unforum

[HaxanMike]

Lonelygirl15

[addlepated]

There are similar questions raised about that older fella who was a big YouTube hit recently, too. I haven't really had time to delve into either case very deeply, though.

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/54176

And, heh heh, from that MeFi link:

[Ehsan]

I was wondering why emo teenager posts were making it to the top watched list on youtube. Didn't bother checking to see if there's more to it. This site gives a good summary if you don't want to watch all those videos: http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/002277.html

[addlepated]

Bizarrely, the link Ehsan posted is from a guy who collaborated with GMD Studios/Brian Clark on a different project.

The internet is a series of tubes. I'm tellin ya. And they're all circular.

[oxdeltaxo]

Lonelygirl looks just a lil....i unno.....flakey

It's an ok concept for inclusion into viral marketing, I just don't think it works on its own.

[droidiac]

I've been totally addicted to her videos, it's like a soap opera!! plus shes so cute

[oxdeltaxo]

Yeah, she's hot.....I'll admit that!

Apparently there was a fan site registered a few months b4 the movies began... http://www.lonelygirl15.com/

[addlepated]

http://screens.blogs.nytimes.com/

Synopsis: Brian Flemming, whose site Ehsan linked to, is coming out with a movie named "Danielle." It used to be named "The Beast." It's about a teen who discovers Jesus didn't exist. Lonelygirl15 has a shrine to Aleister Crowley in her room, and her friend's name is Danielle.

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/54290
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/8407639.html
http://blog.myspace.com/lonelygirl15promo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433338/

Curiouser and curiouser.

ETA: I just started watching some of her videos - it's clever how, at the very beginning, she refers to a bunch of other YouTube users. What better way to get attention? People love to see their names referenced.

[oxdeltaxo]

I find it a nice touch that it gives personal interaction referencing names and such. If only ARGs gave that personal touch, to my knoledge very few do.

[addlepated]

Ok, so the Crowley pic shows up around the "Daniel returns" video, right? But if you look at the "Danielbeast" video, there's clearly another picture in the same frame, same place. Call me crazy, but it looks like a winged demon. Could it be Bahomet, and whoever's producing this thought that might be a little too obscure?

By the way, Daniel's got a copy of the Zombie Survival Guide behind him in a bookcase on one of the videos on his site. Clearly he's got good taste in reading material.

[colin]

It's been picked up by metafilter (edit: Addlepated already posted that ) and caused some talk on wikipedia. from mefi Adrian Hon made an intersting comment;

[addlepated]

It's funny how small the industry really is, even 7 years after Blair Witch. There are just not that many projects that have generated the same amount of buzz. But still, it's funny - Mike posts it, points at Sean Stewart; someone else has compared it to Blair Witch; someone else thinks Flemming's behind it and points at GMD. Can we figure out a way to implicate Mind Candy, do you think?

Anyway, I'm confident that Mike would not shill his own project here. He knows it would cause an extremely negative reaction on UF to do something like that. And he's got better manners, anyway!

[HaxanMike]

It's definitely not one of my projects but I am having a blast following at (and I do want to know who is behind it).

[addlepated]

The interesting thing about this project is that it seems like more energy is being expended trying to peek behind the curtain than finding out what the point of the videos is. And the peeking is almost more fun, in a sense.

[Phaedra]

After reading the ARGN article that gives some details (purity bond with her father, so she's still a virgin, not a mainstream religion, picture of Aleister Crowley), I'm guessing that this is a viral promotion for the remake of The Wicker Man.