“Did you see it?” “Wasn’t it shit?” “I thought it was amazing, what?” “The cinematography was good though”.

…this is the conversation I had over and over last Thursday when it came to talking about Channel 4′s reality replacement for Big Brother, Seven Days.

Seven Days is a show which so far comprises of 90% vacuous west London idiots and a couple of interesting bods* having their lives followed by cameras and documented. Now, this in itself is just a less micro-personal invasive version of Big Brother – but it’s not only taking reality TV back to its roots, but adding the fourth dimension!

It’s taking reality TV back to its roots. No set ups, no laborious tasks, no bug eating, ice dancing, jail breaking (yes Channel 5, I still remember Jailbreak), house squatting bullshit. This is following real people (if you can call some of them real) in their real** lives. It’s a breath of fresh reality air. What’s also refreshing is the cinematography! It’s so beautifully shot compared to every other reality show. Finally someone is thinking “Is this the best angle for this?” and not “When’s lunch?”.

Adding the fourth dimension. The only problem with Big Brother was the only real interaction you had with housemates was who you wanted to evict, and that was only from a shortlist of people the housemates has chosen themselves. In a socially information hungry age where people (including me) will IMDB a film whilst watching it, or will tweet about a TV show whilst watching, not having interaction with the show is utter #fail. This is where Seven Day’s ChatNav comes in, you can talk to the characters and advise them on what they should be doing. Should they have tea of coffee with their friends? Should they really go out on a date with the ex boyfriend? etc etc…

So, Channel 4 have brought reality TV back to where it should be, and added that forth dimension to mix things up. They are on to a winner, right? Well, I personally found it rather boring at times. Interesting, but focused way too much on two models in french maids outfits (I’m still watching Channel 4 right? not Five? Where’s Charlie Stayt?) and not enough of rapper wannabe Javan or muslim student Moktar! What about Malcolm, or what @gracedent likes to call the “rastafarian emo phillips and his planning permission angst“?

With the interactivity seeding through to this weeks show, I know none of you can wait for another hour of two superficial models and a dog called Onions, I know I can’t [/sarcasm]. Which is why, with help from a couple of friends, I have decided make a spoof. Introducing: Seven Minutes.

The concept of the weekly*** video, is to capture a moment in the life of someone using 7 minutes of footage, and upload it for your viewing pleasure. Much like the show Seven Days, Seven Minutes also has no point to it, apart to stroke the characters ego, and to be content to fill the internet (TV schedule in Channel 4′s case).
TweetCatch me on @SEBBYWOOD if you want to be featured on Seven Minutes, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #sevenminutes.

We hope to release the first Seven Minutes just after Seven Days this Wednesday, or on Thursday (could be later though, so be warned).

*90% vacuous of the characters that have been introduced so far, not of the whole cast.
**real as in for post west London people, not us normal people.
***weekly is used to describe a length of time that could vary from a week to a fortnight, depending on schedules of production team and length of editing process.

“You’re everything [...] that a design icon is.”

That’s the quote that has just been written on my facebook. Absorb it. Take it in. Learn it.

Now find out why it was said. Oh the shame smugness.