The Hubble Deep Field Video: One Year Anniversary
On September 6th, 2006 I made a 6 and a half minute video over the course a few days and uploaded it to YouTube. I figured I’d be lucky if it got 3,000 views.
That happened the first week.
When I made that video and uploaded it, I was slammed in the comments for the smacking and breathing sounds in the narration track. I had recorded the narration with a USB headset and mike combination and I had the mike pretty close to my mouth.
I never listened to the video with headphones on as I was editing it though, so I never heard my voice ‘up close’.
I learned very fast that many ‘YouTubers’ did use earphones and were (rightfully) disgusted by the smacking and breathing sounds. Here was my favorite comment on that topic:
I love stuff like this, but get a better microphone and drink some water.
If I’m going to watch a video extoling the virtues and wonderment of cosmic exploration, I damn well shouldn’t feel like the narrator is trying lick my eardrum after having trekked across the Sahara without a canteen.
I immediately put out another version with all the narration cleaned up, I was so embarrassed. I knew better, but it just never dawned on my to listen with earphones before posting.
Live and learn…
Over the course of the last year it’s been on the front page of Digg a couple of times (of course, not with my DeepAstronomy url so I never got the traffic, YouTube did), discussed on countless forums, shown at many astronomy clubs and used by dozens of teachers in their classrooms.
I made that video on a lark, with no real thought given to it after it was complete, only to discover it had gotten bigger than I had ever dreamed.
People began emailing me out of nowhere with more emails than I could keep up with and still keep my job. Tons of praise and derision was thrown at me, and to be honest, I had no idea what to do with it.
The Hubble Deep Field Video had hit a YouTube nerve and I was stunned. Almost immediately after I made the HDF video, I made my second one: Life in the Universe #1: Just Here or Everywhere? which was an attempt to show how tenacious life is on this planet and how unlikely it would be for the Earth to be the only planet in our ENTIRE universe to harbor life.
I closed the video with the idea that it only takes one discovery of an organism that we can prove is of extraterrestrial origin to show that that live is everywhere in the universe.
That video never made it as big as the HDF video, partly because of the music I used. I was afraid I was going to get in trouble for using music snippets I didn’t have the permissions for (I’m still waiting for that hammer to drop), so I used some music I bought from StockMusic.net. It was OK, but nowhere near as emotional as the stuff I used in the HDF video.
Here are some ways making that video affected my life:
- I’ve been offered jobs to make videos for web companies
- I’ve been offered writing gigs (like this blog)
- I’ve received very emotional, heartfelt emails from dozens of adults telling me that this video has changed their life. I’m not really sure what that means, but you should read some of them. Wow. I would post some excerpts, but that doesn’t seem right.
- I’ve been offered speaking engagements
- I’ve been offered, ummm, physical engagments
- I’ve been proposed to
- Kids from around the world email me with all sorts of astronomy questions. Many telling me I’ve inspired them to become astronomers.
- I’ve met new friends whom I can’t imagine not having in my life now.
- My colleagues now ask me to do all the public outreach stuff they don’t want to do.
I suppose if we all only get 15 minutes of fame, then I’m pretty happy with how mine went. It was a great ride, thanks to all of you who took the time out to tell me how the video has affected you and for your words of support and appreciation.
Oh, and the video just went over 1 million views.
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3 opinions for The Hubble Deep Field Video: One Year Anniversary
julie
Sep 13, 2007 at 9:50 am
My physical engagement offer still stands. ;)
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