Hillsdale joins YouTube frenzy; technical revolution
Joel Pavelski
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Focus
A technological and cultural revolution, YouTube videos are now a part of everyday life for college students.
Just about everyone on every campus has made fun of Miss South Carolina or danced along to "Soulja Boy." But now, Hillsdale students are crossing over - creating videos themselves instead of just watching along.
Search for "Hillsdale" on YouTube and you'll find, in addition to retro recruitment videos and clips of football games, odd and exciting student-made content.
For examples, look no further than "GallowayMen," a YouTube channel devoted to chronicling the exploits of a group of guys living together in, according to the channel, "the fairest and noblest republic of Galloway." The channel records their pranks, Nerf gun fights and, as the cameraman exclaims in one video, "the biggest waste[s] of time that [they] could come up with."
"Galloway Men" was the spontaneous invention of freshman Galloway Hall resident Carl Avery and currently houses 18 videos, all filmed around campus with the video function on Avery's digital still camera.
"We just started fooling around with the camera when we were doing something stupid," Avery said, "but we put the videos online because we wanted to share them with our friends."
"My favorite part is watching people's reactions," said Avery. "I like watching people laugh at us."
The men from Galloway aren't the only ones from Hillsdale making YouTube videos. Last year, when junior Jack Shannon decided to lighten things up around his dorm by riding up and down the hall on a bicycle while in his underwear and wearing roller blades, his friend junior Thomas Leonard started taping it.
"It was raining outside, and I was announcing that it was a 'slippery dippery day,'" said Shannon. The video became a well-known YouTube video entitled "Slippery Dippery Day from Jack Shannon."
Now with a YouTube account dedicated to videos starring him, Shannon said the videos usually happened by accident, but that his aficionados started demanding more.
"[Thomas] would pull out the video camera whenever," he said, "but then it became a joke. Everything I did, they told me to do it for the Jack Shannon YouTube channel."
"I'm not a YouTube celebrity," he said.
Shannon said he plans to scale the walls from one end of his hall to the other for his next video.
Look hard enough and you'll find that the YouTube trend isn't just affecting current students; even Hillsdale alumni are joining in and uploading YouTube goodies. Greg McLogan, an '88 graduate, created the "Hillsdale88" channel with his free time over Christmas break. A communications major, McLogan's work at Hillsdale was in video production.
"I started borrowing a big VHS camera and just recording things around campus," he said.
McLogan uploaded much of his VHS footage to his YouTube channel, including fraternity rush videos, Mock Rock performances, and Hillsdale admissions videos that are humorous in retrospect.
"I sent an email to my friends from Hillsdale, letting them know what I'd done, and started hearing from people all over the country," he said.
And there are plenty more videos to see, from recorded performances by Juny and The Narrows to the infamous Turkish belly dancing of senior Paul Ray.
McLogan, who lived in Galloway his freshman year, said that watching videos from the current "GallowayMen" was exciting.
"It's funny to see what people are up to," he said, "the campus has changed so much, it's amazing."
Avery agreed, saying he hoped he'd be able to see his videos when he's an alumni.
"We're going to be very glad we have these movies to look back on," he said.
Follow the links to check out the videos:
Volleyball to the face.
Hillsdale College Mock Rock 1984: Billy Idol's Rebel Yell.
How to brush your teeth like a superhero.
Speedwalking accident.
Car Prank.
Goodbye to Kresge.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
Just about everyone on every campus has made fun of Miss South Carolina or danced along to "Soulja Boy." But now, Hillsdale students are crossing over - creating videos themselves instead of just watching along.
Search for "Hillsdale" on YouTube and you'll find, in addition to retro recruitment videos and clips of football games, odd and exciting student-made content.
For examples, look no further than "GallowayMen," a YouTube channel devoted to chronicling the exploits of a group of guys living together in, according to the channel, "the fairest and noblest republic of Galloway." The channel records their pranks, Nerf gun fights and, as the cameraman exclaims in one video, "the biggest waste[s] of time that [they] could come up with."
"Galloway Men" was the spontaneous invention of freshman Galloway Hall resident Carl Avery and currently houses 18 videos, all filmed around campus with the video function on Avery's digital still camera.
"We just started fooling around with the camera when we were doing something stupid," Avery said, "but we put the videos online because we wanted to share them with our friends."
"My favorite part is watching people's reactions," said Avery. "I like watching people laugh at us."
The men from Galloway aren't the only ones from Hillsdale making YouTube videos. Last year, when junior Jack Shannon decided to lighten things up around his dorm by riding up and down the hall on a bicycle while in his underwear and wearing roller blades, his friend junior Thomas Leonard started taping it.
"It was raining outside, and I was announcing that it was a 'slippery dippery day,'" said Shannon. The video became a well-known YouTube video entitled "Slippery Dippery Day from Jack Shannon."
Now with a YouTube account dedicated to videos starring him, Shannon said the videos usually happened by accident, but that his aficionados started demanding more.
"[Thomas] would pull out the video camera whenever," he said, "but then it became a joke. Everything I did, they told me to do it for the Jack Shannon YouTube channel."
"I'm not a YouTube celebrity," he said.
Shannon said he plans to scale the walls from one end of his hall to the other for his next video.
Look hard enough and you'll find that the YouTube trend isn't just affecting current students; even Hillsdale alumni are joining in and uploading YouTube goodies. Greg McLogan, an '88 graduate, created the "Hillsdale88" channel with his free time over Christmas break. A communications major, McLogan's work at Hillsdale was in video production.
"I started borrowing a big VHS camera and just recording things around campus," he said.
McLogan uploaded much of his VHS footage to his YouTube channel, including fraternity rush videos, Mock Rock performances, and Hillsdale admissions videos that are humorous in retrospect.
"I sent an email to my friends from Hillsdale, letting them know what I'd done, and started hearing from people all over the country," he said.
And there are plenty more videos to see, from recorded performances by Juny and The Narrows to the infamous Turkish belly dancing of senior Paul Ray.
McLogan, who lived in Galloway his freshman year, said that watching videos from the current "GallowayMen" was exciting.
"It's funny to see what people are up to," he said, "the campus has changed so much, it's amazing."
Avery agreed, saying he hoped he'd be able to see his videos when he's an alumni.
"We're going to be very glad we have these movies to look back on," he said.
Follow the links to check out the videos:
Volleyball to the face.
Hillsdale College Mock Rock 1984: Billy Idol's Rebel Yell.
How to brush your teeth like a superhero.
Speedwalking accident.
Car Prank.
Goodbye to Kresge.
Hillsdale College Collegian 2008
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Hugh
posted 4/25/08 @ 3:59 PM EST
This one's great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrrAeCmVKqU
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