IDeATe

Outcome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX5zWUoVjP8 (shortened version)

Intention

When I think of viral content on the internet, I immediately think of all the ridiculous yet extremely popular shared content on Facebook. Some of the videos I see most often, whether on Facebook, advertised on websites, or in snapchat, are ones made by Buzzfeed. While Buzzfeed has some serious content, much of their videos and articles have to do with content that is complete nonsense. Some examples of their articles include:

"What Is Your Inner Potato"

"15 Hedgehogs With Things That Look Like Hedgehogs"

"3 Bananas That Look Like Celebrities"

These articles seem pointless and ridiculous, yet Buzzfeed is still widely popular in our generation. For my project, I'd like to compile some of the most ridiculous parts of various Buzzfeed videos, both to highlight the nonsensical nature of their content, and also the way that we are often captivated by absurd, irrelevant videos or articles we find on the internet.

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Context

I think I was influenced a lot by the many "reaction videos" that circulate wildly on Facebook, Twitter, etc., where people simply combine a video with a reaction gif or comment. BuzzFeed videos are also really popular, so I decided to combine the two, and create a video that pokes fun at BuzzFeed by adding reaction gifs. In a way, I was influenced by BuzzFeed itself, as many of its articles are just mashups of other content found on the internet with commentary or reaction gifs.

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Process

From my original concept, I first started by browsing the BuzzFeed site and youtube, to find all the most ridiculous BuzzFeed videos I could find. There were a bunch of really ridiculous articles, but I had to stick to videos, so it was a little more difficult to get a good amount. Instead of adding commentary, I decided to use gifs as reactions to clips of the videos. I also decided to mostly use the title sequences clips from each BuzzFeed video, as those parts were the most easily understandable, and having a bunch of unrelated clips cut from the middle of various videos seemed like it would be too confusing to watch. It was relatively easy to string the clips together, and actually took more time to create an interesting beginning and end to the video. I struggled with coming up with a solid ending, but I think the introduction came out as intended. Also, I intentionally left the audio blank for the gif clips, to emphasize a sort of awkwardness, but in the future might want to play around with some tracks that might make the video flow better.

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Product

I published my final product on Youtube, where I think such a video might spread most quickly, especially because the file size is quite large. I used Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 to create the video, and VideoGrabby to get clips from various youtube videos. In Premiere, I was able to manipulate the video clips and add effects that made the video more interesting, like playing with opacity, green screen videos, and clip speed. I also used quicktime to get a few screen videos that I used in my final product. Lastly, I used Giphy to search for and download all the gifs I used in the video.

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Critique

I think the end result was somewhat similar to what I intended to create. Although there were many things I wish I could have done (e.g. make the ending more interesting, add more clips, maybe give a little more commentary), but did not due to time or technical limitations, I think the main point of the video comes across pretty clearly. Personally, the video is somewhat humorous, but might not be to other people, so it would be interesting to have others watch it.

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Reflection

From this project, I learned how much time it takes to create a video of even relatively short length. One can spend a lot of time on a mere few seconds of footage! I also learned that it came be difficult to clearly express a message when only remixing material created by other people. I found myself wanting to create new content that would help me more clearly convey my message of BuzzFeed's pointlessness or strangeness, but had to try to do the same thing by manipulating the clips I had in different ways.

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Sources

Cite and attribute any sources you used directly in your project. Document this carefully: be very clear about what media you worked with, where you found it and how/where it was incorporated.

Buzzfeed videos I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNWl0KcVc8I&list=PL5vtqDuUM1Dk_EeReI21fzkdnDz2LJySH&index=28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQti92oPHmk&list=PL5vtqDuUM1Dk_EeReI21fzkdnDz2LJySH&index=37

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9ksyP5sFbI&list=PL5vtqDuUM1Dk_EeReI21fzkdnDz2LJySH&index=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwdKXuMRZ2Y&list=PL5vtqDuUM1Dk_EeReI21fzkdnDz2LJySH&index=12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPLgcTbEMSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qyf8KKWRZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uku6ZZDVq8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgNx73rpyF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNWl0KcVc8I&list=PL5vtqDuUM1Dk_EeReI21fzkdnDz2LJySH&index=28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XWUvEnAY0o

https://www.buzzfeed.com/gustavecadet/what-if-disney-princesses-were-fighters-elsa-vs-snow-white?utm_term=.ovNyny3bO#.ks70L07z4