I'm trying to find out more about this (probabably online, probably from the mid-90s) TV show, possibly called "The Bunker"
October 5, 2009 3:46 PM
I'm trying to find out more about this (probabably online, probably from the mid-90s) TV show, possibly called "The Bunker"
I was in Berkely, CA a few weeks ago and heard a long story about this guy, probably either on the berkely local station or the local NPR station, who made a series of really early reality "TV" shows. I think he owned or operated an "online TV network" which was pretty much a failure because it was the mid-90s and no one had the bandwidth to watch it, or the interest in watching a 1" slow loading "show".
One of his shows was called, I think, "The Bunker" and was basically just a locked facility with a bunch of people and cameras in it, with no goals or way to win (unlike most current reality tv) and very few rules. It had some weird stuff in it like a firing range with automatic weapons, I think everyone slept in sort of little "pods" instead of rooms.
He also did a show that was him in his house with his girlfriend with cameras EVERYwhere including above the bed and in his toilet. I'm pretty sure this show was only online and on all the time - not so much a "show" as "a series of webcams". His girlfriend left the project after she got pretty weirded out, I think.
Anyone know who this is, what the shows were called, where I can find out more about it? The bunker show sounds really fascinating to me, especially since as I understand it, it got weirdly totalitarian towards the end.
I was in Berkely, CA a few weeks ago and heard a long story about this guy, probably either on the berkely local station or the local NPR station, who made a series of really early reality "TV" shows. I think he owned or operated an "online TV network" which was pretty much a failure because it was the mid-90s and no one had the bandwidth to watch it, or the interest in watching a 1" slow loading "show".
One of his shows was called, I think, "The Bunker" and was basically just a locked facility with a bunch of people and cameras in it, with no goals or way to win (unlike most current reality tv) and very few rules. It had some weird stuff in it like a firing range with automatic weapons, I think everyone slept in sort of little "pods" instead of rooms.
He also did a show that was him in his house with his girlfriend with cameras EVERYwhere including above the bed and in his toilet. I'm pretty sure this show was only online and on all the time - not so much a "show" as "a series of webcams". His girlfriend left the project after she got pretty weirded out, I think.
Anyone know who this is, what the shows were called, where I can find out more about it? The bunker show sounds really fascinating to me, especially since as I understand it, it got weirdly totalitarian towards the end.
Fantastic! This should be plenty to get me started.
posted by RustyBrooks at 4:35 PM on October 5, 2009
posted by RustyBrooks at 4:35 PM on October 5, 2009
That movie was pretty interesting. It doesn't really hold up as a doc, but much of the footage from the social experiments you describe is fascinating and a bit unsettling. Seek it out.
posted by yellowbinder at 9:46 PM on October 5, 2009
posted by yellowbinder at 9:46 PM on October 5, 2009
I went and saw it in a local theater. It was pretty decent but I was a little unhappy that the film-maker was a participant in his "Quiet!" experiment. It... made it seem a little less documentary. I am kind of wondering if it was not really a very popular phenomenon at the time. Prior to seeing the movie I thought the original experiment happened several years before it did (it actually happened in the very late 90s, when it's VERY likely I would have heard of it if it had gained popularity, since I was very involved in the zeitgeist at the time)
posted by RustyBrooks at 2:36 PM on November 5, 2009
posted by RustyBrooks at 2:36 PM on November 5, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by octothorpe at 4:06 PM on October 5, 2009