Ach, who am I kidding? September’s been a horrible month, webmongs, and I for one can’t wait to see the back of it. All I can say is that I hope the past few weeks of your lives have been better than the past few weeks of mine. Anyway, enough maudlin whinging; I’ve got nothing this week, ‘comedy’ intro-wise, so on with the webrubbish. ‘Enjoy’.
Unless you’ve been buried under a rock for the past month (and even if you have), you will have seen or heard the very good spoof of Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ put together by the very talented MJ Delaney. In case this means nothing to you, you can see it below:
With 2,473,414 views on YouTube AT THIS EXACT SECOND, it’s done quite well. It just so happens that they brains behind it happen to be friend with a colleague of mine, and so they very kindly agreed to answer a few questions about the CRAZY INTERNET WHIRLWIND which they’ve been engulfed in. Read on:
1) How long did it take you to write and record ‘Newport’?
MJ and I came up with the idea back in May as we were singing along to the Jay Z version and it just made us laugh to replace New York with Newport. MJ is a young filmmaker trying to build up her showreel so she decided to make it into a video and was the driving force behind the project. It took us about 3 evenings over the course of 2 weeks to write, during which MJ also started casting for the Jay Z and Alicia’s roles. We found Terema through a casting website but weren’t able to find a Jay Z we were happy with (there doesn’t seem to be a wealth of talented Welsh rappers in London!), so we managed to convince our actor friend Al to take on the part. We recorded it in one day at our friend’s studio (not nearly as glamorous as that sounds – we were in a cramped basement room and at one point the light bulb hanging from the ceiling exploded above our heads). Simon Bloor is a very talented sound engineer who mixed and layered it for us that evening. Then in June we made the trip to Newport on a Sunday and filmed it all in one day. MJ then spent about 2 weeks on and off editing it and she put it up on Youtube on 21st July.
2) Did you have an active plan to get it to go ‘viral’? (sorry, I hate that term too)
We never actually sat down and discussed how to seed the video but I think you have to have confidence that if your friends and colleagues like it, then they will pass it on and it will grow organically. You can’t force people to talk about something or share links on social networking sites [MY BOLDING AND ITALICS, BECAUSE IT'S TRUE], which is why Twitter and YouTube are such great meritocratic platforms to showcase work. Our aim when we first set out was 10,000 views so we never expected the kind of response that followed.
3) If so, where did you ‘seed’ the video?
We sent it to friends and colleagues and it just took on a life of itself from there. I also sent it to Newport City Council but I never got a reply…
4) If not, at what point did you see interest really taking off? What was / were the catalyst(s) for it going EVERYWHERE?
Once it was tweeted by celebrities there was a massive surge in the number of hits we received. People like Example, Lily Allen, Caitlin Moran and Stephen Fry command such a presence on Twitter that when they shared it with their followers it soon caught the attention of the mainstream media.
5) What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve received?
My personal favourite was when Alistair Stewart clapped and called it “genius” on ITV News at 10. That was pretty surreal.
6) Have the offers of work come flooding in, and if so what’s been the best?
Al and Terema have had lots of offers to play the song live at various events. Otherwise there are some ongoing negotiations but nothing concrete yet. We’d certainly like to collaborate again as we had so much fun making it.
7) Why do you think ‘Newport’ has taken off in this way (aside from the fact that it’s, y’know, good)?
It was something that the people of Newport and Wales enjoyed and were proud of, which helped a lot. On another level, I think it resonated with the British sense of humour and how we try not to take things too seriously.
8) Can I be in your next video?
I’ll put in a good word with MJ! [THAT'S A NO, THEN]
As a bonus, check out the markedly less funny response by ‘real’ Welsh ‘comedy’ rap outfit Goldie Lookin’ Chain:
I’d thought about trying to compose something pithy and insightful for the opening section this week, but frankly all I can think of is the upcoming 4-day weekend. It’s times like this that I’m particularly grateful to Jesus for riling up the Romans and getting himself nailed to a tree (as with all the good stuff on here, that line’s courtesy of someone better than me – in this case, the late, great Douglas Adams). Freedom, webmongs, sweet freedom (or at least the transitory illusion of freedom, which frankly is pretty much all any of us can hope for, with our useless arts degrees and a future of interminable wage-slavery ahead of us). To celebrate, I give you THE LIFE OF CHRIST IN CATS (one of the finest things ever to appear in Viz):
A plate depicting the life of Christ through the medium of cats. No more, no less.
Anyway, feline frippery aside, here’s this week’s offerings…:
[NB - if you're strapped for time, can I just suggest that you go straight to the last video and watch it. 23 seconds you won't regret. Obviously if you've got time then read everything as it's all...well, pretty mediocre, frankly]
You! Yes, you! Welcome, once again (presuming that you’ve been here before – if you’ve stumbled across this whilst searching for pornography then I apologise in advance for the lack of nudity but offer you a sincere first-timers’ welcome) to Web Curios.
God, that was a desperately poor intro. Sorry. What can I say? It’s Friday afternoon, and I’ve spent the entire week feeling a bit hungover under the weather. Not to mention the impact on my mood that this has had. It’s hard sometimes being a webmong (as you will well know). Nonetheless, I am putting my personal feelings of exhaustion and ennui to one side to bring you another selection of stuff I found online this week that one or two of you could conceivably find moderately interesting.
(It should be apparent by now that I am not a salesman).
We begin, this week, with a video – If you do nothing else here this week, watch this. It’s 5 minutes long, and is by far and away the best description I have yet seen of how virality works. Ignore the scaremongering undertones, and just think about how the meme below spreads. Oh, and for the non-geeks among you, a quick explanation of what 4chan is – you know all the stuff that features on those lists of the ‘biggest viral sensations EVER’? Stuff like RickRolling, the Numa Numa kid, Chocolate Rain and YouTube Porn Day? They all start at 4chan (WARNING – that link is direct to 4chan; the landing page is safe but I take no responsibility for what you might find beyond that (clue: porn and swearing)). It’s…just mental, really. Anyway, the video….
Oh Nestle… – Other ’social media gurus/mavens/experts/(insert meaningless title of your choice)’ will do this at length over the next few hours / days, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the tone of Nestle’s reponses to comments on their Facebook page probably didn’t do them any favours… Of course, as my esteemed colleague Dan Leach pointed out, it could all be very clever work by Greenpeace…
Twitter Announces @anywhere – Ok, so what this is (massively simplified) is Twitter’s next step in terms of integrating itself with other, 3rd party websites. The TechCrunch piece linked to in the title is a decent overview (and this is a shorter one)- what it doesn’t seemingly touch on, though, is the potential implications for the development of a ‘universal’ online identity. Could this be a first step into the creation of a one login / username culture, integrated across all platforms? The BBC’s announcement yesterday of greater integration with both Facebook and Twitter would suggest it could be…Oh, and at the same time Twitter also declared that it wanted to be ‘A Force For Good’. Isn’t that nice? And…er…haven’t we heard that before somewhere?
I WANT THIS TABLE IN OUR OFFICES. IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT SOMEONE IMPORTANT IS READING THIS, CAN YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN PLEASE? THANKS.
What a magazine on the iPad might look like- Women’s digital magazine Viv put together this shiny demo, showcasing how their content might work on an iPad. My first thoughts? Content for people who really enjoyed Sin Citybut who don’t actually like reading very much.
Skittles for Valentine’s Day – Part of the ongoing trend in giving people real-life (cool) stuff in exchange for engagement with brands on social media (see also the Marmarati)
And, to finish (I know, I know, tldr), this week’s video selection:
1)Losers – ‘Flush’ feat Riz MC & Envy: Great track, great video and Envy is set to be huge this year (obviously if she isn’t then I never said that)
2) I went to see this lot on Tuesday. Great gig, though I did actually cause someone to leave the venue towards the end. In the unlikely event that you ever read this: sorry, Annoying Pair of Girls, but you were really getting on my tits:
3) The Internet of Things: how the planet is developing a central nervous system. 5 minutes of frankly insane futurology here from IBM:
4) Finally, a music video of near-Gaga levels of insanity. WHY THE SELLOTAPE???
I should probably try and come up with a better title than this. One thing at a time, though, eh?
This week’s selection of stuff is coming to you a day earlier than normal, as tomorrow I am taking the day off to recover from this charity fundraiser. Given that Haiti is still in an absolute mess, you may want to donate money to an appropriate organisation here or here – go on, you know you want to.
Anyway, this week’s (bumper) selection begins with…
AMAZING FLYING ROBOT LIGHTSHOW – Those amazingly clever people at MIT have put together a prototype video to show what can be done with an army of light-up miniature helicopters. Frankly, after seeing the potential of this stuff even 3d projection starts to look a bit lame…
Vogue iPhone app makes ‘Clueless’ a reality – remember in the film ‘Clueless’ when Alicia Silverstone’s spoilt California teen uses a computer programme to coordinate an outfit from her MASSIVE wardrobe? If you’re under 30 there’s every possibility you won’t, but no matter – Vogue has created an iPhone app that does much the same thing. What’s interesting is that it only allows you to input your clothes into the app if they’re made by one of Vogue’s current advertisers – smart way of keeping your paymasters happy and incentivising other brands to take the plunge and buy ad space with you.
AxeCop- this isn’t strictly speaking new (it’s been knocking about the internet for a month or so), but I want everyone in the world to see it and marvel at its beauty. AxeCop is the stories of 5 year old Malachai Nicolle, as illustrated by his very talented elder brother Ethan. It is basically the insanity of a small boy’s imagination, beautifully illustrated and turned into a comic strip. Read it and weep with laughter. A video taster is below:
Apropos nothing, a rather nicely designed poster for K-Swiss trainers
I like this (via http://bntl.co.uk/)
More Wonderful Scandinavian Creativity – I don’t know what it is with the public sector in Sweden and their ability to use social media incredibly well, but after the brilliant ‘Your Face Here’ viral from Swedish state TV last year they have done it again. The above is a link to a case study of a brilliant campaign by the Swedish Post Office to target the elderly, in part by showing them how easy internet shopping is (because if you shop on the internet, the post office benefits). Watch, marvel, inevitably try and steal.
YouTube videos can be so much more than wedding dances and Susan Boyle. Here are six examples of how people are being creative with online videos:
ThruYOU: An online video music project launched in 2009 by Israeli, Ophir Kutiel. He takes random YouTube videos, edits and combines them to create original songs.His first creation, “Mother of All Funk Chords” has attracted nearly 1 million views to date
The Subs’ Videocast: Belgian band, The Subs, have taken a novel approach to using annotations in their videos. Viewers are encourage to check out other YouTube videos throughout their videocast – if you don’t fancy clicking, just keep watching.
In Bb 2.0: A collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls. Users can play select videos and adjust the volume to create original tracks.
BooneOakley.com: Well known but still worth a mention. The advertising agency turned the concept of having a website on its head and decided their home should be a YouTube video.
YouTube Street Fighter: Perhaps not the greatest game you’ll ever play but the novel approach to a fighting game has attracted nearly 7 million viewers / players.
