A fire breather, a guy doing backflips in a Pikachu onesie, and over a hundred college students going crazy; these were the highlights of my Wednesday a few weeks ago. A few semesters ago, Champlain College formed a closer bond with the National College Ireland, and the two have been sending students back and forth to various student events since. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the student leaders from NCI Student Union, who told us that they were going to be doing a lip dub video as part of their charity week festivities, to showcase the different clubs and societies present on their campus. I was quick to volunteer the small trove of camera and audio equipment shared between myself and my roommates, and they made it clear that they’d take all the help we could give.
Lip dub videos were a big trend back in 2012, as they’re great for showing off what a school has to offer; making them look especially fun and hip. In one continuous camera take, people travel along, lip syncing to a popular song, switching off relay style. It normally ends with the entire group assembled at the end. The video they were basing theirs on had 2,000 students in it. Ours had 150, and even that felt like an unmanageable number, all singing along to the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.
And that’s where I found myself this week, tangled up in microphone chords, carrying a boom pole, and watching overworked student leaders try to organize everyone. Along for the ride were a few of my fellow Champlain Abroad students, who had agreed to hold a banner and wave some American flags in the video, after minimal pleading on my part. We kicked it off in the NCI atrium, with a brief word from the president of the college, before the camera dove headfirst into a tunnel of people, waving around Pokémon merchandise, sports equipment, and musical instruments.
After a few practice runs, we hit record, and burst through the tunnel into their courtyard, where another tunnel of people was waiting to meet us. A little bit of reorganization was called for here, but soon enough we were sneaking though the library, then up a floor in the elevator with the best air guitarist I’ve ever seen. Into a lecture hall, out of a lecture hall, back down the elevator with guitar guy, then though the lobby, through the dining hall, and straight into the quad, where everyone was gathering. Around this time was when the fire breather showed up, her services rented for the video, and I learned that the secret to being a good fire breather; having a taste for lighter fluid. It was fantastic to take part in the video, as hectic as it was, and I look forward to getting to work with our NCI peers again soon.
Will Saxe
Champlain Abroad Dublin, Spring 2014
Champlain College, Broadcasting Streaming Media’15