Going viral

Kholi said:
I'm not sure how any of those statements, while at least one is factually incorrect, disqualifies the Zelda Trailer, a video posted online that attracted 10 Million plus views in the span of a week, as a viral video.
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This is the second post in one thread which doesn't really say anything except "You're wrong!" First, if you're going to say one of my statements is factually incorrect, then why not just come out and say which one? Why be so mysterious? (and if it's about IGN commissioning the piece, I did add the disclaimer that I'm doing that from memory, which is what that means). It WAS heavily promoted on that site, since that's how I first heard about it.

Again, you did a LEGEND OF ZELDA trailer. If I go and post something that is titled as the new Star Trek trailer for the next movie, I'm going to get a lot of hits. But that's a brute force solution, now isn't it?
 
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Gary Huff said:
Gary Huff said:
This is the second post in one thread which doesn't really say anything except "You're wrong!" First, if you're going to say one of my statements is factually incorrect, then why not just come out and say which one? Why be so mysterious? (and if it's about IGN commissioning the piece, I did add the disclaimer that I'm doing that from memory, which is what that means). It WAS heavily promoted on that site, since that's how I first heard about it.
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It hit the site first, indeed. Under what circumstances behind that veil doesn't matter. It more than likely isn't what you assume, though.
Again, you did a LEGEND OF ZELDA trailer. If I go and post something that is titled as the new Star Trek trailer for the next movie, I'm going to get a lot of hits. But that's a brute force solution, now isn't it?
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So, you're basically saying that anything with a predisposed amount of popularity isn't considered viral?
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No, what I'm saying is that it's worthless for determining how to make videos go viral. Let's look at it this way.

"How can I write a movie that will make 300+ million dollars at the summer box office?"

"Simple. Write the next Star Wars film."

Now, you're entirely correct that writing a Star Wars film will result in a movie that will almost undoubtedly make millions of dollars at the box office, but all the same your advice is next to worthless, is it not?

So you could say, "Viral videos are easy to make. Just take an existing property and make a video based off that!"

Of course, how could someone use a Legend of Zelda trailer to generate any interest (read: money) into their coming-of-age mumblecore film?
 
Gary Huff said:
No, what I'm saying is that it's worthless for determining how to make videos go viral. Let's look at it this way.
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Unfortunately, I don't see the logic here. We're talking about viral videos and how they become. You can easily repeat the results by catering to a fan base. Viral is viral, or I guess it's not?

"How can I write a movie that will make 300+ million dollars at the summer box office?"

"Simple. Write the next Star Wars film."

Now, you're entirely correct that writing a Star Wars film will result in a movie that will almost undoubtedly make millions of dollars at the box office, but all the same your advice is next to worthless, is it not?
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These aren't in the same category to me. We've got a different outlook on the topic, and I know what happens when that's the case.

Let's agree to disagree on what makes a viral video and how to build one from the ground up.
 
Kholi said:
and how to build one from the ground up.
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That's exactly my point. Making a video that is guaranteed to get a lot of hits because it is based on someone else's existing intellectual property is not building a viral video from the "ground up." If Jawa Ex Machina's idea of going viral is in order to support his own film, then your experience doesn't count from his point-of-view, because you took the "shortcut."

Take a video of a kitten, any kitten, and get over a million hits with it and then we'll talk.
 
Gary Huff said:
That's exactly my point. Making a video that is guaranteed to get a lot of hits because it is based on someone else's existing intellectual property is not building a viral video from the "ground up." If Jawa Ex Machina's idea of going viral is in order to support his own film, then your experience doesn't count from his point-of-view, because you took the "shortcut."

Take a video of a kitten, any kitten, and get over a million hits with it and then we'll talk.
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By your definition, Antoine Dodson's original News Story was a viral video...bu because, Auto Tune The News didn't get ahold of it until the news story had inflated to 2+ Million Views the follow-up that they created was not?

So, because they moved on someone's existing personality, it's not viral.

Or is this a completely different scenario than taking something that people recognize and turning it into something else?
 
I never said your video didn't go viral. You took a beloved/well known intellectual property and made a prank out of it that was pretty clever. Can you duplicate that same number of views with anything else BUT that paradigm?

And Auto Tune News moved on something hot with their particular brand of comedy, that now is riding on the original's coattails. That's all great and all, but it's not like they had some grand scheme that popped a viral video out of the ether, now did they?
 
I'd like to see this group (DVXuser) do an impromptu... zero-prizes... for the hell of it... Viral Video contest (experiment?)... if anybody's game... let the OP start a new thread... then let the games begin.

I've got some ideas that I think could potentially go viral... but I'm not sure if I could get 'em done or not.

I think that viral videos fall into sub-genres and it's not really too hard to figure out what makes them go viral. It's a pretty short list... not really an x-factor as is being implied (in my opinion).

I agree with a previous poster that many viral videos involve some degree of deception. Not all... but lots. What makes a viral video work depends on what "genre" of viral video it is. Break 'em down into their genres and you'll get your answer quickly.

The biggest thing from my own list of what to do right... is first, be sure the end result looks amateur, while still showing what needs to be seen (there's always a few frames that compose the "pay-off" of any viral vid).
 
Gary Huff said:
I never said your video didn't go viral. You took a beloved/well known intellectual property and made a prank out of it that was pretty clever. Can you duplicate that same number of views with anything else BUT that paradigm?

And Auto Tune News moved on something hot with their particular brand of comedy, that now is riding on the original's coattails. That's all great and all, but it's not like they had some grand scheme that popped a viral video out of the ether, now did they?
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Ah! Now I understand what you're saying: they're viral videos, they just aren't case studies because they had something recognizable in it to begin with.

Got it.
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Where does the "golden-voiced homeless man" video fit in this discussion?
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By the keywords, and having seen the video, I'd say it's under misfortune, and in the end it turned into something more fortunate.

I'll probably get reamed for that, though!

(And, the original video was somewhat staged. It also had a lot of other outside factors in helping it achieve the views it does. But, maybe that disqualifies it?)
 
MattinSTL said:
I'd like to see this group (DVXuser) do an impromptu... zero-prizes... for the hell of it... Viral Video contest (experiment?)... if anybody's game... let the OP start a new thread... then let the games begin.
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That would be totally awesome.

Yeah I'm up for that.

I say any type of viral video sub-genre, at least this time.
First to a million clicks, no deadline date? You can't really cheat with that amount of hits and time isn't really a factor because the only way you're gonna get 1 million fast is to make a successful viral anyway. You just have to beat everyone else that tries.
Only YouTube applies, and you have to link your video to the thread on the same date you upload it within the hour.
That's the only way we can know the person entering is the person who uploaded it.

What do you guys think? Would that work? Other suggestions?

And yeah, we need to start a new thread for this.
 
setting: "young" party (college age people at family gathering or college party)...

event: eating contest... like bbq chicken drummies... everybody drinking yelling, party atmosphere... two girls competing... must eat each drummy then throw (or shoot with a sling-shot)... drummy bone to knock down BUD LIGHT cans on top of [______] (could be TV... top of couch back, balanced on anything... across the room, yard, etc. Girls should be wearing tight t-shirts or ideally, bikini tops... they are hot regardless of getting bbq sauce all over their faces and (ideally) "tasty areas"... one girl beats the other by knocking down 3 cans first, and the crowd goes wild as bouncy-hot-girl-winner looks into cam all smiles and victorious. (raising hands in victory which also raises bust into MCU)... mouth saucy... white teeth still shine through.

Video should be about 1:00 long... See if that don't go viral.
 
MattinSTL said:
setting: "young" party (college age people at family gathering or college party)...

event: eating contest... like bbq chicken drummies... everybody drinking yelling, party atmosphere... two girls competing... must eat each drummy then throw (or shoot with a sling-shot)... drummy bone to knock down BUD LIGHT cans on top of [______] (could be TV... top of couch back, balanced on anything... across the room, yard, etc. Girls should be wearing tight t-shirts or ideally, bikini tops... they are hot regardless of getting bbq sauce all over their faces and (ideally) "tasty areas"... one girl beats the other by knocking down 3 cans first (across the room... across the yard, whatever).... at which point the crowd goes wild and bouncy-hot-girl-winner looks into cam all smiles and victorious.

Video should be about 1:00 long... See if that don't go viral.
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Add something random but popular to that... like Lightsabers... and I think you have a winner.
 
MattinSTL said:
setting: "young" party (college age people at family gathering or college party)...

event: eating contest... like bbq chicken drummies... everybody drinking yelling, party atmosphere... two girls competing... must eat each drummy then throw (or shoot with a sling-shot)... drummy bone to knock down BUD LIGHT cans on top of [______] (could be TV... top of couch back, balanced on anything... across the room, yard, etc. Girls should be wearing tight t-shirts or ideally, bikini tops... they are hot regardless of getting bbq sauce all over their faces and (ideally) "tasty areas"... one girl beats the other by knocking down 3 cans first, and the crowd goes wild as bouncy-hot-girl-winner looks into cam all smiles and victorious. (raising hands in victory which also raises bust into MCU)... mouth saucy... white teeth still shine through.

Video should be about 1:00 long... See if that don't go viral.
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You just described 80% of the Dorito's/Pepsi Super Bowl commercials.....
 
....now if you really want viral....just catch Lindsey Lohan snorting a few lines with Ted Williams!
Millions of hits guaranteed, end of contest. :evil:
 
Sex, comedy, brevity. Get a sexy (chick, premise, whatever) joke to the punchline in under a minute.

If you can't do that... do something amazing... if you can't do that... fake an incredible stunt... again, in 1 minute or less.

If you can't do any of the above, hurt somebody in a comical way*

(I am NOT endorsing any pain caused to any individual, including yourself... it's really dumb to do things like that... and uh... nobody likes to watch people be really dumb... *cough* fred *cough*)...
 
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