Social Media Students Go Viral
SOCIAL MEDIA STUDENTS GO VIRAL
Photo courtesy of Funky Fresh Factory
A video performance by recent Social Media students was created through the collaboration with Funky Fresh Factory. The video has been submitted to IndieItaly to test out the scope of the project - to make a video go viral. Video promotion on the site begins the third week of June 2014. Interviewed here are FFF reps Bianca Borri and Alessio Piccini, with comments from FUA Social Media instructor Ingrid Lamminpaa.
Funky Fresh Factory - tell us about yourself.
Our names are Bianca Borri and Alessio Piccini, we're a graphic design team. The term "graphic design" is a bit constrictive but it's what best sums up what we do in the social context. We specialize mainly in art direction and the creative process. We met two and a half years ago to work on a tee-shirt line that united our love for typography. It was presented at Pitti and went on to be sold by a retailer in Florence. This first project opened up several doors to subsequent new projects. Looking back, we've both dabbled in a bit of everything, and our work together would be summed up by not being tied down to a single thing (or to the computer day and night). Ultimately, all of our previous experiences and being open to everything have revealed to be essential elements to draw upon during the creative process.
Describe the project that was recently conducted with the FUA Social Media class.
We decided to use IndieItaly as a starting point. It's a website that focuses on the indie music culture in Italy, with a strong emphasis on the DIY culture. With the FUA students we started from the idea of creating a DIY band with an indie mood, from scratch, as the basis for a viral video.
How did you exactly create a band from scratch?
We salvaged elements from paper and cardboard to create the musical instruments. The items were presented to the class and the students completed them by adjusting, testing, modifying, personalizing, etc. Once the band elements were perfected, we proceeded to scout the city for a music video project.
Can you indicate the highlight features of the video?
There's a constant background rhythm, as opposed to a constructed song. We sought to take advantage of looped pieces throughout the video. Everything, from the background sound to the band's performance, was 100% created and improvised by the group. It was fascinating to see how despite none of the students came from a musical background, almost everyone knew how to "act" like a musician.
One of the main objectives for the video is to make it go viral. How was this analyzed by the group?
We worked on research related to specific hashtags and the research linked to the postproduction process. We simulated who could be a compatible famous personality that retwits the video, for example, or influential bloggers, and not necessarily from the music world, who could share the video. Students provided the motivating reasons for developing a campaign strategy. What makes a video go viral, ultimately? It should provide outlets for copies and parodies. The majority of viral videos are successful because they are humorous. Others are more serious, but in our case we wanted the students to experiment something unusual that was enjoyable at the same time.
A question for Prof. Lamminpaa. What was the learning benefit for the class?
First and foremost, the experiential component of the workshop. Students were able to experience firsthand the indie concept, which was a challenge to explain prior to the videomaking experience. After starting the interaction with Funky Fresh Factory, an abstract concept became concrete. Students physically constructed and created. They analyzed what they created from a social media perspective. Some individuals were unsure about performing on video despite the anonymity guaranteed by the masks. So for this reason and other needs, we constantly calibrated the teamwork between the students who all contributed to the production, every single one.
Where is the video headed next?
We are sharing the video with IndieItaly, which has agreed to help us to "go viral." We want to absolutely stress how great the student group has been about working together. It's not easy to pull off a performance video when you don't know the other team members that well! The response was intense, unifying, and emotionally bonding, even during the lighter and more sillier moments.