Starting a Flash Mob/LipDub at Your School

Step 1 - Discuss with your admin.  You and your kids could think this is the best idea in the world, but without admin support, your idea will go nowhere.  Discuss with admin the positives of creating a flash mob/lipdub, and most importantly how it can help increase school involvement and school spirit on your campus.

Step 2 - Establish parameters.  Ideally you want your KIDS to be doing all the "heavy lifting" when it comes to coming up with a song, a location, the dance moves, etc.  "People tend to support that which they help to create."  Rather than coming up with everything for them, give them the parameters within which they can work.  For example:

1.  This must involve every student/staff member at the school.
2.  The song must not only be "school-appropriate," but positive, life-affirming, upbeat, uplifiting.
3.  All dance moves must be school-appropriate.
4.  If you include any kind of signs or graphics, they should be easy-to-read.
5.  Let's take the time to do this right and create a product our students, staff, and community can be proud of.

Step 3 - Look at examples.  Go online and see what other schools have done.  There's no need to reinvent the wheel, especially if it's your first time doing this.  Here is the flash mob that we did at my school back in 2010.



And then there are the Lip Dubs we started doing at CADA Leadership Camp.



Step 4 - Let the kids do it.  No, really, let the kids do it.  Assuming you have established all the parameters (tell your kids there may be a safety, access, or other "adult" issue we haven't yet thought of), then let the kids do the planning and implementation.  You will be amazed with what they can create.






Step 5 - Use the right equipment to document the event.  I use the Kodak Zi8 camera (image below).  It's lightweight, easy to use, and shoots HD-quality video.  You can find it on Amazon.com HERE.




Kodak is no longer making the Zi8, and its newest camera is now the PlayTouch, which you can check out HERE.

The advantage to using these cameras over traditional "camcorders" is that they have a wider-angle lens which is helpful, especially when shooting up close in a lipdub-type video.  Be careful which camera you choose, because ultimately you need for it to be compatible with the computer on which you will be doing your video editing.  The last thing you want to do is get a Sony camcorder whose video format is incompatible with your iMac (the best type of computer, I think, for editing video.
Talk to a video production teacher in your school or district if you are unsure about the compatibility.  Or, better still, talk to your video production teacher about having his/her kids do the shooting of the video, so you and your students can focus on the "flashmob/lipdub" side of things.

Finally, camcorders shake, especially when in the hands of a walking, excited teenager.  That's why you need a steadicam (if you're going to be walking and filming at the same time).  You can pay $3,800 for this model (at left), or you can buy the materials at Home Depot and make one for less than $25.

Here are a few different resources for building your own here:
http://diycamera.com/stabiliser/index.html

Or here (this is the one we used for CADA Camp 2011):
http://littlegreatideas.com/stabilizer/diy/

Or just do a Google search for "do it yourself steadicam" or "pvc steadicam."  Here are the two that we made for CADA Camp:

 

And by "we," I really mean Verne Johnson at Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp, CA.  You can e-mail him at vjohnson@bhuhsd.k12.ca.us.  He built his own outdoor kitchen in his backyard, among other things.  He's a genius.

Step 6 - Share.  The whole world (or at least your campus community) will be excited to see what you've done!  Edit that video ASAP (ideally a true flashmob/lipdub is all in one take anyway, so editing should be a breeze) and post it to Facebook, YouTube, SchoolTube, TeacherTube, your school blog, whatever.  If you post it to just ONE video hosting site, and then put links to or embed that same one video on all your websites and social media, then it makes it easier to track how many views you've gotten.  SchoolTube is a great alternative to YouTube because everyone can see it, at home or at school.  By posting to a school Facebook page, you also allow students and parents to re-post to their Facebook pages, and the video could even go viral.  As Google "Educational Evangelist" Jaime Casap said at the CADA Convention back in March 2011:

"We don't ban cars.  We teach kids how to cross the street safely."

Instead of turning a blind eye to social media, it's time for us in education to harness its power and teach kids how to use it responsibly.  Social media is where they are.  Let's teach them how to be there safely.