Thursday, June 26, 2008

YouTube Killed the Video Star

Many moons ago, Edison got addicted to a video on our computer featuring a singing hippopotamus with noodles on his back. (I wrote about it at the end of this post.) In the interest of my own sanity, I eventually tried to find other videos that Edison could watch, something new and unfamiliar that could keep his attention while also sparing me a 32,846th straight listen to the hippo song. Of course, this just added another video to Edison’s repertoire, and soon enough I’d be sick of that one as well. I’d then have to find another new video, and the process would repeat itself. Over time, the video collection has expanded to a dozen or so standards, but at least that’s enough to prevent me from having to watch or listen to any one video multiple times in a row … usually, at least.

So, I thought I’d go ahead and share some of these videos with you. Today, I am sharing one of the best and one of the worst. I’ll begin with one of the best.

At nearly three-and-a-half minutes, this video is the longest in Edison’s playlist. It’s a bit predictable, but I have to admit, I find the dramatic slow-motion part that begins just shy of the two-minute mark to be quite humorous. It made me laugh, even on multiple viewings (though not so much anymore). At least that’s something. Take a look:



In contrast, here is an absolutely abysmal video that Eddie and I stumbled upon. It’s one of the very first that Edison became a huge fan of, but it’s painfully unfunny. Its existence can be blamed on a computer program that allows anyone with a microphone to record themselves giving voice to an animated shark whose mouth is supposed to move in response to auditory input. This must be a fairly accessible computer program because there is a whole slew of equally unentertaining videos on YouTube featuring the same animated shark, singing along with Britney Spears or what have you. So, without further ado, check out this video abomination:



Exactly.

4 comments:

  1. I am so sad I am at work and it's not a good time to watch Eddie's videos. Perhaps this afternoon...

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  2. The shark thing is actually done via a web cam. Most newer web cameras have features such as this where is can mimic you facial features and animate them with various preset animations. Hence the stupid shark video and the movement of the eyebrows and mouth.

    Just FYI.

    Sing with me.... I'm a hippopotamus and I like to hop.....

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  3. I wonder what he likes about the shark one? There isn't much going on that I would think would catch his eye/ears/whatever. Too bad he can't explain it to us.
    And you're right. The slow mo part was funny. Was that Steve starring as the truck driver?
    Oh, and thanks for the info MacG.

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  4. That's it????? Eddie must be trying to figure out what they're saying. I couldn't understand any of it. And they're for kids???That's kind of scary.

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