"If I Can Dream" Initial Thoughts

So I think I found my latest time suck guilty pleasure: "If I Can Dream". It's a creature that lives online. Five young people follow their dreams to LA - old story, right? The twist is that the house they're living in is fitted with over fifty cameras that broadcast their lives 24/7. Live. Unedited. At least that's the plan.

I'd really like to know what the house rules are. Based on the quick apologies and embarrassed faces that followed the few expletives I've heard slip, I'm guessing they have some behavior guidelines. Earlier this morning, Ben, whose dream is to be an actor, dropped an F-bomb while trying to load the dishwasher. "Sorry mom." It was kinda cute.

Last night was their first living in the house, and even though they just got back from a multi-country press tour, you can tell they're still adjusting to their new reality. They're getting calls and texts from family who let them know what they can see (Ben's mom heard him snoring last night). This morning they wanted to go grocery shopping - producers called the house phone to let them know they couldn't all go at once. A bit later, the scroll bar that sits at the bottom of the screen had an update: "Watch Ben, Justin and Amanda take the Ford Fiesta shopping today at 12:30 pm ET." Ford, as you might have guessed, is a sponsor (along with Hulu, Clear Channel, MySpace and Pepsi). I heard a Quaker oatmeal shout-out this morning in the kitchen - Quaker is a Pepsico brand. In that way it really reminds me of The Truman Show. I liked it when the people around Truman would randomly go into commercial/product placement mode.

I've got a lot more to say about the project...after the jump.

I know that a lot of folks are going to try make this out as a new "Big Brother," but "If I Can Dream" isn't a competition, at least not in the traditional sense. Each of the housemates have serious dreams for making it big (Amanda wants to be an actress and model; Giglianne wants to be a high fashion model; and Kara wants to be an actress). Along with Ben, there is one other dude in the house - Justin - who you might have already heard of. He used to date Miley Cyrus. He's already had his break in modeling, but his real dream is to be successful musician. So I guess the "competition" is really between them and the world.

A huge difference between "If I Can Dream" and "Big Brother" is that while the "Big Brother" houseguests are pretty well sequestered from the rest of the world, the Dreamers are completely plugged in. They each have Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace profiles, and they are encouraged to use them regularly. They can also freely use their phones, and they seem to have full internet access. In one particularly meta moment, Justin was watching a clip of himself on his laptop - the clip was of him following himself earlier in the day. He used his laptop and wireless connection to test the sight-lines of the camera pointed at his bathroom mirror. So he's using his laptop to watch a clip of himself watching himself in that same laptop earlier in the day.

I'm a little scared by how interested I am in this thing already. Maybe I've got a voyeuristic side I didn't know about (okay, I might have had an inkling it was there)! I checked out the house early this afternoon before I headed out, and because of the time difference, it was just around the time they were starting to wake up. I totally heard Ben peeing, which kind of weirded me out. I mean, what if he has to, you know? I just hope there's some way for them to mute the mic when they need to, because if I accidently pick up the sound of someone poo-ing, I'm going to throw up. For reals. I guess there's other ways for them to get a bit of privacy when they need it. For example, Justin is in his room right now, but all the cameras are dark (lights off?) and the music is up. Who knows what he's doing.

On a related note, Ben and Amanda were talking in the living room a little while ago - Amanda said something about how she wants to know when she can pass gas. Ben was like, yeah, I've already let a couple rip. Hey, we get to experience it all.

Gosh, I meant to share just my initial reactions. Like I said, I've got a few. One last thing I want to call out is the really interesting user interface of the site. When you log on, you can move your mouse around a 3D model of the house, which each of the rooms and its current occupants identified. Or, if you're looking for a particular person, you can click on their picture at the bottom of the screen, and you'll be taken to wherever they are. If you don't feel like manually following em around, you can also select the "just watch" option, and let the producers find the action for you. It's really hard for me to do the site justice - you really should check it out. It's just really intuitive and beautifully designed.

Okay, that's all I've got for you for now. I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite topic for a while. Bottom line: please check it out. I'll leave you with a couple screen shots to give you an idea of the design of the thing. I took some other, more Dreamer-focussed screen shots this morning, but I'm afraid posting them would take me to a whole other level of creepy.

Okay, one last thing. Because it just came up (yes, I have it up in another browser tab), and it's really cute. Ben is getting ready to go to bed (he's the only one up at this point). Sitting on the edge of his bed, he starts thanking everyone involved in the project (and the folks who are helping his dream come true). He also gave shout-outs to his family and friends.   And the people in the control room, because "[they] are probably the biggest creepers of them all." Am I a creeper? I guess I am. There's a pic below. You're welcome.

Comments

[rachel/herenowhere3]

if my computer weren't too dysfunctional to deal with live video, this would so be my new obsession.

[Jordan]

It's okay. As you can see, I'm obsessed enough for the both of us. :-)

[rachel/herenowhere3]

lol. well, i do look forward to your future posts on the subject. i need a new computer. if i had a better computer i would literally spend every summer watching the Big Brother live feeds.