Here’s how the show got the house and game ready for its first deaf contestant.
Big Brotherseason 25 has already been filled with big twists and turns.
A"Time Laser" was set off.SurvivorlegendCirie Fields entered the game.
Matt Klotz on ‘Big Brother’ season 25.CBS
And just the other night, contestants were attacked by something called a “Nether Gorgan.”
(I promise, all of that actually happened.)
The preparation for Matt’s arrival started before the contestants even moved to the house.
Matt Klotz on ‘Big Brother’ season 25.CBS
“We met Matt in the casting process and loved him,” says executive producer Allison Grodner.
So we were thrilled to take that on."
Taking that on meant taking a long hard look at the way producers normally interact with contestants.
Matt Klotz on ‘Big Brother’ season 25.CBS
“And so we had to figure out how we were going do that with Matt.”
The first step was testing out some new audio equipment.
Matt was actually blindfolded and taken into the house before the game began to test out the tech.
Matt Klotz on ‘Big Brother’ season 25.CBS
Nor could producers just turn the volume way up for Matt’s hearing aids to pick up.
“The Diary Room is a place where you tell your inner secrets, right?”
Then we are doing a disservice to Matt because we’re releasing secrets to the houseguests."
Matt Klotz from ‘Big Brother’.Sonja Flemming/CBS
It turned out that some of the lower baritone voices were easier for him to hear."
Getting the right voice and speaker was just one part of the solution, however.
Those fixes would work hand-in-hand with the producers' other big tool, which was a new voice-to-text system.
“And we put monitors in those places and we selectively control.”
This is not as simple as it seems, and could go horribly wrong in a few different ways.
There’s another danger to this system as well.
“We live with headsets on our heads,” says Crivelli of the crew.
“And we communicate in parallel to what’s happening in the house.
Of course, one of the most important elements involving audio is the competitions.
But what aboutduringthe competition?
“That’s fast.”
But not fast enough.
“So when Julie or a producer says, ‘On your mark, get set, go!’
or there’s the buzzer to start, that cannot be a voice-to-text cue,” explains Crivelli.
“Because guess what?
He will start late.
We don’t want that for him.”
The Twisted Tasks Veto competition taking place on tonight’s episode offered a particular challenge.
The competition itself comes from the Scrambleverse and takes place in a 1990s music store.
Each contestant goes into the store one at a time to find three record players.
The Houseguests put on headphones and listen to the records, each one of which plays an audio clue.
The players must then put all three clues together.
“And so it’s a clear audio element.”
The process involved a bit of trial and error.
“And he identified the one that that worked best for him.
The frequency of the voices was determined based on his strength of what he could hear.
And that same tone and voice went to everybody.”
Just as important as finding the right tone and voice was finding the right way to deliver them.
There’s nothing we can do about that.
And the best way to do that?
“So we have to be proactive with that.
And we’ve asked him to be an advocate for himself.”
“He’s very confident and he’s an incredibly competitive,” says Grodner.
And that game continues this evening.
