Big Brother Canada 4 is right around the corner folks! We’ve got the Survivor Kaoh Rong premiering this Wednesday, then one week later on the 24th the BBCAN4 cast is going to be revealed, then two days later the house will be showed off, and finally the actual show will start 5 days after that on March 2nd.
I for one, am very excited to start ignoring my friends, family, and various responsibilities in order to obsessively watch sixteen strangers lying around being bored.
So, how does one join in on the fun, you ask? Here is your helpful guide for the Big Brother Canada feeds!
First (and only) step is obviously to learn where you can watch the free feeds and luckily for us you can find the link at http://bigbrothercanada.globaltv.com/ . This is the website where the feeds are held, all you have to do is click on the ‘Live Feed’ button and you are off to the races.
However, a lot of people don’t quite grasp what the feeds are, and what its like to watch them, so Im going to try and do my very best to accurately describe the experience to anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure.
First and foremost, the live feeds only actually show you 4 camera’s at a time. Each camera is labeled Feed 1, Feed 2, Feed 3, and Feed 4. Typically Feeds 1 & 2 show the same room, but from different angles, same goes for 3 & 4. Unless a lot of people are hanging out in the BBCAN bedroom, since its such a big room typically multiple cameras have to be live in order for us to get a full scope of the room.
The camera’s change every once and a while, typically following the action as the HGs go about their days scheming and trash talking. The producers actually do a pretty good job making sure we have actions and worthwhile conversations on the feeds. If two people are talking about the weather and a different two people are talking about how badly they want to backstab their alliance members, usually the cameras switch over to the backstabbers within a minute of their convo starting.
This is actually a concern for a lot of people, it comes as a shock that we only see two rooms at a time, when the live feeds are toted as complete house access. BUT, it actually isn’t that bad, and we do see almost all the action take place. There is so much downtime in the BB house and there is so little privacy that typically there aren’t more than two worthwhile game talks going on at once. And any conversations that are missed will show up on the network show.
Another shock to some new feedsters is how often the feeds are actually unavailable. Whenever houseguests are singing, breaking rules, or engaging in competitions the live feeds go down. BBUS does a better job bringing the live feeds back as soon as possible, but that’s because people pay for BBUS feeds. In past seasons of BBCAN the feeds can be down the entirety of Saturday (The day they play veto) and sometimes most of the day for live evictions. While that can be annoying for those of us who want to find out who wins POV as soon as possible, the feeds are still typically on more than they are off.
While on the topic of the differences between BBUS and BBCAN feeds, compared to the BBUS feeds BBCAN can sometimes be lacking. This is because in the US when watching the feeds you can pause, rewind, or enter dates into a calendar and instantly get a live stream from that day you want. This means an hour before the BBUS finale you can ‘Flash Back’ to the minute the feeds went live. BBCAN typically has its feeds reset every few hours so you can’t ‘Flash Back’ more than maybe 6-10 hours, and you have to actually drag the timeline bar in order to go back (Much like a youtube video), which is really agitating if you want to go back a minute, but you have to jump back at least six. Though BBCAN’s feeds have been getting better and better every season, so hopefully this season we get a better system.
I also just want to give this disclaimer, if you do start watching the feeds and you really love it and start explaining it to friends, family or co-workers you will inevitably be asked, “Wait, so you see everything? Like even when they change?” So, yes, there is sometimes nudity on the live feeds. However, very rarely does someone actually walk around naked. Maybe 1 person a season will have a bit of a nudist streak and not really care, but all the other contestants typically change in the bathroom or under the covers. Just for a refrence point, most people change their clothes/be naked 2-3 times a day, and these people can live in the house for over 70 days, which means there are 140-210 “chances” of seeing someone naked, and a majority of the contestants on this show never show any skin on the live feeds. It is less than 1 percent of what we see on the live feeds, but when explaining it to a new person they automatically assume it’s a fantasy land of body parts. Unfortunately I have to even put this disclaimer here, but yes, there is a chance you’ll see someone naked.
I also want to give a warning, and every season people lose their minds over this, if you start watching the feeds you’ll realize the show sometimes takes, mmhmm, creative liberties when crafting the narrative. These people are in the house 24/7, but less than three hours of that is shown to the public. Plus, some weeks we know someone is leaving the second the Veto Ceremony ends, and nothing they say will change that, but for a television show that’s very boring, so the show sometimes trys and crafts a story that maybe the HG has a fighting chance of staying, they do this by showing vague DR’s and random conversations were it seems like they have a glimmer of hope of staying.
I think a great example of this is during week 2 of BBCAN3. Sindy and Bobby had a conversation in the bathroom where Sindy tried to manipulate Bobby into not nominating her. On the feeds we saw this conversation, and then Bobby immediately run to his ‘bros’ and spill every detail and laugh at Sindy’s attempt to manipulate him. BUT on the show we saw the conversation, and then a DR of Bobby saying “Sindy’s making some interesting points that I need to consider” and then the scene ends. This is done to make sure the viewers don’t instantly know that Sindy’s cruise ship is sinking.
There is also the issue of assigning proper credit to HG’s. Sometimes HG A is the person who sets the big move in motion, but HG B gets the glory and the mastermind edit. This is done because the show needs exciting TV and loud characters. If HG A is a quieter more subtle player its harder to show their moves on television (Examles being Andy Herren and Shelly Moore from BBUS, who are typically regarded as do-nothings by television only fans, but typically get credit for more subtle gameplay by live feeders.) But if HG B is all bravado and catchy DR’s its easier to make them out as the genius. This is also advice to those of you who want to be on Big Brother, being a big character, especially in the DR, is incredibly important in cementing your BB legacy and being viewed as an asset in the game by fans and producers alike.
You will eventually see dozens of tweets or facebook posts of new Feedsters outraged that HG A wasn’t given proper credit for setting up a back door, or convincing the HOH to not nominate them through manipulation. Again, only so many minutes a week. Typically if someone starts to become a contender to win, but weren’t shown very much in the beginning, they will start to receive proper credit, a flashback montage, or a DR explaining their entire game. Just to make sure people at home understand how this possible winner got as far as they did.
And the last thing I want to point out is that this is going to be a dynamic look at all the contestants. Big Brother is a TV show with characters, it just happens that the characters are real people. Someone may be portrayed as Canada’s sweetheart on the show, but could actually have a very nasty side on the feeds. Or someone who is being set up as a villain, might have a huge break down because they are missing their nephew’s seventh birthday. None of us are entirely good, and none of us are entirely evil, its eaiser to treat the HGs as black and white characters on the show, but on the feeds you are going to find it more difficult. This game has so many layers that you never even realize if you watch only the network show. Every single person in that house is one wrong word from being backdoored, and you cant really understand the tension without feeds.
Really, I think everyone reading this should try the feeds and see if they like them. The first couple nights are always crazy, since we are all so desperately listening to every conversation trying to figure out all the details we didn’t get to see (Feeds turn on typically Night 5 in the house, so we miss the first 120 hours of them in there). I always watch with a notebook in one hand and caffeine in the other. Its like a huge logic puzzle trying to figure out the current web of relationships, and alliances, and targets. Really, within two hours of watching the feeds you will know more about the contestants than you would if you watched every episode of the season. Its exciting and fun, there is nothing quite like finally figuring out who the six guy alliance is, and trying to figure out how long it will take before they turn on each other (Hint: Probably less than a week). I really hope you all are down to trying the feeds this season, so much happens we need all hands on deck to make sure no detail is missed!
