136
INTERNET VIDEOS
THAT
BLEW
MY MIND*
(*at some point or another)
A couple of days ago marked my five year anniversary leading creative development at Condé Nast Entertainment. I remember so vividly on this first day feeling energized to compile a list of internet videos which left some sort of impression on me since the dawn of the internet video explosion (which I'll define as 2006). Whether by shaping my creativity, amusing me, impressing me, or staying with me. I wanted what inspired me to maybe inspire coworkers. Hopefully it can inspire you as well
@hellojoesabia
Selection Rules
My initial intent was to make a list of 100 videos. I remember being able to put down 50 from memory in my first day, many which were videos I’d curate for Boing Boing. And for five years after that, a new video, one at a time, would pop up in my head making me go "ah, yeah. that should be on the list". I broke the rules, and went all the way to 136. I haven't felt compelled to share this list until now. But I feel happy with what I have here and simply publishing.
At first glance this list will feel strange, random - even silly and arbitrary. And I fully support you feeling that. It's hard to identify a single, unifying theme that these videos share. But I can shine a light on recurring qualities:
But it's even harder to explain why I didn’t include other amazing videos. There's thousands of examples of things worthy for a list like this. No friggin idea. Don’t sue me.
Thoughts
I wouldn't recommend searching this exercise for some satisfying explanation of what makes internet video stand out. Nor would I suggest you thinking I am trying to make an internet video version of AFI or IMDB Top 100 Films of all time. If you're looking for taxonomical rigor, please check out my friend Jason Eppink's exhibit work at Museum of Moving Image.
You shouldn’t see this exercise as more than what it really is: a simple mirror of who I am as a person, a non-algorithmic reflection of what makes me tick.
Scary thought, right?
I’ve spent my entire career inside internet video. If I didn’t mess around with it in college, I’d be a law school drop out. Back then, so much of YouTube began as a bunch of weird hobbyists making things we were curious about. Meeting people who saw the same popular videos you did felt like meeting someone who genuinely shared a bit of your identity. It was special. It was authentic. It was unusual. Everywhere you looked was some sort of bizarre concept that may have existed in weird avant garde museum galleries decades before, or from DVD curations like Wholphin --- and most certainly never in shareable form on your computer.
The largest irony is that in order to stand out and succeed today, a company like Condé Nast really isn't doing anything too dissimilar from the art you see in this presentation from polished and scruffy creators alike. We are concept-focused, bizarre, full of heart, authentic, and good at coming up with concepts that are worth people's time.
And we should never, ever forget the real roots of what makes a platform like YouTube special.
Enjoy!
PART 1:
VIDEOS THAT FELT LIKE NEW FORMS
Before this i’ve never seen a long term personal progress video
Before this i’ve never seen a sequence supercut of things in order
Before this ive never seen anyone reacting/talking with themselves from footage from a time capsule
Before this i’ve never seen screen capture story telling
When i saw this for first time in 2008, it blew my mind and i raced to make the second literal video ever with rick astley
Before this, I’ve never seen walking matchcuts
Before this i never saw music matched to seamless choose your own adventure lip sync swapping
Before this i never saw footage manipulated to make people sing songs
I was a freshman at BC when i saw for the first time manipulated clips to alter someone’s words using sleight of b-roll cutaway. I thought it was the funniest thing ever, and it blew my mind.
This is one of the most simple and smart camera executions
This trend made the internet laugh so hard for so long
PART 2:
WONDERFULLY EXPERIMENTAL
This promoted mc hammer’s dance company, i think. It was just so weird and interesting when it happened
One of coolest linguistic things
It was a staged prank by some hollywood guy, but it was amazing
Forever changing meta activity
Felt like first time lip dub met flash mob met marriage proposal
One of most simplest, brilliant curious concepts
For anyone who thinks casey neistat is *just* a vlogger, look into his past and see ideas like this
What the last slide said times 2
First produced video that felt intentionally for when youtube allowed unlimited lengths
Over the top and exhaustively wonderful
Hauntingly beautiful. Inspired me to do the same when i found photos in zimbabwe
Was coolest christmas card idea
fascinating!
Max fucking joseph
Done at a time when everyone was just stop motioning everything
Youtube should do more interactive stuff like this
Thought this was nice
The effort overwhelms
Done by droga, i think. Looks so hard to make
This guy for president
What curious, strange concept. Won a vimeo award. Cant tell if its found footage
This teacher became a viral star and kept on doing this
Even tho it was kinda fake, goes down as one of simplest most brilliant and shareable ideas ever
Using video to get city to change something
Felt like first time you had to touch a screen to be a part of experience.
One of first viral public experiments for good
I like piano, and this was fascinating
Saw this for the first time before YouTube from DVD quarterly Wholphin
This thing from Wholphin blew my mind. True internet video before internet video.
Feels like it helps usher in a new genre of live time voyeurism. Non-garbage Big Brother
One of simplest ideas for a doc
What a crazy, smart idea
This was in a TED talk. It blows everyones minds.
Putting this as “experimental” because it felt like the gorilla idea
Leave it to Joss Fong at VOX to come up with this interesting idea
Meta, cool
Pomp and clout doing something no one’s seen before. Yung Thug loved it.
More vimeo stuff
Friend cesar kuriyama’s app
When name “bianca giaever” was everywhere
Sub par stop motion but for some reason had an affect on me in 2007
First time ive ever seen this on the floor stop motion activity
When everynone captured Vimeo with conceptual visual wordplay
This felt different and groundbreaking. Other people jacked it later
How amazing
When Youtube paid people to do weird shit with their products. This is clearly japan
This felt really innovative when it came out
Felt like first time i saw this type of prank
PART 3:
ARTSY
Kirsten lepore from early age was making stop motion films that felt different
Had deep effect on me. Resonates years later
Depressing commentary
The effort
One of coolest videos to promote books
Most realistic POV action video
Well this was smart
From friend joe pickard. So cool.
Pointillism’s been a thing for ages, but this broke Vimeo
Ever since adam magyar did this, others did too. Crushingly, hauntingly cool
Back in 2007 this put director patrick daughters on radar for me. Close up there with spike jonze for me
And then he did this as well.
Enjoyed how well made this was
I remember watching this blown away by the effort and great editing
From mike gaston at cut video. Part of YT’s “field day” initiative - and most popular video. Great concept.
Painstaking time spent to make films with construction paper
First vimeo film to win “film of the year” at vimeo festival. If you don’t cry you’re not human
Felt like first time you’re getting a raw look at how millennials use desktop social media
Holy shit - this video. Is there any visual design/information video better than this?
Felt like one of first videos that got us talking about spending too much time on our phones
From my creative hero spike jonze. I had fortune of directing the set after this video at the first ever YT music awards, and was top creative experience of my life working with Spike
Not sure why this is in here - i guess i like magic
PART 4:
TINKERING WITH CLIPS
One of the million conceptual remixes that stayed with me
This came out like in 2007 - first time i’ve ever seen rotoscoping over footage. And it’s so funny.
One of million commentaries to be made with using clips
Joe rogan commentating ufc glitches as if real fights.
Just one of the weird remix experiments. I think this was done first by a writer at gawker
The guy who made this was doing so many creative things with remix back then. This being one of them.
Cool idea
Diane bullock and mike schuster made this. One of the best editing duos.
I think this came out in 2001. Was one of the earliest *polished* videos that went viral via email
From genius mike lacher
Dumb and funny
The effort to choreograph for one take
Just another weird supercut
Just another weird supercut from early supercut genius rich juzwiak i think
PART 5:
BRAINY
From Aaron Alon - a brilliant concept
One of best and most inspiring video essays I’ve ever seen
Vihart, going over the top
This has been a thing - and often a recurring buzzteed article theme - but this felt like first time in video form
Other things out there are brainy, but i guess this makes the list. Not sure why
PART 6:
NOVEL PRANKS
Felt like the most special flash mob when flash mobs were a thing
This was one of many brilliant pranks when ThinkModo took over internet circa 2012
First time ive ever seen a celeb go undercover to prank people
Improveverywhere did a lot of cool stuff. For some reason i liked this the most
peekaboo
Mark rober is biggest thing on YouTube right now
PART 7:
JUST WEIRD/OR MISC
I predicted long before this bill wurtz would be a thing.
Laughably stupid
This video made me reach out to mike gravel’s team to do this video
An example of beautiful ingenuity
I honestly cant tell if this is real
Lol this made the list i suppose
This was back from 2008. I couldnt stop watching
Yup.
One of earliest, inane videos on YouTube
This kid is brilliant. One of first videos ive seen of accent showcase
Weird idea, funny
One of best Onion videos - back when they were biggest thing on internet
This list has come full circle
Gripping lip sync
From friends at denizen. This put their agency on the map
One of earliest things that got flula internet famous
Felt like first time gopros met weather balloons
Can’t explain why this is here
One of the most shared, studied, inspirational viral videos in social behavior
First viral japanese thing i saw on youtube
This brought me to tears, and still does
THANKS