The New LipDub: Better Than the Old LipDub?
Decide for yourself
Watch the making of this semester’s LipDub in the video above.
There was plenty of rain on April 9, the morning of BU’s latest LipDub shoot, but inclement weather was no match for 13 weeks of preparation and grand expectations. Jo O’Connor, a College of Communication associate professor, and her students were determined to make their mark, rain or shine. Four takes later, the enthusiasm appeared to have paid off.
“I have goosebumps talking about it,” said LipDub codirector Jaime Argyriadis (COM’10) moments after wrapping the shoot. “Everything worked out so well.”
It all started at the beginning of the spring semester, when O’Connor challenged her Event Planning and Management and Media Relations classes: create a bigger, crazier LipDub than the first one, shot in December 2009.
Going one up on their predecessors’ choice of the Jackson 5’s “ABC” and “I Want You Back,” the students voted to use three songs instead of two: the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” and Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance.” A steadicam and several graduate students from the film program were commandeered to improve the look and feel of the video. BU icons Rhett the Terrier and Kenneth Elmore (dean of students) were roped in to make cameos. At one point, there was even talk about having Rhett parachute from a helicopter.
Students were divided into 11 teams to secure props, locations and permits, participants, and the help of the Dean of Students Office. “It’s about organization and hundreds of moving parts,” Argyriadis said. “We were talking to administrators, and we were talking to students groups. We had to go over who can be in the FitRec pool, what we can film, and liability issues. It’s truly a real-life learning experience.”
While the rain and an early call time may have discouraged many of the nearly 1,400 LipDub RSVPs on Facebook, the newest incarnation did attract more than 250 eager performers. “We got everyone from divers to Greek organizations to Hug Don’t Hate,” said LipDub codirector Alex Shuck (COM’11).
In addition to its unbridled display of Terrier pride, the latest LipDub represents a memorable hands-on learning experience, in contrast to the theoretical scenarios widely used to teach event planning and public relations. “I’ve helped plan a basketball game for a COM class, but the basketball game was going to happen no matter what,” says Shuck. “This LipDub wouldn’t have happened without us. It was very rewarding to develop something for BU and create school spirit through the event.”
Alan Wong can be reached at alanwong@bu.edu.
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