Am I talking about the ever invasive systems of surveillance and government, designed to cast a net of ultimate control over its people here? No, not really. The Big Brother I’m talking about is the wildly popular television show that has successfully aired for the past 12 seasons on CBS in America and in nearly every media rich country on the planet. Germany, Australia, Mexico, Amsterdam, and the UK are just the ones I can remember.
Over the past 6 seasons, I have been lucky enough to direct this very technically challenging show along with a group of extremely talented people.
If you don’t know what Big Brother is, It’s a reality show where several people live in a house and compete to win $500,000 by lying, cheating, stealing, backstabbing, physical challenges, political maneuvering, and frankly, sometimes by just being lucky.
Some of my responsibilities include:
- Directing over 50 robotic cameras mounted throughout the house and…
- Simultaneously directing up to 7 hand-held cameras at any given time while…
- Coordinating my department, camera, audio and story (producers) with what story we are shooting at any given time.
Essentially, when a couple, or a group of individuals are participating in an activity, or are simply talking, it is my job to coordinate with my camera operators, both robotic and hand-held, to position the cameras in such a way that when I am cutting the scene, everyone looks like they’re in the same room and so everyone appears to be looking in the proper direction in relation to whom they are all talking to.
Below, you can see what it’s like working within the very cool and challenging environment of Big Brother, the show that should have won a technical Emmy, but will always lose out because it’s too advanced for anyone to care.