[Brekkie]

Hello. Firstly, Sketch-up has beaten me so they'll be none of that here - and my graphics design isn't too hot so it'll be more about giving you the general idea rather than wowing you with graphical wizardry.

That said though you will get a houseplan - and you will get a series outline - when it's ready! LOL


To start with though we have the eye. I've redesigned it and made it simpler - and a bit funkier IMO. It's also now just one solid shape - no extra eye-lashes down the bottom.

I want to move away from the idea of a new pattern each year - so the eye will be used differently throughout the promos and series itself. It's going a bit minimalist - a very simple eye in the centre of the screen.


Let's start with a couple of press shots - very simple, white on black or black on white - versions with and without the text.




Next the eye flashes - the first time it's seen on screen. I want to move away from the traditional structure of the promo campaign, but the eye flashes will retain elements of it. Basically, again it's a very simple logo - but hidden behind it are sneak peaks of the house. It animates in a way similar to the Skins logo.






That's your lot for now - I've not been here long but I know the standard practise is too tease and milk these things as long as possible.


Next: More shots of the eye in use

[monkeymadness]

this is the best eye we have seen so far i think apart from conor

[Brekkie]

Thankyou.

(I'm not even going to attempt to out-do Conor - he's ace!)

[Harry!]

Like the black/white ones but not the ones with the backgronds in.

[Riz]

oh wow i like the way youve changed the template its HOT!. lol

[Conor]

wow! These are nice Brekkie! Weldone! Personally I think your eye is much better than mine, love the template change!

[Spike]

I love that eye, looks great

[Brekkie]

Thanks for the comments so far, especially on the eye.

Bit of a mental block at the moment I'm afraid, but getting there slowly. In the mean time, an idea of how the countdown ads will work (don't get too excited!). Well, I say ads - they're simply, emphasis on the word simply, incorporated into the eye flashes:



The text basically slowly separates and then disappears - all in a 2-3 second break flash.


Advertising campaign
I'm not clever enough to actually create the main ad campaign but I'll describe it. It's called "The Mark of Big Brother".

The idea is to emphasise that housemates are taken from all walks of life. For example, we have a classroom where a teacher has disappeared - with the only evidence being a chalking of the BB eye on the blackboard (not that schools have blackboards nowadays LOL).

Similarly we could have a lumberjack (example), disappearing off into the trees - with the BB eye left behind etched into the tree. Or a farmer, nowhere to be seen - with just a BB eye crop-circle left behind. There would be 4-6 variations.

You get the idea - it's a rip off of the mark of Zorro. But I think it would be quite effective - and also a campaign which creates the hype without actually revealing too much.


Series length
I'll reveal a bit more about my series plan though. I'm cutting it to 90 days, to begin on Sunday 1st June. Firstly, I believe by just making it four days shorter I can have 25% less housemates than the last couple of years (dependent on quitters), and secondly I think a Sunday launch gives the show the opportunity to build audience throughout the first week before the inevitable weekend dip.

The premise of the series too is more about "re-establishing" Big Brother, rather than "reinventing" it. I believe they screwed it up so much last year it really needs to find it's feet again first before attempting any major change. Of course they'll be a few twists and format changes throughout, but the focus is more on concentrating on doing what they do, well.

NEXT UP: The titles or the floorplan, whichever comes first. Oh, and we're going two storey BTW. if Elstree can't build out, they're building up - and it's amazing how different the house would be with a second storey.

[Sam1994]

I love the advertising campaign, it is a wonderful idea. I also love the eye!

[MR.K!]

love it.. cant wait to see more. well done !

[Brekkie]

The floorplan is coming - it was practically finished but then I watched Grand Designs and got house envy - something there I definately want to nick!!!!

Apart from that though I'm very happy with it - and definately think moving up to the second floor just gives the house a whole new feel.


Not 100% happy with this at all, but a general idea for the end of the titles:



Still needs alot of work but the basic layout is there - small eye in middle, text logo underneath (which slowly separates) and a blue/black colour scheme, with the outside of the eye logo repeated. It would animate out of the main eye. I'll come back to them later though - or if anyone wants to take my logo and create something themselves, please feel free to do so.


Hopefully then will have the floorplan complete in the next couple of days, but here's a teaser - the first floor...



Housemates enter through a corridor and arrive on the balcony, which overlooks the main living area. There is a small seating area on the balcony.

Then there is the bathroom to the left, which has a glass wall which overlooks the main living area (though shower area is made a bit more private), while on the right we have the first floor bedroom, which sleeps 5 housemates.


I'll post the ground floor layout by the end of the week.

[Brekkie]

Good news bad news guys. I've got the builders in as Matt has very kindly agreed to sketch-up my house for me - though I'm sure he'll regret it when I tell him the angle of the stairs is 1° out and get him to start again!

So I'm going to hold off revealing the rest of the floorplan at the minute. In the mean time then I'm going to go into more detail about the plans for the series itself.


As I've said before it's more about re-establishing the show than reinventing it - so it's going to be about rediscovering our love for Big Brother. There will still be new features and the occasional twist, but the backbone of the series will be the core format of nominations, evictions and tasks - though this year more competition will be encouraged.


As I've said, it's 90 days and launches on Sunday 1st June, which conveniently means the first eviction takes place on Friday 13th!!!! 13 housemates will move in on launch night - oh, and the jackpot is going up to a more desirable Ł250,000.

More later.

[Brekkie]

RULES
The basic rules remain unchanged. Nominations will generally be the traditional method - nominate two, two with the most votes up, public evict.

Discussion of nominations remains banned, but the three-strike rule returns to deal with rule breakers. Three strikes and your out. No exceptions.

Any quitters or kicked out housemates are replaced by Big Brother directly as soon as possible.

And of course, no contact with the outside world.


HOUSE RULES
Nobody likes the phrase "back to basics", but that will be a key feature of the house set up. Hot water is back to one hour a day during the morning, although housemates can buy extra hours through their shopping budget.

And with food there is a big change - ready made food is banned, so everything they eat they make from scratch. It's not going to be advertised as the selling point of the series - but it's one of those changes which should help change the feel of the show and remind both housemates and viewers of the original ideas behind the show.

Apart from that Big Brother stays out of the running of the house - as much as possible is down to the housemates. Only other major rule is on eviction night only the evictee can climb the stairs - meaning we don't have that annoying "Housemates please close the front door" announcement at the end of the countdown.


TASKS
Tasks will once again be put at the centre of the format, with the general format being a weekly task for the food budget (Sun-Wed) and the Saturday Challenge for luxuries and other prizes, along with the occasional additional challenge. There will be some key challenges throughout the series which are far more important than others.


HOUSEMATES
As I've said, 13 housemates will move in on launch night. The format accommodates three more moving in later in the series (like death and taxes, new housemates are inevitable) - with just four remaining in the final week. Six has been far too many in recent years, and I still remember the final weeks of BB1-3 far more than I remember those of recent years which supposedly had more housemates to be more "entertaining". Having just four finalists forces the final four to really live together - whether they like each other or not.

[Brekkie]

OK, changed my mind about waiting for Matt to sketch-up for me. As with all builders, that's going to take a bit of time and I think if I'm going to press ahead with a series outline I need to have the floorplan to refer too. It then at least gives you some idea of the layout.


So here is THE HOUSE

As I've mentioned, it's two storey. Upstairs accommodates the entrance, a balcony over the living area, the bathroom - with a glass wall over looking the living area, and the upper part of the bedroom, which has a separate staircase linking it to the downstairs bedroom too.


Upstairs

No bath this year - but a good sized double shower. And I've deliberately made the upper bedroom sleep just 5 so they can't simply divide themselves between the two sleeping areas on the basis of male/female.


Moving downstairs, and as well as the staircase in the bedroom there is also a staircase in the living area too - and on eviction nights all other housemates must remain on the ground floor as the evictee heads off up the stairs for the exit. That means no housemates can hold up proceedings by keeping the front door open.


Downstairs

The lounge is at the foot of the stairs, with the kitchen next to the bedroom and dining area looking out on the garden. The diary room is accessed via a corridor under the stairs, while the store room is tucked away under the balcony.

Glass double doors lead into the lower part of the bedroom, which sleeps eight.


And then we go outside into the garden - bigger, to ensure more room for tasks with a reasonably sized outdoor pool too. Smoking area to the left, sun loungers and outdoor dining area to the right.

In the "room with no name" (yet LOL) in the garden we have the gym, a hot tub and a sauna, along with a shower - but this won't be available to housemates from the offset. It will be glass fronted with doors that open it up to the outside (similarly with the house), but it's possible a screen could be used to keep it hidden from view for the first couple of weeks or so - or Big Brother could leave it all on view and just not let anyone in!


Think that's everything explained - not made any decisions on décor or anything yet - it's the layout more than the look I'm more interested in.

And just to make things a bit easier, an all in one plan - red area is upstairs, rest is down.



NEXT: The series pans out...

All replies appreciated...

[Conor]

Ooh, LOVE this house plan Brekkie! Weldone! Cant wait to see more now The screen hiding the Luxury room is such a good idea

[Jack]

I love the floorplan. Looks very well thought out and professional. I really like the eye too.

[Brekkie]

Thanks - I'm really happy with it, especially as I think it proves Elstree could be more flexible by adding a second floor, and I've deliberately kept that area quite small to keep it a bit more realistic considering how much the roof slants!

[Spike]

Love it, really like the circular shape of the grass. Its great

[Matt]

The floorpan is great - love the idea of the luxury spa/gym/sauna area. The whole project is shaping up brilliantly. I can't wait to read your series plans

[Brekkie]

The Series begins...
I'd better start this series plan then before BB9 comes along and uses all my ideas first! So cue alot of waffle and several contradictions about what I said earlier. I'll try and stick to the key elements as if I go into too much detail I'll run out of ideas by week 4, so with tasks especially I'll just suggest a few, not ideas for every week.


Sunday 1st June: Launch Night
13 housemates move in during the live launch show, which essentially follows the same format as recent year - but would be a bit slicker in production - as I'm in charge, not those so called professionals at Endemol.

The luxury spa/gym/sauna area remains hidden from view at the start of the show, but the rest of the house is open and available to the housemates.

No twist itself plays out on opening night but Davina hints at a couple of things for the viewers. Firstly, Big Brother will providing the housemates with food and a roof over their head for the next few months - so expects something in return.

And secondly, she informs us she'll return on Friday where we'll discover just how far the housemates will go to avoid being the first evictee.

to be continued...

[Brekkie]

Week 1

As has been the case for the last few years, the housemates enter with just the basics and receive their suitcase from Big Brother later - or not.

Shortly after moving in they'll soon realise that this year it's not just food they have to buy either. It's itchy blankets on the bed - if they want comfy duvets, they'll have to buy them. And if they don't pay for hot water, well it's cold showers all round.


On Day 2 they get their budget for the first week - a flat Ł250 to spend on food, hot water, duvets and as many suitcases as they can afford.

However, the old chalk and blackboard is gone - we're going hi-tech with the "Shopping Screen" - with a catch. The longer they take to decide, the less money they have to spend - the available budget will gradually fall as the time passes.


... to be continued

[Jack]

Wow, I'm loving your ideas. They're are simple without being boring. I like the idea of the housemates buying everything.

[Brekkie]

Originally posted by Jack
Wow, I'm loving your ideas. They're are simple without being boring. I like the idea of the housemates buying everything.

Thanks Jack. Simple is turning out to be easier said than done when nowadays viewers expect a twist around every corner - and more importantly you need to ensure the bits between the twists are worth watching too.

[Jack]

It's going back to the show's roots, without taking a step back if you know what I mean. Loveing it so far, can't wait for more.

[Conor]

I abeslutley love it all Brekkie! Weldone

I love the first twist!