YouTube

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YouTube is a revolutionary site allowing anyone globally to upload a video, a perfect way for a less fortunate filmmaker with lack of funding to demonstrate and display their work. Many videos have received millions of views and even hit the news headlines for doing so.  Matt a YouTubist (an artist displaying their work on YouTube) as he complied a collection of footage while he was travelling, the footage featured himself dancing in front of some of the worlds most famous global landmarks, this is an excellent short film reiterating YouTube’s transnational appeal. Due to the success of Matt’s first video, Matt was even sponsored to do a follow up video which is featured below, also due to the success many people joined him in his mission to dance all over the world.

The film industry also manipulates YouTube to its advantage, by posting still adverts of upcoming releases at the sides of the site, as well as the upcoming releases teaser trailers and full length trailers can also be found. This proves that the transnational element of YouTube allows filmmakers to let the target audience seek the advertised film instead of distributors advertising when or where their target market can see it.

YouTube has run many successful filmmaking competitions such as the ‘Heinz’ commercial.
The competition “which invited consumers to produce homemade Heinz commercials and then upload them for voting on YouTube for a chance to win $57,000 and national exposure. Thousands of consumers submitted home-produced Heinz commercials--8,000 or so, according to agency partner Smith Brothers Advertising, while only 4,000 made the cut for the competition. With obvious incentive, sites like YouTube--with an international audience--are intent on overcoming barriers to executing ad campaigns on a global scale.” (Fabien, 2007). This quote proves that YouTube is in the forefront in transnationality by reaching and selling to people across the globe

Case Study: Susan Boyle, Britians Got Talent

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Recently YouTube has hit the headlines like never before. Susan Boyle an entry on the British talent show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ was blasted from obscurity into international fame when her audition for the TV Talent show was featured on YouTube and has been viewed by over 20 million users. Susan Boyle and the Talent contest even went stateside as A-List celebrities such as Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher viewed the video and commenting on the video which made people aware of the singer as the following quote proves “The unlikely Britain’s Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle has become such an internet hit that Hollywood star Demi Moore has been Twittering about her. The actress’s husband Ashton Kutcher spotted the frumpy but talented unemployed Scot, posting a link to a video of her much-discussed Saturday night singing performance on his Twitter page” (Schmidt, 2009).

Boyle has even appeared on the international talk show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ discussing her new fame. This case study proves how one video on YouTube can reach audiences on the masses nationally and internationally proving that its innovative methods work, and transnationality is achieved liked never before. 

Unfortunately the audition video watched by over 20 million people is unable to be embedded within this site but here is the link to the video on YouTube. The video featured below is a news story on her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey talk show.