The LipDub Taxonomy Countdown - Type #3: The "College Recruitment/Charity" LipDub

Type #3: The "College Recruitment/Charity" LipDub

This is really an evolution of Type #5 (The "College Music Video" LipDub), so merits its own entry.  Many of the elements are the same, but it often prefaced by an introduction to the school of some sort, and makes a much greater to be massive/all-inclusive of as many student organizations as possible in the creation of the LipDub.  Sometimes linked to this is some sort of charitable tie-in, for number of views, likes, shares, etc.

Below is a great example of this type of LipDub, as well as being one of my favorites, across the board.  Here, the students from the University of British Columbia do a mash-up of Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and Marianas Trench's "Celebrity Status" (Note: The actual LipDub doesn't start until about a minute into the video, with the upfront being a take-off on the Old Spice commercials).

The video not only serves as a marketing piece, in essence, to build interest in the school for prospects, but UBC also partnered with the Make-a-Wish Foundation to donate money to the charity for every sponsored hit that the video received on YouTube.  Overall, this video is high energy, everyone is having a blast, and if any video makes you want to rush out make your own LipDub, this might be the one:

On a related note, I hadn't heard of Marianas Trench before, but instantly fell in love with the song used in this LipDub.  In fact, the band makes a cameo in the video, with the band pretty much introducing/setting up the song.

The LipDub Taxonomy Countdown - Type #4: The "Non-College Music Video" LipDub

(For background on the LipDub, check out the previous entry) 

Type #4: The "Non-College Music Video" LipDub

Very similar to the previous kind of LipDub, except (strangely) much rarer.  It seems that colleges and high schools corner the market on LipDubs, so it is rare (and sometimes wonderful) when a non-educational institution throws their hat into the ring.  Such is the case with the Clark Retirement Community's LipDub of Michael Buble's "Feeling Good."

The LipDub Taxonomy Countdown - Type #5: The "College Music Video" LipDub

What's a LipDub?

At it's simplest form, a LipDub is a cousin to lip-synching.  But rather than a single person or handful of people mouthing the words to a song, you usually have dozens and dozens of people involved in bringing it to life.  Rarely is a single person featured throughout; instead the singing is handed off from person to person, usually with a constantly moving camera, to feature as many different people (in both the foreground and background) as possible.

Why do I care?  I wish I knew.  But there's just something...fun... about the LipDub.  From the usually upbeat song selection, to the different ways that the performers think to try to include everyone, to the mass cheering at the end of (almost) every Lipdub, to the six or seven people that somehow seem more memorable than the others in any given video.  Plus, the fact there are often several different styles of LipDub.

Which is what I'll be covering this week...an attempted taxonomy of LipDub styles.  And while this doesn't fall squarely in the center of the topic of "pop culture," it's definitely within the borders.


Type #5: The "College Music Video" LipDub

So here is what I think of as the LipDub at it's simplest or most common form: a large group of college students recreating a song...nothing more, nothing less.  A common variation on this is the "High School Music Video."  In both, you'll see the students, the occasional faculty member, and get a tour of the campus.  And usually bathrooms.

Submitted for inclusion here are two examples, perhaps at two extremes of the spectrum:

• A basic, straightforward LipDub from Calvin College (go West Michigan!), dubbing Rocket Summer's song "So Much Love"
• A more dramatic, acting-intensive (long set-up) LipDub from the University of Montreal, dubbing Offspring's "Pretty Fly" (here you also have the sub-variant of the "Foreign LipDub," wherein a non-English speaking school LipDubs to an American song)