Archive for the 'Film on Fusion View' Category

The National Geographic have a channel on YouTube and this is one of their intriguing videos.

I certainly wouldn’t have thought of that technique…

I featured unicycle rambling awhile back as part of my Extreme Sports series. Here are some people playing hockey on unicycles - in Hong Kong of all places..

Alex Pryce at Poetcasting shared this video with me after seeing the video I featured a few weeks ago of the Swedish pop group OK Go dancing on gym treadmills. This version is the Lego version - yes, that’s right, those little toy bricks…

This is a well-choreographed dance routine from Swedish pop group OK Go, using treadmills in a way you’ve never seen before.

The Swedes have come a long way since those ABBA music videos…

Thanks to Moyra for first sharing this on Facebook.

These poor Singaporeans have been laughed at around the world for their corporate rap…

But I have to say, I think it’s jolly game of these be-suited, square directors of the Singaporean Media Development Authority (the country’s media watchdog) to get into the rappin’ groove and poke a bit of fun at the square Singaporean image.

Further reading:

The Times - “Singapore’s corporate rap is YouTube hit”

Xena, the grey warrior?

Thanks to B. L. Ochman for sharing this via Twitter.

Yes, you read that right - “beat” boxing. That’s where you make music using your voice to create the beat. Here’s a great video from Yanji, a city in China on the border with North Korea.

You’ll need your sound enabled to appreciate this video to its full extent.

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I first came across this on the blog Virtual China, which has links to other similar videos and discusses in some detail beatboxing in China, where this genre is apparently really huge.

The Australians are not known for their reticence or their polite turns of phrases. With the Australian General Elections coming up, the Ozzies have taken their outspoken and vigorous style of public debate online. Videos on YouTube and other platforms have been the media of choice with shows by established satirical magazines like The Daily Grind and The Ministry of Truth alongside clips by outspoken individuals. The political parties have also taken to the e-waves with their own channels on YouTube.

Here is a quick romp through the Ozzie political videoscape:

Government supported satire

The satirical The Ministry of Truth has uploaded an episode on their Ning-based online platform. The video features sketches laughing at the obsession with Australianness. The sketch about the Australian barbie made me laugh out loud (possible because I’d make a good Ozzie carnivore if I weren’t already British).

It’s striking that the show is sponsored by the Queensland Government Arts Board. I can’t imagine an Asian government sponsoring this kind of satirical show on their national channels.

Party Political Broadcasts

The Australian Labor Party has its own YouTube channel. The only problem with their very slick videos is that - well, they are very slick. They feature actors playing “ordinary” Australians talking about their “lives” and negative “responses” to John Howard’s statement that “Australians have never been better off”. The series of videos are all typical party political broadcast style ads that don’t sit very well on YouTube where the millions of other user-generated videos are have more quirky, spontaneous content. Take a look at this one featuring a “housewife”:

I reckon they would be more credible interviewing a few real people with all the “ums” and “ers” and a less slick presentation.

Amateurs join the fray

This one is a satirical song featuring Elvis and animated collages of the main electoral candidates John Howard and Kevin Rudd by someone(s?) called Captain Rant and the Knee Jerk Reactions. I couldn’t find out much more about them on the net - so if you know who they are and what else they’ve done, let me know by adding a comment.

There are plenty more satirical videos of this nature on YouTube - try typing in the candidates names in the search box and then follow links and related videos to explore them for yourself.

What is impressive is the standard of the animation and satire - although many are made by amateur film-makers they are pretty watchable and also clever and funny. They seem to be made by people who are older than the usual teenagers who populate user-generated spaces like these and who have a message they want to get across. The tone is also particularly Australian, I think - there’s no earnestness in these videos though clearly many of the creators feel strongly about their nation and the issues being debated and their irreverent humour and wit is what really comes across. In contrast, the American presidential debate currently taking place online is much more serious and earnest with bloggers - rather than film-makers - taking the lead.

The year of social media

2007 seems to be the year for social media to be taken seriously in the political arena, from what we’ve seen in America and now in Australia. This will be increasingly common around the world and will no longer be “news” in itself. I think that social media has the potential to engage populations in political debate in a fresh way and hopefully, this will mean less apathy and more involvement in the electoral process. In particular, peer-to-peer discussion and debate may prove to be a very powerful way for drawing otherwise uninterested citizens into the issues.

I am also currently exploring the use of social media for political debate in Asia and Africa and will be blogging about that in the future.

What do you think? If you’re an Australian, have these videos made you more interested in the elections and/ or politics?

Share your thoughts and add a comment.

Other resources

For a great review of other satiricial videos about the Australian elections, you can check out Australia’s ABC Radio National’s Street Stories podcast. Their show notes page also gives a list of links to various film-makers featured in their programme such as Shan Jayaweera who uses John Howard and Kevin Rudd puppets.

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This post and others in the category New Trends in International Public Relations is part of my research project for the book of the same name that I am co-authoring with business communications expert, Silvia Cambie. I am focusing on the social media aspects while she is working on the wider public relations issues.

To find out more about my research for this book, see my book wiki.

To see who has contributed to my research for the book, take a look at my Contributors List.

If you can help with my research for the book, please contact me via the book wiki contact link or email me via this blog.

This is a cross post from my social media blog ZenGuide

I’ve always loved a good cartoon, ever since the days of Bugs Bunny and the gang. This is by English animator Simon Tofield at Tandem Films. They seem to be one company that’s embraced the viral nature of the net and are proud that their film has been posted all over the internet - compared to other media companies who try to shut down anyone who tries to share something they’ve created.

This is a collection of witty mashups of photos that have been doctored to create surreal takes on nature…

Thanks to Asohan Aryaduray for first sharing this video with me via Facebook.