That's it.
December 28, 2011 3:44 AM Subscribe
First, I was all cynical.
Then, I was all "that's cool."
posted by kuanes at 4:31 AM on December 28, 2011
Then, I was all "that's cool."
posted by kuanes at 4:31 AM on December 28, 2011
It's nice that it's not all cat videos and people hurting themselves. There are some cool people out there doing some cool shit. And they all film in HD!
posted by Think_Long at 4:35 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by Think_Long at 4:35 AM on December 28, 2011
Again with the guy driving his sportscar in his living room. Who is that guy?
posted by mannequito at 4:40 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by mannequito at 4:40 AM on December 28, 2011
I can't believe they have all those guys riding wheeled vehicles without mentioning guys riding bicycles backwards with giant TV heads trampling the city. Cos that had to be the Best of the Web.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:40 AM on December 28, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:40 AM on December 28, 2011 [7 favorites]
Too many dancing rodents.
posted by erniepan at 4:48 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by erniepan at 4:48 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Again with the guy driving his sportscar in his living room. Who is that guy?
Listen, if I could fit it out the door, I would. Ok?
posted by orme at 4:55 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Listen, if I could fit it out the door, I would. Ok?
posted by orme at 4:55 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Neat, but it would appear that women are not very good at the web, if this is the evidence.
Actually, it did make me curious about what the gender breakdown was, and, in a quick semi-scientific count of focal point figures in this, I came up with 168 males and 49 females (not counting animals or persons where I could not make the identification). Would this be editing bias, or is there something inherently more narcissistic about us boys that make us more inclined to record and post everything we do? Worse, the women are rarely in isolation, and when they are isolated, the image is generally sexualized.
Which isn't to say that this isn't a cool video. It's just sort of a headscratcher for me.
posted by sonascope at 4:57 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Actually, it did make me curious about what the gender breakdown was, and, in a quick semi-scientific count of focal point figures in this, I came up with 168 males and 49 females (not counting animals or persons where I could not make the identification). Would this be editing bias, or is there something inherently more narcissistic about us boys that make us more inclined to record and post everything we do? Worse, the women are rarely in isolation, and when they are isolated, the image is generally sexualized.
Which isn't to say that this isn't a cool video. It's just sort of a headscratcher for me.
posted by sonascope at 4:57 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Sonascope - I refer you to something called 'wider society' where you will find your answers.
posted by Summer at 5:08 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by Summer at 5:08 AM on December 28, 2011
If you click through the playlist, you'll find a lot of clips are from commercials and/or virals. That could account for some of the gender counts and sexualizing. Although obviously the editor has chosen those clips.
Also, most of the clips are of the kinds of things that boys are doing more often than girls in the real world (for reasons I omit speculation on), such as skateboarding, flinging themselves off of cliffs, doing stupid motorcycle tricks, etc.
posted by DU at 5:09 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also, most of the clips are of the kinds of things that boys are doing more often than girls in the real world (for reasons I omit speculation on), such as skateboarding, flinging themselves off of cliffs, doing stupid motorcycle tricks, etc.
posted by DU at 5:09 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
thinkpiece: "Loved it, but needed more Jenyne. "
My personal life needs more Jenyne, frankly.
posted by Samizdata at 5:10 AM on December 28, 2011 [5 favorites]
My personal life needs more Jenyne, frankly.
posted by Samizdata at 5:10 AM on December 28, 2011 [5 favorites]
That was the world's longest Mountain Dew ad.
posted by benzenedream at 5:16 AM on December 28, 2011 [13 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 5:16 AM on December 28, 2011 [13 favorites]
It's interesting how many of these videos were flipped - an aesthetic choice or a way to avoid being caught by the copyright hounds? This is something I see in Family Guy and Simpsons clips that have been uploaded, too.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 5:35 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by beaucoupkevin at 5:35 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
The one where the hang glider is also holding onto the hawk? I want to fucking do that so fucking much!
posted by OmieWise at 5:36 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by OmieWise at 5:36 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Needs more owls being petted.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 5:39 AM on December 28, 2011 [12 favorites]
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 5:39 AM on December 28, 2011 [12 favorites]
I refer you to something called 'wider society' skateboarding videos where you will find your answers.
Which would account for the gender bias. This seems to come from that particular tradition, that mindset. It's not necessarily a sausage party by choice, just a very dude-centric scene
It's certainly good for what it is, but it's the best of a very particular web that I don't happen to be caught in.
posted by louche mustachio at 5:43 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Which would account for the gender bias. This seems to come from that particular tradition, that mindset. It's not necessarily a sausage party by choice, just a very dude-centric scene
It's certainly good for what it is, but it's the best of a very particular web that I don't happen to be caught in.
posted by louche mustachio at 5:43 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Would this be editing bias, or is there something inherently more narcissistic about us boys that make us more inclined to record and post everything we do? Worse, the women are rarely in isolation, and when they are isolated, the image is generally sexualized.
Based upon the evidence, the video compiler appears to be a heterosexual male who likes extreme sports --- in addition to the skateboarding, there's heli-skiing, cliff diving, human slingshots, jet skis, powerboats, dmx, gymnastics, and parkour all within, and that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head. This makes the video kinda nifty kottke-bait, but not exactly the sum of human experience, nahmean?
posted by Diablevert at 5:53 AM on December 28, 2011
Based upon the evidence, the video compiler appears to be a heterosexual male who likes extreme sports --- in addition to the skateboarding, there's heli-skiing, cliff diving, human slingshots, jet skis, powerboats, dmx, gymnastics, and parkour all within, and that's just the ones I remember off the top of my head. This makes the video kinda nifty kottke-bait, but not exactly the sum of human experience, nahmean?
posted by Diablevert at 5:53 AM on December 28, 2011
Neat, but it would appear that women are not very good at the web, if this is the evidence.
The person who edited this together seems to have a very obvious definition of best that is mostly physical stunts. It's a perfectly fine and valid definition of best, but it is only one of many potential definitions. Were I putting together a Best of 2011 video, it would pull from a very, very different body of material which would, as it happens, depict a majority of women. The point is, this is his personal definition of best, not a definitive definition of best.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:56 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
The person who edited this together seems to have a very obvious definition of best that is mostly physical stunts. It's a perfectly fine and valid definition of best, but it is only one of many potential definitions. Were I putting together a Best of 2011 video, it would pull from a very, very different body of material which would, as it happens, depict a majority of women. The point is, this is his personal definition of best, not a definitive definition of best.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:56 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I refer you to something called 'wider society' where you will find your answers.
What discourse can't be enhanced by withering snark? I ask you.
posted by sonascope at 5:57 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
What discourse can't be enhanced by withering snark? I ask you.
posted by sonascope at 5:57 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Needs more extreme knitting.
posted by sammyo at 6:08 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 6:08 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
so this is the best of the web filtered through a sock full of caffeine and meth?
posted by kitchenrat at 6:27 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kitchenrat at 6:27 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I fully expected this FPP to link to reddit.
posted by krautland at 6:49 AM on December 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by krautland at 6:49 AM on December 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
Needs more skiing or furries or something.
posted by arcticseal at 6:57 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by arcticseal at 6:57 AM on December 28, 2011
The one where the hang glider is also holding onto the hawk? I want to fucking do that so fucking much!
Yeah, I feel the same way about the Jenyne clip.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:57 AM on December 28, 2011
Yeah, I feel the same way about the Jenyne clip.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:57 AM on December 28, 2011
The point is, this is his personal definition of best, not a definitive definition of best.
Well, there is no better time of the year to release a "Best of" compilation, so please and by all means, have at it. I'll be here all week reading top ten lists.
posted by jsavimbi at 7:02 AM on December 28, 2011
Well, there is no better time of the year to release a "Best of" compilation, so please and by all means, have at it. I'll be here all week reading top ten lists.
posted by jsavimbi at 7:02 AM on December 28, 2011
Were I putting together a Best of 2011 video, it would pull from a very, very different body of material which would, as it happens, depict a majority of women.
The technical problem here is that the excellent things women do are not as easily edited into 0.5 second clips.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:04 AM on December 28, 2011 [6 favorites]
The technical problem here is that the excellent things women do are not as easily edited into 0.5 second clips.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:04 AM on December 28, 2011 [6 favorites]
Were I putting together a Best of 2011 video, it would pull from a very, very different body of material which would, as it happens, depict a majority of women.
I would like to see that video.
posted by shelleycat at 7:14 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I would like to see that video.
posted by shelleycat at 7:14 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
The person who edited this together seems to have a very obvious definition of best that is mostly physical stunts.
And physical stunts lend themselves to a compilation like this because most viewers can quickly process something like a backflip off a bike as awesome, so it's possible to throw a bunch of those together and get a "wow." Taking something like Jenyne Butterfly's walking trick would be more challenging, because it takes a bit longer to pull off than a backflip, and it's more challenging for the viewer to process out of context because it's so unexpected.
So on top of any bias inherent in the editor's personal tastes, there's also the question of what lends itself to this format, and in viewing this as a video in it's own right, some of the choices don't work for me. The snip from Lovely Owl worked because I got the reference -- quite a few other non-stunt clips didn't do much for me because I haven't seen the original video (so the playlist will be very helpful). But judging by how quickly I recognized the videos I have seen, the editor has an eye for grabbing an evocative image.
My own best-of would be very differently paced: I'd want to give more than a second or two to Murmuration, for instance. And I really enjoy seeing dance moves in context, so I'd have longer segments from dance videos. And I don't know if something really subtle like the dancing cloud would work in this setting at all.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:21 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
And physical stunts lend themselves to a compilation like this because most viewers can quickly process something like a backflip off a bike as awesome, so it's possible to throw a bunch of those together and get a "wow." Taking something like Jenyne Butterfly's walking trick would be more challenging, because it takes a bit longer to pull off than a backflip, and it's more challenging for the viewer to process out of context because it's so unexpected.
So on top of any bias inherent in the editor's personal tastes, there's also the question of what lends itself to this format, and in viewing this as a video in it's own right, some of the choices don't work for me. The snip from Lovely Owl worked because I got the reference -- quite a few other non-stunt clips didn't do much for me because I haven't seen the original video (so the playlist will be very helpful). But judging by how quickly I recognized the videos I have seen, the editor has an eye for grabbing an evocative image.
My own best-of would be very differently paced: I'd want to give more than a second or two to Murmuration, for instance. And I really enjoy seeing dance moves in context, so I'd have longer segments from dance videos. And I don't know if something really subtle like the dancing cloud would work in this setting at all.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:21 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
Nice of them to include the stupid fake AK-47 monkey ad.
posted by Edogy at 7:39 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by Edogy at 7:39 AM on December 28, 2011
Just out of curiosity, what's the gender breakdown turn into if you take out all the "Hey y'all, look what I can do!" style potentially fatal attention whoring? Because in my experience, guys are definitely better than women at that.
Convincing more teenaged girls to get killed while drag racing on the local back roads != fighting the good fight.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:52 AM on December 28, 2011
Convincing more teenaged girls to get killed while drag racing on the local back roads != fighting the good fight.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:52 AM on December 28, 2011
Buddies who are, like, all into knitting and gardening and shit probably clicked on that link thinking woah dude this is going to be all awesome and then they eatched it and were all like WTF is this shit homey there's no gardening this is not the best of the web where's all the needlepoint and laying of morherfuckin sod I want my four minutes back bitches.
posted by jimmythefish at 8:04 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jimmythefish at 8:04 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
Are a bunch of video clips really "the Web"? It strikes me this exact video could have been made 30 years ago. I'd say the linked Playlist was more "the Web" but it's a Facebook (!) page that doesn't even contain proper hyperlinks. And none of the included content is really Web content; it lacks links and references to other stuff. It is a great video clip compilation, I'll give it that.
No snark intended here; I'm just curious how "the Web" has so quickly morphed from multimedia hypertext to straight up video. The rise of single link YouTube posts here on Metafilter is another example of this phenomenon.
posted by Nelson at 8:22 AM on December 28, 2011
No snark intended here; I'm just curious how "the Web" has so quickly morphed from multimedia hypertext to straight up video. The rise of single link YouTube posts here on Metafilter is another example of this phenomenon.
posted by Nelson at 8:22 AM on December 28, 2011
That was awesome. As someone who cannot dance, I especially loved the dancers - they were amazing. The tightrope walker sent actual chills down my spine, and it wasn't all from unheated office. So awesome. Thank you!
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 8:25 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 8:25 AM on December 28, 2011
The best of the web needs to include the Slayer Christmas House. Otherwise, it fails to be the BEST. (prior year, also awesome)
posted by FatherDagon at 8:27 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by FatherDagon at 8:27 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
If I was really into eXtreme sports and dancing this video would be 'totally sick bro'... but I'm not.
posted by anoirmarie at 8:34 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by anoirmarie at 8:34 AM on December 28, 2011
As an editor and filmmaker myself I just found it a touch boring (each cut was made to the beat, without much variation in pacing - it was extremely predictable.)
Another issue I have with this 'best of' is there isn't really any quantifiable memorable moment on the internet anymore, they last for as long as the length of the video does - I could only pinpoint two videos I had actually seen in the entire montage.
Entirely agree. The problem with using a 4/4 dance remix is you're now suck with a fast paced tempo. Of course you can always edit the music, slicing up certain parts and inserting breaks to suit the needs of the editor.
I do it all the time in order to suit a time constrain. For instance I took the Sigur Rós track "Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása" which is about 10m:18s and diced it down to about 2m:40s without noticeable cuts.
How would other users create this video?
posted by OllyNewport at 8:52 AM on December 28, 2011
Another issue I have with this 'best of' is there isn't really any quantifiable memorable moment on the internet anymore, they last for as long as the length of the video does - I could only pinpoint two videos I had actually seen in the entire montage.
> My own best-of would be very differently paced:
Entirely agree. The problem with using a 4/4 dance remix is you're now suck with a fast paced tempo. Of course you can always edit the music, slicing up certain parts and inserting breaks to suit the needs of the editor.
I do it all the time in order to suit a time constrain. For instance I took the Sigur Rós track "Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása" which is about 10m:18s and diced it down to about 2m:40s without noticeable cuts.
How would other users create this video?
posted by OllyNewport at 8:52 AM on December 28, 2011
So SOPA will make this kind of video theft illegal?
posted by mrhappy at 9:10 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by mrhappy at 9:10 AM on December 28, 2011
now just speed it up 33x and you have the greatest blipvert ever.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:14 AM on December 28, 2011
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:14 AM on December 28, 2011
You should see my next post:
A bunch of links that I think are kind of OK, I guess. But don't take my choices too seriously. I mean, it's all just my own opinion.
posted by jason's_planet at 9:20 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
A bunch of links that I think are kind of OK, I guess. But don't take my choices too seriously. I mean, it's all just my own opinion.
posted by jason's_planet at 9:20 AM on December 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
I has come to my attention that other people are having more fun than I am.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:41 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by bicyclefish at 9:41 AM on December 28, 2011 [4 favorites]
Wow, I had to go and find the hawk and the paraglider clip, and all I can say is... "parahawking" is a thing? Either these are the laziest hawks, or that guys is clutching a field mouse in his hand.
Apparently, these parahawkers missed this other "best of the web" clip.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 10:01 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Apparently, these parahawkers missed this other "best of the web" clip.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 10:01 AM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
The internet - have you heard of it?
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 12:21 PM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 12:21 PM on December 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
I haven't seen most of these, glad there is a playlist. There goes my afternoon.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 12:25 PM on December 28, 2011
posted by [insert clever name here] at 12:25 PM on December 28, 2011
What is the bison doing? Saving another bison from wolves?
posted by foxhat10 at 12:36 PM on December 28, 2011
posted by foxhat10 at 12:36 PM on December 28, 2011
What is the bison doing? Saving another bison from wolves?
Nope. The complete opposite, in fact. For context, it's from Douchebag Bison. Survival of the fittest, in action.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 2:09 PM on December 28, 2011
Nope. The complete opposite, in fact. For context, it's from Douchebag Bison. Survival of the fittest, in action.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 2:09 PM on December 28, 2011
While watching that video a few times I think I actually remembered what it was like to be alive. Very cool!
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 2:15 AM on December 29, 2011
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 2:15 AM on December 29, 2011
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