When I first heard about Pharrell Williams's 24-hour long video of his hit song "Happy" I thought it sounded like a unique, new form of torture. This went way beyond earworms.
Boy was I surprised.
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| Opening image from the video |
The video is one continuous shot of one person or small group after another lip synching to Williams's song as they move/dance through various locations in and around Los Angeles. Williams himself appears once an hour on the hour, for 24 appearances. In between, if I've done the math right, are 14 unique performances each hour. And the performers? A huge range of ages, ethnicities, and level of fitness and ability. There are amazing break-dancers and a wheelchair-bound granny. Goofy toddlers and very dignified middle-aged folks. Ballet dancers and Lindy Hoppers. Self-conscious, awkward teens and insanely unrestrained college kids. Big folks and slender ones. Black, white, Asian, Latino, and all sorts of multi-racial mixes.
A number of the voice actors from
Despicable Me 2 (the song was in the sound track) and some random minions also make appearances.
Just as fun as the performers are the reactions of the people on the street watching someone dance through their neighborhood shopping district.
This is honestly people-watching gold.
You don't have to sit through the entire performance of each person to get a feel for his or her character. Navigation on the side of the page lets you skip ahead or back from one performer to the next.
You can view the video
HERE.
Where you drawn to certain kinds of performers? Were your prejudices about certain groups affirmed or challenged? What would the protagonist of your story do if invited to appear in the video?
This sounds super cool! Stuff like this is neat- especially when it features your average, everyday person.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite addicting, so beware! :-)
DeleteThis sounds like a type of flash mob video. I've seen a number of them on the Net.
ReplyDelete