Seton Hall's second annual LipDub will take place in the Pirates' Cove on Friday at 1:30 p.m. A portion of the segment will also be filmed during the Relay for Life event in the Field House around 10 p.m.
"We are essentially making a music video where students and faculty lip sync to a popular song while simultaneously giving a tour of our campus," Dominick Scavelli, Seton Hall student and organizer of the event, said.
For those who do not know, LipDubs have become a web sensation in the past few years, gaining popularity through internet video hosting sites like Youtube.com. Searching for "College LipDub" on the site brings up a host of videos created by different colleges from all over the country.
Last year, over 40 Seton Hall students LipDubbed to Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." The video was taped on Scavelli's personal video recorder and required only one take and no choreography.
Scavelli was happily surprised with the turnout of students and faculty and is excited for this year's LipDub. He said that last year it was hard at first to convince many students of the idea, but he thinks this year it will be different.
"I think we caught their attention now," Scavelli said.
Seton Hall's LipDub is run entirely by students and faculty and is endorsed by Housing and Residence Life. These groups encourage all clubs and organizations to endorse and represent themselves in this year's video.
The event's planning is much more organized this year, Scavelli said. They created a Facebook group named "The Sequel of Seton Hall University's LipDub," which shares all the event information with those in the group.
Last year's video can be found on Youtube.com and has 8,400 views. The group is hoping to increase that number for this year's video and encourages the full support and participation of the Seton Hall community to watch it on Youtube once finished.
Students who plan on participating are being asked to represent Seton Hall by wearing any SHU apparel they might own.
Any creativity on the part of the students is also being encouraged by the group, especially if it is humorous. One of the highlights of last year's video, explained Scavelli, was when three students showed up at the last minute dressed in costume.
Two were dressed as bananas and the other as a gorilla, and the three chased each other around throughout the video.
"It is that type of spontaneity and creativity that we are looking for," Scavelli said.
This year's LipDub is being done to Katy Perry's "Firework," which the group chose by voting on suggested songs using their Facebook group.
"Our goal is to promote Seton Hall by filming a video that inherently illustrates Seton Hall's distinct school spirit, garners the attention of prospective students and professionals and also shows the world what we are all about," Scavelli said.
Ronan O'Brien can be reached at ronan.obrien@student.shu.edu.
