|
 |
What's it take to make it on the Internet? Can anyone just post something on a Web site and wait for the hits to come? ILLUSTRATION BY KENDRA PLUMLEY
|
|
|
DON'T BOTHER PACKING
Who needs a suitcase when cyberspace is your oyster!
BY LEN SOUSA
Once upon a time, whenever people wanted to make it "big" they told friends and family they were moving to Hollywood or New York. "If I can make it there," they quoted. "I'll make it anywhere." But a modern trend might soon rephrase that famous Sinatra song lyric. New York and the rest of the big cities aren't the only game in town anymore. Today, if you want to make a splash, your first stop might just be the Internet.
Sure, there's a lot of forgettable content online. Most of it, in fact. But every now and then, there's a diamond in the rough. Take Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of Comedy Central's saving grace, "South Park." Their careers took off in 1995 when their first film project, "The Spirit of Christmas" was circulated online. The five-minute short starring four smart-assed kids out of Colorado who witness a battle between Santa and Jesus became a multimedia sensation and caused television studios to come knocking at its creators' doors.
More recently, a similar story involved a fan-made trailer for Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," where scenes were edited together to make the horror film look like a coming-of-age romantic comedy. Its maker, a 25-year-old film editor's assistant from Manhattan named Robert Ryang, was later contacted by a Warner Brothers' Vice President of Production inquiring about more material. Ryang and the "South Park" boys were awarded the rare kind of instant notoriety that can help any fledging career.
But what's it take to make it on the Internet? Can anyone just post something on a Web site and wait for the hits to come? Or like the stock market, should a timely press release follow? Is there more to gaining international attention than just plain luck? In the interest of furthering young careers, here's a short list of things to know when attempting to "make it" online:
Meme
Never heard this word before? You will. Pronounced "meem," it isn't a virus but is just as infective. Coined by Richard Dawkins in the 1970s, a meme is a unit of cultural information that replicates, mutates, and competes with other memes, evolving much the same way Darwin described natural selection. Memes are essentially the kind of material that "makes it" on the Internet. Things like viral videos, e-mail forwards, songs, instant messaging slang (lol, brb, wtf), and any other information that affects culture (the dreaded emoticon) can be classified as a meme.
Talent
Kid, you've gotta be good. Or really bad. The weird thing about the Internet is that there's room for both. You can make it big by being either. Take "American Idol" crooner William Hung as an example. He was such a hit at being bad that he got a record deal out of it.
Luck
Luck is a big part of most success and the World Wide Web is no different. Even if someone comes up with a catchy song or video, there's no guarantee of garnering any attention or that the attention it finds will get its creator anywhere. Ultimately, it's about reaching the right people at the right time.
Bandwidth
This one is for the tech heads out there. In simple terms, bandwidth is the amount of data a Web site will transfer over a certain period of time. Generally, the larger the file and the more people who download it, the greater amount of bandwidth needed. So if you're hosting a movie file on your favorite free homepage, remember that there may be a limited amount of bandwidth available to you. Once exceeded, your page will be shut down until the end of the month. This is no good for making it big online.
Fans
Finally, you need to have fans. Whether they love you or they hate you, someone has to be willing to tell someone else in order to spread the word. It's impossible to do it on your own. If you try to oversell it, no one will want to see it. You've just got to let the chips fall where they may and see where the Internet gods (your audience) let them land.
Unfortunately, just as in real life, most things are beyond any control on the Internet. Unlike television or film, producers and advertisers do not dictate what sells, but your audience does. It just may be the best example of democracy available. So if you can make it on the Internet, like the new version of the song will say, you really can make it anywhere. Just remember to thank your dear friend Len for this how-to list when accepting that short film award at Cannes or signing that first check from Warner Brothers.
SOME FAVORITE MEMES
COURTNEY COX'S ASSHOLE (www.jillsoloway.com/material/ stories_courteney.htm)
This excellent short story written by Jill Soloway gained her access to television producers who asked her to write for the HBO series "Six Feet Under," where she eventually became a staff writer and executive producer.
HOUSE OF COSBYS (www.waxy.org/archive/2005/11/12/house_of.shtml)
Justin Roiland's animated series featuring a house full of Bill Cosbys. The Coz's lawyers have tried shutting down every site hosting this series online, but Waxy.org's Andrew Baio refuses to remove his episodes until a court order makes him.
CHUCK NORRIS FACTS
(www.chucknorrisfacts.com)
"Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he never cries." I don't know what this has done for the people who started it, but I know it got Chuck's attention. His response: "Being more a student of the Wild West than the wild world of the Internet, I'm not quite sure what to make of it."
THE SHINING REDUX (www.ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov)
"I'm your new foster father." Robert Ryang's hilarious reworking of footage from the Stanley Kubrick horror masterpiece.
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS (www.killfile.org/soxmas)
This original short film made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 1995 is still available online. Along the same lines, Google "Cartman aristocrats joke" for another great video meme from this bunch.
|
|
 |
|
