Cool Vids Vol. 1

I'm a big YouTube addict and I've been lucky enough to stumble across some really heartwarming and impressive videos.

Stand By Me
"Playing For Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people."

In this video, musicians from all over the world perform "Stand By Me." I love the editing of the video and seeing the different styles the musicians sang the song in. Plus, it's a neat concept! You can visit their website to learn about the project at playingforchange.com and how it led to the creation of its own non-profit corporation.

We Got Time
You know how a flipbook creates the illusion a picture is moving because the image slightly changes with each page? Well this video takes that concept but uses a technique that makes it a 1000 times cooler. They used something called
praxinoscopes and matched up the frame rate of the spinning record to that of the camera. No computer super-imposing was used; what you see is what rolled off the camera. A hi-res version of the video can be found here.

Amazing Rocket War
One island. Two villages. 50,000 handmade rockets.

This fun fun fun looking festival occurs in Chios, Greece. The goal? For the residents of two opposing villages to hit each other's church bell with a rocket. Definitely want to be a part of that next year. I'm digging the song used, too.



Where the Hell is Matt?
I'm sure most of you have already seen this video but I couldn't leave it out because it's one of my favorites. This guy Matt took a simple idea and made it relevant for people everywhere, similar to the Playing For Change video. If you haven't seen it, basically Matt dances badly in places all over the world. Which could be lame if he was just by himself but he was able to get locals of each place he was in to dance with him. Not only does this make the video more enjoyable to watch, but the idea that all these different nationalities came together to make it happen was inspiring. It couldn't have happened without the internet since Matt coordinated the "danceshoots" once he received emails from people everywhere wanting him to come visit them.

See how the project was conceived, planned, and executed here. The song, btw, is called "Praan" by Garry Schyman.

Enjoy!