monday through to Friday, with an hour-long extended edition on Sundays.
Each day, Dermot delivers his own unique insight into what's going on live from the Big Brother nucleus with all the latest news, views and access to all areas of the house and surrounding studios. In addition, fans can catch insider scoops on upcoming twists and the very first in-depth interviews with evicted housemates once they've returned to the outside world. BBLB viewers get the total Big Brother experience, as they can contact Dermot in the studio via phone calls and text messages.
Dermot will be regularly joined by the housemates' relatives, friends and workmates, who will reveal what their loved ones are really like in the outside world. In addition to all this, celebrities, journalists, psychologists and other experts will also be dropping in to discuss the latest goings-on in the house.
Nightly Highlights Show, Monday to Thursday at 10pm
Each Monday to Thursday weekday evening, a half-hour highlights show will feature key events from the previous day in the Big Brother house. Narrated by Marcus Bentley, these must-see daily fixes provide a snapshot of the housemates' last 24 hours, featuring daily events including tasks, nominations and all the build up to Friday's eviction.
Friday Night Eviction shows, Friday at 9pm and 10pm
Once again, Davina McCall hosts two live shows on eviction night live from outside the Big Brother house. The first show reveals the previous day's activities and gives viewers a final opportunity to vote for the housemate they'd like to see evicted. At the end of this show, the voting closes and Davina reveals to the housemates who will be evicted in front of the live audience and the viewers. The chosen housemate then has a short time between the first and second shows to get ready to leave the house.
During the second Friday night show, the evictees must say their final farewells to their housemates and prepare to return to the outside world. They leave the house and are greeted by Davina, their friends and family and the crowds awaiting them outside. Davina then interviews the evicted housemate live on the Big Brother stage, putting all the burning questions to them that have been on the nation's lips since they entered the house.
Live Challenge Show, every Saturday at 9pm
Every Saturday viewers will see the housemates set a weekly challenge live on the show . and this year there's everything to play for. For the first time in Big Brother history, the cash prize will be at stake. Every time the housemates fail a challenge, the overall prize fund drops. At the end of the ten weeks the winner could walk away with nothing.
Big Brother's Little Brother , Sunday lunchtime
Sunday plays host to a special hour-long live edition of Big Brother's Little Brother presented by Dermot O'Leary. Here, the newly evicted housemate gives their first TV interview since returning to the outside world. Added to the regular competitions, phone-ins and text messages will be celebrity guests, breaking news and gossip straight from the BBLB nerve centre.
Sunday Night Show, weekly at 9pm
An hour-long Sunday evening show features psychological analysis from Big Brother 's tea m of experts including; psychiatrists Dr Sandra Scott, Gareth Smith, Jamie Arkell, and Professor Geoffrey Beattie, psychotherapist Rachel Morris Professor of Criminology, David Wilson and psychologist Honey Langcaster-James. The show offers a revealing insight into the habits and traits of the housemates gleaned from the week gone by, as the experts explore their body language, quirks, mannerisms and behavioural patterns.
>>> E4 Programming
E4 will continue to be the number one destination for serious Big Brother fans who want to catch all the action live, as it happens, throughout the summer. This year, in addition to broadcasting streamed coverage around the clock, E4 will be offering the following:
Big Brother's 50 Best Bits in which presenter Dermot O'Leary will count down the nation's favourite Big Brother moments from the last four series.
A brand new thrice-weekly topical, Big Brother's EFOURUM presented by Russell Brand.
Exclusive access to the nominations process every Tuesday in Big Brother Nominations Uncut .
Big Brother Diary Room Uncut where every Thursday viewers can watch as the housemates disclose their true feelings about each other and life in the house in.
Another chance to see Big Brother's Little Brother each weekday evening, while on Sunday nights, viewers can catch the extended version of BBLB showing the exclusive interview with that week's evictee.
Big Brother 's EFOURUM , Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7pm
All the latest Big Brother news and gossip will be debated live in E4's thrice-weekly topical show. Presented by Russell Brand and broadcast live in the shadow of the Big Brother house, it's a fast-paced vibrant arena for all Big Brother fans to air their views and ask the questions on everybody's lips. In front of a live studio audience, a panel of Big Brother experts including journalists, celebrities, producers, obsessive fans, and friends and relatives of the housemates, will discuss and debate the recent happenings in the house. Plus viewers can get involved by calling the hotline and emailing or texting their thoughts or by becoming a member of the studio audience.
Big Brother Nominations Uncut, Tuesday at 7pm
A chance for viewers to get the whole story on the Big Brother eviction drama exclusively on E4. Watch the housemates squirm as they give their full reasons for wanting to boot out their nominated housemates.
Big Brother Diary Room Uncut, Thursday at 7pm
E4 viewers get an exclusive insight into exactly what's been said in the most secret and revealing room in the house. In the infamous diary room chair the housemates can grumble, gossip, cry and connive without anyone else in the house hearing or seeing them. This is where the housemates disclose their true feelings about each other and life in the house.
>>> BB Rules
The new housemates will live in a purpose-built house, cut off from any contact with the outside world. For ten weeks, cameras will watch their every move and microphones record their every word, 24 hours a day.
These are basic rules regarding life inside the Big Brother house:
There is no contact with the outside world.
Housemates are filmed 24 hours a day and must wear personal microphones at all times.
The Diary Room is the only place in the house where Big Brother will acknowledge housemates individually.
Visits to the Diary Room are compulsory.
Nominations are compulsory.
Housemates must give frank and honest reasons for nominations.
It is not permitted to discuss nominations or to try to influence anyone else's nominations.
It is not permitted to discuss details of how they'd spend any prize money (if they were to win).
Eviction is decided by public vote.
All tasks and challenges are compulsory.
Housemates must not act violently towards any other housemate.
Housemates are free to leave the house at any time.
If a housemate breaks the rules they may be asked to leave the house.
Big Brother reserves the right to change the rules at any time.
Personal Belongings
The housemates are restricted as to what personal belongings they can bring into the house.
Housemates will be allowed to take one suitcase and one small bag into the house. The suitcases will be the same size for all participants and no additional bags or baggage will be allowed. The Big Brother team will check the contents of the suitcases before the housemates enter the house and inventories will be compiled.
As in past years, housemates will be allowed to take up to six bottles or cans of beer, or two bottles of wine into the house. Housemates are allowed to bring in a reasonable quantity of toiletries, but they will need to prioritise which items they want to bring in. Any additional items needed during the duration of the stay must be purchased out of the joint weekly food budget.
Items banned from the house include; Musical instruments, books, games, writing materials, mobile phones, radios, walkmans, CDs or CD players, computers, PDAs (Psion, Palm Pilot, etc), calendars, clocks and watches, drugs and narcotics, personal medication (except in consultation with Big Brother ), weapons, any electronic equipment or items requiring batteries and clothes with prominent logos.
Other House Rules
Participants must wear their radio-microphones at all times during waking hours. Microphones can only be taken off in bed, in the shower and in the spa pool. Housemates are responsible for changing the batteries in their mics at regular intervals. If housemates attempt to communicate without the cameras or microphones recording the communication (e.g. tampering with microphones, writing secret messages, mouthing words off-camera) or if they try to tamper with, or cover recording equipment, then Big Brother reserves the right to expel them from the house.
Prior to entering the Big Brother house, the housemates are not allowed to talk to the media. Neither are they permitted to know the identities of their fellow housemates.
>>> Food, Housekeeping, Weekly Tasks & Challenges
Food and alcohol in the house is supplied only by Big Brother .
This year there will be no chickens to keep and no vegetable garden to look after. The weekly shopping budget is based on £3 per housemate per day and the housemates will be asked to work together and compile a shopping list every week. Luxuries will have to be earned.
The supply of luxuries is dependent on the group's performance in compulsory weekly tasks, which will be set on a Sunday and resolved over the following days. As soon as the nature of the task is announced by Big Brother , the housemates will have to work together as a team to complete it. They will find out if they have successfully completed that week's task every Wednesday. If the housemates are successful then they will be rewarded at Big Brother 's discretion, but if they fail they could be punished.
The housemates will also have to perform in a separate live challenge every Saturday. This challenge will be broadcast live on Channel 4. In fitting with the Big Brother Gets Evil theme, this year for the very first time, the stakes have been raised and hanging is the balance is the overall prize money. The housemates will enter the house playing for a prize fund of £100,000, completely unaware that they could lose it all over the next ten weeks. Big Brother will announce to them that, for the first time in Big Brother history, the outcome of the weekly Saturday challenge will determine whether this prize fund drops. In ten weeks time the winner of Big Brother 5 could walk away with nothing.
>>> Leaving the House/Eviction Process
Housemates can leave the house in three ways. They may be evicted, they can leave of their own free will (and may do so at any time) or in exceptional circumstances they may be asked to leave by Big Brother . Once a housemate leaves they forfeit any claim to the prize money.
Voluntary/ Involuntary Departure
If a housemate wants to leave they must first report to the Diary Room and give their reasons for leaving.
Big Brother may ask a housemate to leave the house if they behave inappropriately, for example, if they engage in violent or abusive behaviour, or damage the house or its contents.
Housemates leaving voluntarily or being asked to leave may be replaced at Big Brother 's discretion.
The Eviction Process
Every Monday each housemate will be called to the Diary Room to nominate two fellow housemates for eviction. Any housemate refusing to make a nomination or failing to provide Big Brother with a satisfactory reason for their nomination will receive a formal warning. The Diary Room nominations will not be streamed on the website or E4 instead the nominations are made public every Tuesday in E4's Nominations Uncut show. The results of the nominations process will be announced to the participants every Tuesday and will be included in the Channel 4 highlights show every Wednesday night . The housemates who receive the most eviction votes at this stage are then subject to the public vote, conducted via telephone, text message and interactive TV.
Viewers and housemates will only find out who is to be evicted during Channel 4's live Friday night 9pm show and the evicted housemate will leave during the 10pm show. During the final week of the series viewers will be asked to vote for who should be the winner of Big Brother .
Big Brother reserves the right to change the frequency, times and details of nominations at any time.
>>> Interactive TV
Voting with your remote control couldn't be simpler as soon as Big Brother announces the nominations, a vote option appears on the Big Brother interactive TV screen. Voting to evict a housemate really is as easy as pressing a button.
In addition, the Big Brother interactive TV screen gives viewers various betting opportunities viewers can even place a bet on who will win Big Brother via their TV remote control. Different services will be available on different platforms.
SKY VIEWERS
Once again E4 and Channel 4 viewers watching Big Brother via digital satellite will be able to choose to view Big Brother interactive services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pressing the red button on the digital remote control will take viewers into Channel 4's new-look Big Brother interactive service and from there fans can access a range of additional Big Brother options and other Channel 4 services. In brief:
Viewers can vote for a housemate via their digital remote control without leaving the broadcast stream on both E4 and Channel 4.
E4 viewers can watch streamed Big Brother action, full screen, when other programming is being broadcast, to maintain 24 hours Big Brother coverage.
Viewers can place bets from who they think will get evicted each week, to who will fail the task? or who will get the first warning? to who will be the first housemates to kiss?
An all-new Big Brother game Catch n Carry' is available on both Channel 4 and E4. This will be an overlay game the first of it's kind for a terrestrial broadcaster.
TELEWEST & NTL VIEWERS
Telewest & NTL viewers will be able to vote by pressing the red button on their remote.
>>> Selection Process
This year, 12 contestants have been selected to enter the Big Brother house, after nationwide auditions and an in-depth selection process. In brief:
The Big Brother team visited seven UK cities in February and March this year.
All candidates are over 18.
All participants will have been through a series of selection filters including multiple interviews with psychotherapists.
Candidates can leave the project/end their application process at any time.
For the very first time this year, Big Brother held nation-wide open auditions. Glasgow , Manchester , Newcastle , Birmingham , Belfast , Cardiff and London played host to the auditions and hopefuls simply had to turn up to one of the eight audition days in February and March 2004. Of the thousands of applicants who turned up, around 2500 were given the chance to sell themselves in a diary room' style scenario and of those approximately a quarter were called back the next day. Over the following weeks the Big Brother team whittled down the applications to a shortlist of 130 candidates, all of whom underwent extensive group sessions and individual interviews with the Big Brother senior editorial team. From this group a short list of 50 were chosen and the final 12 housemates have been selected from this group.
The selection process included one-on-one interviews with the show's producers, group discussions and, importantly, interviews with psychotherapists. All short-listed candidates were subjected to a police screening. All housemates must be over 18.
All participants will have been through seven selection filters they will have read and understood the Big Brother rules and had at least two weeks to consider their participation before committing to the show. They can leave the project at any time.
A subsistence payment is made to all participants as a contribution to help pay for out-of-pocket expenses (such as rent) while they are in the house. This is a flat fee and is not tied to an individual's loss of earnings, but is based on jury service payments and is around £30 per day.
>>> Technical Specification
The Big Brother house is fully equipped with state-of-the-art audio and visual recording equipment to document every movement and every word the housemates do and say, in the house and garden, around the clock. This includes:
Five manned Sony broadcast cameras that follow participants from behind one-way glass mirrors. Sound proofing runs within the house.
Producers in the Big Brother control room operate an additional 21 cameras fitted to remote-controlled pan and tilt head cameras located in the house.
A further 10 fixed cameras ensure that every area of the house and garden is under surveillance.
Over 40 microphones provide comprehensive audio coverage.
Each housemate wears a compulsory radio microphone.
A tannoy system allows the voice of Big Brother to issue instructions to the house members.
Over 50 monitors are housed within the Big Brother control room, watched by a 24/7 production team of directors and vision mixers.
Almost 100 kilometres of cable have been used in the technical construction of the Big Brother house.
Over the course of the series, over 2,000 radio mic batteries will be used in the house.
11,000 hours of tape will be recorded.
A production team of over 150 people work to bring all the Big Brother programmes to air.
There are 10 edit suites on site.
The Big Brother team works around the clock and, even at midnight , there are three producers and two directors on duty, plus at least 22 other crew members.
Over 30 web experts are needed to produce the 24/7 live web streaming.
CF: Enjoy the Launch of Big Brother 5 2004. I hope its the best ever - with good-looking lads.
FM Forums Leaders
I make an apology to the leaders of FM FORUMS, for sending this post in the 'Gossip' forum. I know it would have normally been in the 'Screen Gossip' forum, and that's where I would have put it if it wasn't closed. I hpe you accept this post because it will attract interest from members of this forum.
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Just replying to the first reply...
I didn't expect everyone to read this whole article as it is quite long - it's there read it all if you want or scan and pick the most interesting parts.
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