The MHMS Harlem Shake (& Why It’s So Popular!)


Yes, we did it. Inspired by Tim Gwynn’s TV studio kids doing the Internet MEME
dance sensation The Harlem Shake, Winecoff Style (embedded at the
end!) you know we had to make our own!
What is a MEME, you may ask?  A Meme – which rhymes with Team!,  is an Internet sensation that has gone viral. Like Gangnam Style, the Dancing Baby, or Rick Rolling someone. The graphic below gives a quick overview and you can see the whole infographic here. So, why has this one Meme sprouted like a gajillion versions in the

last two weeks? I think because it’s fun
& easy to film and most importantly easy to edit!

Bascially, it’s shot in 2 scenes, the first one being a person masked or helmeted dancing with people around assiduously ignoring them for the first 15 seconds of the song, then when the song says “Harlem Shake” you cut to everyone going wild dancing usually with costumes & props for a total of 30-40 seconds.

Now, schools, universities, companies, & groups across the country are filming versions.  In fact last week there were an average of 4,000 versions featuring the words “Harlem Shake” being uploaded on YouTube per day! Want to trace the MEME history? As always, I would point you to the Know Your Meme Internet Database.

While some students are being suspended for posting lewd or unsanctioned versions shot dancing mob-style on cafeteria tables, and where parents are also complaining that school is not the place to film a dance craze, this has definitely cashed in well for the original artist music producer Baauer who is getting a monetized slice with every click on YouTube and was fighting for the top 2 spots in iTunes last week. I confess, I spent $1.29 to buy the song for my iMovie editing fun!

It was reported that Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ made the artist over $870,000 from YouTube alone, media watchers are speculating now how much this craze will generate for artist Baauer.

How did ours come about? We’ve got a big MSA (our Maryland standardized test) Pep rally tomorrow and two of my favourite 7th grade English teachers Mrs. Cullision (on right) and Mrs. Krieger (on left) emailed me with the idea (I said, Yes, please!) and of course included our super cool principal, Dr. D, last week. In his wisdom, Dr. D was firm that he didn’t want us to use kids during instructional time (ie: why are students dancing & not learning when our standardized testing starts next week? or possible lewd middle school moves #nuffsaid) So we did it with all teachers voluntarily showing up in our library AFTER school! Of course I filmed it and before we did it I showed the Winecoff Elem version as inspiration and kept it showing via the LCD projector to create a Meme inside a Meme! W00t!

You can find our video on my YouTube Channel, our MurrayHill YouTube Channel, and our SchoolTube Channel.

Is
YouTube blocked in your school? Here’s our SchoolTube Version


Read more:

How Your Harlem Shake Videos Make
Money

Meet Baauer, the Man Behind the Harlem
Shake
– The Daily Beast

Harlem Shake: Baauer cashes in

Harlem Shake‘ gets kids suspended

Teens suspended over suggestive ‘Harlem
Shake
‘ video

Harlem
Shake on mid-flight airplane leads to FAA investigation

Harlem Shake – Winecoff Style! Winecoff Elementary School, North Carolina