Meme+Project+Proposal

= Meme Project Proposal: =

Background Research:

 * Know Your Meme: The Lib Dub:**

A lip dub consists of an individual or group, who is recorded, while lip synching to a pop song. As the video is being made, the soundtrack is played in order to keep the participants synchronized or in-time with the music and lyrics. Such videos are normally homemade and completed in one take. Therefore, editing is not a big part of lip dubbing. However, the soundtrack is usually dubbed in afterwards to provide a better quality of sound.

This type of meme started with Jakob Lodwick's dubbing of “Endless Dream,” on December 14, 2006. It first became popular with the participation of office workers and college students, who posted their self-generated videos on //YouTube//. By 2008, lib-dubbing had grown into a popular trend. Lip-dubbing today invites a diverse range of participants and is not limited to one age group, social, ethnic or cultural segment etc..

The memetic power of the lip dubbing meme depends upon three main components. The first component is the song. The song has to have a catchy melody and usually works best when it is well-known, as this enables worldwide recognition and appeal. On the other hand, at times, the use of an obscure song can lead to a successful lip-dubbing meme. For example the European song "Dragostei Din Tei" has been reworked in several lip-dubbing videos that have gone viral. The performance is another important aspect of the lip-dubbing meme. The performance should be energetic and portray the participants as having fun. When the performances show that the participants are enjoying what they are doing, it invites the viewers to get involved in the dissemination of the meme, or making and posting their own versions. Lastly, the context of the meme brings together the song and the performance and creates interest. It is important to think about the setting in which the performance is taking place to ensure the greatest impact. For example, using juxtaposition can be very effective, such as using a love song in an unlikely setting, such as a military compound, in order to produce a humourous effect.

media type="youtube" key="pw5tLv9mpIw" height="390" width="640" align="center"

"Lip Dub." //KnowYourMeme//. N.p., 2009. Web. 22 Oct 2010. <[] >.


 * Know Your Meme: The Lying Down Game:**

In 2009, a meme known as "The Lying Down Game" generated thousands of photos of people from around the world, posing dead in public spaces. The mass-participatory meme originated from a //Facebook// group that had been created by Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon. The group, which started with 1500 //Facebook// users, has grown to produce close to 100,000 followers and over 19,000 photo submissions today.

The aim of the meme is to challenge participants to appear dead in the most outlandish landscapes. The most popular photos featured large groups, in extremely public spaces, during dangerous situations.

The "shock and awe" effect of appearing dead in public areas captures the attention of people of all ages from around the world. However, the meme's success relies mostly on the fact that it is simple to make and therefore simple for people to participate. All you need is a camera and the poses can be enacted virtually anywhere at anytime. Also, the poses do not require any skill whatsoever; almost everyone can "play dead". Lastly, photos are easy to circulate. People can easily view and distribute numerous versions of the meme, without the hassles often associated with video or audio memes.

media type="youtube" key="hm_pvsAqcLI" height="390" width="640" align="center"

//"Lyingdowngame."// //KnowYourMeme////. Therocketboominstitute, 22 Dec. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <[] >.//


 * Know your Meme: Brother Sharp:**

The "Brother Sharp" meme originated on January 30, 2010. Mr. Tu, a photographer, captured several shots of a homeless man in Ningbo, in the province of Zhejiang, China. The pictures documented the man’s features, expressions, as well as his clothing styles. The images were posted on the photographer’s website and quickly gained popularity after a female blogger made an alluring comment, “ Behold the number one ultimate, gorgeous, handsome passer-by! Blind your dog eyes! Seeking detailed information on his flesh .” Five days after the post, the homeless man was already returning over 15 million search results on //Google//. He soon became identified as "Brother Sharp," and gained popularity as a fashion icon.

One of the main reasons "Brother Sharp" incited such interest and gained such rapid recognition was because of the mystery element surrounding his identity. This spurred a movement that encouraged the online community to locate this man in the "real world," in order to seek out more information about who this person was/is. This reaction attracted media attention that further popularized "Brother Sharp," not just locally, but globally. "Brother Sharp’s" meme introduced this individual as an icon that has grown into the stream of popular culture.

media type="youtube" key="9j_BmpTAY-s" height="390" width="640" align="center"

"Brother Sharp." //KnowYourMeme.// 2010. Web. 22 Oct 2010. <[] 犀利哥

From the background research, we have learned that in order for a meme to go viral, it needs to contain some of the following components:


 * simple to produce and replicate, therefore encouraging others to participate
 * provocative, shock-and-awe quality
 * humourous, silly
 * fun
 * annoyance factor
 * includes catchy or obscure music
 * employs the unexpected or contains an element of mystery that draws interest
 * involves elements of current pop culture or reworks past works; can be used as a form of culture jamming i.e. satire - memes that use humour to criticize something that is currently taking place, like political campaigns

= **Brainstorm of Ideas for Our Meme:** =


 * repeatedly placing a silly icon/item in serious/unexpected settings e.g. placing an image of a person with their tongue sticking out behind mayoral candidates in an election, behind a teacher in a classroom etc...
 * creating a ridiculous, out-of-this-world news story that is presented as being true
 * using clips from ordinary conversations and mashing it up into a catchy song
 * combining opposites e.g. song genres and subjects, like senior citizens and rap music or males with female voices
 * <span style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">create a fictitious persona and present this person as if he/she is so well-known, but is actually non-existent
 * <span style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">putting a funny dance or lip-dubbing to an old song (turning something old into something new that works with today's trends)
 * <span style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">creating a narrative out of footage of mishaps
 * <span style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">changing the lyrics in a song to make it humourous (parody)

** Concept: **
==<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19px;">The idea of our meme involves creating unexpected reactions to aspects of popular culture through the use of juxtaposition. We will use images of celebrities and objects from popular culture, like Justin Beiber, Snookie, Barney, and an iPad. These images will be interposed with the video of a man screaming. The humour lies in the unexpected and inappropriate reaction of the man in the scenario: the excessive fear, girlish scream, and exaggerated gestures. The repetition of the "over-dramatic" scene contributes in building the annoyance factor found in some Internet memes. ==

1. A man walks into a washroom 2. A picture of a smiling Snookie flashes 3. Man becomes excessively terrified; screams uncontrollably 4. A picture of Barney flashes 5. Man becomes excessively terrified; screams uncontrollably 6. And so on
 * Breakdown of visual sequence:**

The strategy of this Internet meme is based on the idea that people tend to look for a "time-out" from their daily routines. In most cases, combining common situations with unexpected reactions creates humour and can therefore serve as a distraction tactic for many. In "The Playing Dead/ Lying Down Game," one of the main factors which made it memetic was the "invitation" of making an out-of-place pose in an unanticipated situation. Our meme functions in the same way, as we take commonly known images and place them out of context. People and objects that are normally idolized in a positive manner are given negative connotations as they are connected with the unusual inclusion of the scream.
 * Strategy:**

In our research of popular memes, the candid and amateur factor is a common device. These factors are often achieved through context. Take the "Noma-Noma" meme, whose lip dubbing is not fully synchronized with the song, giving it a home-made quality, which adds to the humor. The fact that the "Noma-Noma" meme is recorded in a domestic setting also adds to the amateur feel. Another example is "The Back Dorm Boys" meme with "I Want it That Way:" singing with basketball jerseys, headbands, and a person playing computer games in the background. In both of these memes, all of these elements made these amateur performances silly and humorous. Likewise, our meme uses poorly edited visuals, by combining static images from popular culture with dynamic video (man screaming). Also, the association of excessive terror with unthreatening objects intensifies the incoherence of our meme. In all, the bad montage of images and its illogical narrative makes our meme appear unprofessional and silly, which actually adds to its appeal.

Another component of our strategy is the repetitive structure, which adds an annoyance factor to our meme. The success of "The Peanut Butter and Jelly Time" meme is this annoyance factor, due to the use of simple elements, such as the funny dancing-banana and the catchy song, which are repeated throughout the whole video. The continual repetition of these elements makes it annoying, but at the same time it becomes engrained in our minds.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">The "Kanye West" meme utilizes a repetitive structure as well, encouraging other people to create their own versions. Essentially, people combine the image of Kanye West and his famous line in text, "I'ma let you finish..." with a wide range of scenarios, from president Obama's inauguration to a woman giving birth. The idea of this meme is to make Kanye West interrupt a random moment unexpectedly; the more unanticipated the interruption the better. Perhaps with our own meme, we can also give people the opportunity to incorporate the "scream" in other random scenarios.

Given the time frame for our project, our main interest is having our meme spread, rather than requiring other people to make their own versions. However, memes are unpredictable and our meme may bring unexpected results, such as a reproduction of the video itself by other participants, which would only make our meme even more viral.


 * Launch Strategy:**

In order to attract people to watch or participate in our meme, we must acknowledge current affairs. Since it is Halloween season and our meme features a scenario of extreme terror, we will make our meme viral by creating "a buzz" starting November 1st, 2010. We will base this buzz on the idea that Halloween is not over, while suggesting that something scary is coming. We will promote our meme's "horrific" element in social networks such as //Facebook//, //YouTube//, and //Twitter//. We will post this meme with tags that relate to Halloween themes such as: screamer, terror, horror and so forth.

To begin, we will be sending a mass e-mail to our target audience, which are people ages 15 to 30. However, we are not limited to this age parameter, so releasing the video on //YouTube and// creating a //Facebook// Group will help promote the meme to a more widespread audience. The group will function as a portal, as it will allow other people to post comments and submit modifications of the meme. This interactive technique made memes such as "The Playing Dead/Lying Down Game" an Internet success.


 * Production Strategy/Schedule:**
 * November 1st - November 3rd: Gather images to create video and continue with the "Buzz"
 * November 4th: Video Completed
 * November 5: Launch Video and send mass e-mail with link
 * November 6 - November 12: Continue to spread the video through other social media networks and also respond to comments to generate interest
 * November 18: Present results