Nick, actually "surge" is a pretty strong hook for viewers because of media news jargon (probably incorrect). I would probably stay away from the "t" word for a couple of years . . .

WRT going viral, although not exactly a million hitter, this one of ours from 2004 went fungal still gets steady attention (that's me on the bass solo).

The only experience I've had with a video going somewhat Viral was a spoof we made that was perfectly timed with the release of the intel based mac line. utilizing Starwars footage when Anikin was just transformed to Darth Vader. We changed a few words with ADR and put some funny images like the intel logo on Darth's helmet, and an Intel processor on his chest piece.

Then we sent it to engadget the day before or the day after the release of the first intel based mac.

It's got over 1M views and was being posted on forums and websites in different languages, etc... it was very niche though, so it didn't have really mass appeal.

Dave

"...this one of ours from 2004 Ha! I love it! Hope you don't mine - I plan on stealing that phrase!

...Jerry

[IMG=http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t140/rs170a/358344full.gif]

Mike

Okay. I'll try it to see if it works for me

Hey! It worked. Thanks!

Just get yourself a Saxaphone[/link]
and learn to play it badly. 585,000 hits in 2 days!

Here's one that should go viral, but the problem is that the amazing stuff doesn't happen until the 3:55 mark:



Watch a few seconds and then click just beyond the 1/3 position on the timeline to move the video ahead to that point.

This guy went to school with my daughter. When he's not doing these stunts, he is an absolutely amazing musician.

So, the point is, to go viral, you have to, in the immortal words from the movie Jerry Maguire, "get them from the word 'go'."

Robin Hood, the Heavy Metal Rock Cellist performs his tribute to the Flying Wallendas - what a concept!! Wonder what he does for an encore? [grin]

...Jerry

To wrap this thread up, there are times that the performer is really really bad and she gets over 136,960,112 hits (that's not a typo).
There's no accounting for taste - or lack thereof :(

http://new.ca.music.yahoo.com/blogs/videogaga/71429/is-youtube-sensation-rebecca-blacks-friday-the-worst-song-ever/The article[/link]

The video[/link]

Mike

Hmmm. Maybe a video of dancing zombies, bears, grapes, super mario, bananas, and other characters could if it reached the right blog. Then again, maybe 4:20 is too long and all those characters would have to appear in 30 second time frame.


Maybe some silly commentary and music over pics of some cooking instructions could go viral if it were picked up and made fun of by the right internet personality. Maybe tagging it correctly or having a different title could do it.


Maybe some fools in the park with a Peanuts style piano tune and some poetry could.
WARNING: F-BOMB IN THE LAST 10 SEC OF THIS NEXT VIDEO (for anyone sensitive to cursing)...


I don't know what makes a viral video, but I think as long as you have fun and don't take yourself too seriously, you never know what could happen. Just pump videos out and have fun. The more you do, the better you'll get and eventually someone will notice. Even if they don't ever get seen by more than a handful of people you had fun, right?

What goes viral?

2 days, over 1.3 million hits.
Sent to me from a friend who thought it was pretty funny (He's half Asian and half white). (:

Decent quality for a YouTube video of this sort.

http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments=1&v=lOGpGoEMu2s&page=26

Another important tip to go viral: give a really dumb answer as a beauty contestant.




Over 49 million views and counting.


Steve

Here's how to do it:

1) Defocus your camera
2) Get your buddy to dress up in a Chewbacca suit and walk across the street in front of you.
3) Take 5 seconds of video.
4) Upload to YouTube.
5) Drop the word to your local news organizations that you have a Big Foot video.



...Jerry

Did anyone mention LUCK?

Rebecca Black's "Friday" is up to 55 million, but it didn't take off until it was mentioned on someone's blog about how bad it was.

Maybe you need to dumb down your video. Just sayin', in today's short-attention-span world.

What is it about this video that makes it bad? It has good DOF shots. some nice shooting angles as well as some fancy effects with the weeks day's go by. Is it just me or is it that irritating teenage music track that kills it?

Is it just me or is it that irritating teenage music track that kills it?

IMO, it's the irritating track combined with the fact that she isn't that good of a singer.
I've shot a number of grade school musicals over the years and most of the girls in them had a far better voice than she does.

Mike

Only a bit over 1M views but ...



Bob.

This should!

I have a question that is related to viral videos.

I've been asked to edit a 30 second clip to be sent as an email attachment to many.

What output format would be best for this file? Is there a standard for both mac and pc users?

To render straight from Vegas would be ideal.

Thank you
Paige

Paige

You'll likely get more responses if you start a new thread with a subject line more appropriate to the question.

I've been asked to edit a 30 second clip to be sent as an email attachment to many.

This is a bad idea. Different folks have *very* different internet speeds. Also there is a limit on the size of eMail. A much better way would be to post the video someplace (YouTube is one) and just send the link.