Ze Frank, a little-known comedian from New York, is the star of his personal vlog simply called ‘The Show’. Every weekday between 17th March 2006 and 17th March 2007, Ze Frank posted a new episode of The Show online and in doing so amassed a huge online following through word of mouth. Using just a video camera and his digital stills camera, Ze Frank edited each episode on his own laptop and posted the finished videos on his website. The very intimate and community-based nature of this vlog makes it quite unusual compared to others found on sites like YouTube. Usually vlogs are not literally ‘video web logs’ in a diary-like form, with the form more often taking irregular musings to a webcam. Ze Frank’s vlog, however, acted as a diary of his life and thoughts as well as giving Ze Frank the opportunity to talk about current affairs and the media. But it was his use of the audience which made it so notable and popular.
The interactive features meant that viewers could comment on The Show’s forum and wiki but the viewers were best put to use with Ze Frank’s ‘projects’ which often required audience participation. For no apparent reason, Ze Frank only referred to his viewers as ‘Sportsracers’, which only acted to make the cult following of the show more unified. Running jokes, such as Ze Frank’s affliction with “duckies” (hence the logo), the closing remark of each episode (“This is Ze Frank thinking so you don’t have to”), Ze Frank’s apparent incapability to blink and the question “Are the new viewers gone yet?” (which only acted to compact the community further).
The most notable ‘project’ is the Earth Sandwich. Ze Frank urged his viewers to put two pieces of bread on the ground simultaneously at points directly opposite each other on the globe. This would create a giant Earth Sandwich. Ze Frank developed a special tool using Google Maps to calculate the “equal but opposite” locations. Hundreds of viewers took part, sparking worldwide media interest and another one of Ze Frank’s own songs, “If the Earth were a Sandwich”. It proved much harder than most originally thought, as the most of the Earth is water. Two brothers were announced by Ze Frank to be first Earth Sandwich pioneers, using Spain and New Zealand - click on the baguette to see!
The interactive features meant that viewers could comment on The Show’s forum and wiki but the viewers were best put to use with Ze Frank’s ‘projects’ which often required audience participation. For no apparent reason, Ze Frank only referred to his viewers as ‘Sportsracers’, which only acted to make the cult following of the show more unified. Running jokes, such as Ze Frank’s affliction with “duckies” (hence the logo), the closing remark of each episode (“This is Ze Frank thinking so you don’t have to”), Ze Frank’s apparent incapability to blink and the question “Are the new viewers gone yet?” (which only acted to compact the community further).The most notable ‘project’ is the Earth Sandwich. Ze Frank urged his viewers to put two pieces of bread on the ground simultaneously at points directly opposite each other on the globe. This would create a giant Earth Sandwich. Ze Frank developed a special tool using Google Maps to calculate the “equal but opposite” locations. Hundreds of viewers took part, sparking worldwide media interest and another one of Ze Frank’s own songs, “If the Earth were a Sandwich”. It proved much harder than most originally thought, as the most of the Earth is water. Two brothers were announced by Ze Frank to be first Earth Sandwich pioneers, using Spain and New Zealand - click on the baguette to see!.
Vlogs - or 'video web logs' in the strictest sense - have been made available by the sudden abundance of free video-upload sites such as YouTube, Google Video and DailyMotion. Flash technology and broadband speeds have meant it’s easy to upload any video one may wish. YouTube made it even easier for users – particularly vloggers – to upload video using their direct upload feature for webcams. Home-made content like this is known as UGC (User-Generated Content), which covers home made video clips, audio (like podcasts), photographs (perhaps being sent to a news organization) and comments (for instance on blogs or news websites). Institutions are becoming very aware of the sudden influx of such content which has become hugely popular over the last few years. Landmark points in UGC include the July 7th bombings - where people aboard the bombed carriages took video and images using their mobile phone - and the advent of YouTube which has taken the internet by storm. Film distributors and TV production companies are becoming wise to such new media, with Universal NBC, the BBC, Channel 4 and other major organizations making strides into online video.
Take a look at this clip from 'Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe: Review of 2006' to see exactly how the influx of UGC has been used on the internet to great effect but just embarrassingly once it moves to TV. In the end, there is a place for UGC: the internet. On the good old television, audiences want real quality from real production companies - not some losers dancing around to 'My Humps' in their pyjamas in front of their webcam!!
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