Got 15 minutes? Sometimes, that's all it takes in today's generation of YouTube.com. The video-sharing site is where Justin Timberlake's team found Esmee Denters, "MadTV” discovered comedian LisaNova and Journey came by its new Filipino lead singer, Arnel Pineda.
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From breakout stars to humorous clips caught on tape to posturing by presidential candidates, YouTube has become the center for "viral video” — video content that gains popularity through e-mail sharing, blogs and other Internet sites. The phenomenon, observers say, is playing a standout role in pop culture and entertainment today.
New Mac computers come with cameras built into screens.
"So people literally only have to turn them on and start filming,” said Frederick Levy, author of "15 Minutes of Fame: Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution.”
Other aspiring artists are buying Web cameras, which retail for less than $100, and attaching them to the top of their screens. Still others are uploading from camcorders, digital cameras and cell phones.
"It's unbelievable the talent you now can find online,” Levy said.
His book showcases several success stories, including Matt Chin, a Canadian college student who from his parents' garage in Toronto launched a successful talk show, "My Show With Matt Chin” ( www.MyShowsCrazy.com).
"It's really an anti-talk show,” Levy said. "There are no guests, only his sidekick Ricky Thompson and man-on-the-street sketch comedy.”
Fame inadvertently found him, Chin told Levy.
"The YouTube editors started noticing my work, and I was featured on the main page,” Chin said. "After that, my channel was featured, and then another video was selected as the pick of the day. Pretty soon, I had 6,000 subscribers and was ranked the 23rd-most-subscribed comedian on all of YouTube.”
With any luck, the career of Oklahoman Lucas Marr Ross, 27, similarly could take off.
Nine minutes after Ross posted the video clip "Welcome to Minco” on YouTube at the end of May, his short film had been viewed 100 times. Within a week, it had more than 1,000 hits, and as of mid-July, nearly 4,000.
"It's so random,” said Ross, who works full time as a producer for KFOR-TV and part time as an actor and stand-up comedian.
Web site stats show viewers of "Welcome” ( www.youtube.com/user/lucasmarr) include people ages 25 to 55, who hail from as far away as Egypt, Iraq and Japan.
Ross was bored one weekend and talked his mom into getting up early and filming him around town. The hilarious sketch has him playing a continuous ditty on an accordion, against numerous backdrops, from a railroad crossing and beekeeper farm to his grandmother's den and the Church of Christ (where Ross reverently hums instead of plays).
The video is starting to get him more gigs, Ross said.
Video-sharing isn't just for entertainers, say public relations experts in Oklahoma City.
Brent Gooden uses YouTube as a strategic new media platform.
"We work with companies that specialize in viral marketing to create the huge news buzz you can get on the Web,” Gooden said.
His firm recently launched a viral marketing element to oil man T. Boone Pickens' unveiling of his energy plan.
Oklahoma City University School of Law posts online videos of its seminars, events and interviews to www.Vimeo.com, spokesman Damon Gardenhire said.
"In February, we launched a blog and monthly podcast ( www.okcu.edu/law/blog) to showcase our faculty members' expertise,” Gardenhire said.
As a result, Professor Michael O'Shea recently was featured locally and nationally as an expert on the U.S. Supreme Court's D.C. vs. Heller case decision.
Meanwhile, high-quality movies are being posted by Oklahomans as young as 17-year-old twins Todd and Alex Greenlee of Altus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkVLWoqeYzc).
The twins and their older brother, Adam, a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma, became interested in filmmaking when they were in grade school, said Lisa Greenlee, their mother. "My husband and I just encouraged them and tried to provide them with the tools to keep them going.”
All three have had the opportunity to study under esteemed filmmakers at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.
Film studios tend to limit their involvement on YouTube to advertising on the site or posting film trailers. But that may change. On July 16, Lionsgate signed a revenue-sharing deal with Google's YouTube, creating a Lionsgate-branded channel where advertising will be placed on clips of Lionsgate assets, including the "Saw” franchise and classics such as "Dirty Dancing.”
"It's in its infancy, so it's hard to project the future impact of YouTube on the entertainment industry,” said Jill Simpson, director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office. "But certainly, it's opening doors.”
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Why YouTube?
YouTube founders Chad Hurley, Steven Chen and Jawed Karim were inspired to establish a video-sharing Web site by two 2004 events: Janet Jackson's halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Indian Ocean tsunami. In June 2005, the trio opened YouTube to the public, who within 10 months were viewing 3 million videos online a day. Google paid $1.65 million for the site in 2006.
Uploading to YouTube
YouTube accepts content in the following formats: .WMV, .AVI, .MOV and .MPG (via Web cam, digital camera and cell phone).
The video should be saved using the following recommended settings: MPEG4 format, 320x240 resolution, MP3 audio and 20 frames per second (fps).
Log onto www.YouTube.com and click on the Upload button from the main page.
The title is what you name the piece. Make it catchy or descriptive.
The description will run alongside the video page. Include comments about your video and contact information if you want fans to be able to contact you directly.
Tags are vital to your success on YouTube. Add as many keywords as you can, so users can find your video when searching. The more choices, the better. In their video "Flotsam” www.youtube.comwatch?v=AkVL WoqeYzc), Todd and Alex Greenlee of Altus used the following keywords: film, death, penalty, reject, jail, flotsam, execution, surreal, absurd, priest, short, experimental.
Also, choose a video category for your clip, such as comedy, entertainment or sports.
You can make your video public and share it with the world — or private, and only share it with your friends. You also can control who's allowed to leave comments and post video responses, whether your video can be rated, and whether it can be embedded in other Web sites.
Okies share views of YouTube
•Sarah Frank of Edmond: My 12-year-old son loves it. Every time he has friends over, they share what they have seen — from "Charlie Bit My Finger” (an English youngster bites his baby brother's finger) to tutorials on solving Rubik's Cube and folding paper into 3D objects. We are very guarded with what he watches because it appears it can go down the wrong path to more mature and inappropriate clips very quickly.
•Leslie Spears of Oklahoma City: My sister in Houston uses it to upload videos of my great niece Callie's milestones. She's 19 months. I've been able to see her first steps, her dancing, her singing.
•Jessica Ramirez, human resources manager for Petra computer accessories business: I use it for training purposes, to find funny, relevant, and best yet, free video clips.
•Kelli Pickens of Edmond: My husband and I use it for how-to information. We learned how to change his strings on his guitar and recently how to filet a catfish.
•Richard Hovis of Oklahoma City: No matter your age, you can find a video to your tastes. Type "Ozzie and Harriet" into the search engine, and find quite a few complete episodes, or "Hannah Montana,” or any of the newer series that young people like.
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