In an email circulated this week to members, UCD FilmSoc has announced their debut screening of the widely successful Youtube video “lofi hip hop radio - beats to chill/study to”. The announcement of the screening has been met with much discussion and controversy, with some questioning the legitimacy of showing such a clip as a piece of film.
In an interview with the Harpy, auditor Odin O’Sullivan was quick to quell any concerns that this was not some sort of marketing ploy. “We’ve been wanting to screen this video for years now, and we finally got the go ahead from Youtube to be able to screen it for our members. In our eyes, any use of animation or visual illusion of movement is recognisable as a film, because if we were to limit ourselves, how far would we go? Is Charlie Chaplin not a film star because his movies are silent? Is Toy Story not a film because it doesn’t have actors on screen? Is Fast and Furious 8 not a film because it has no plot? We can’t limit ourselves like this!”
Any sort of criticism of the piece seemed to be off limits in this interview as well. “So what if it’s one short moment over and over again? So is half of all the Back to the Future films! And just because it has a live comments section doesn’t make it any less of a film. You could click away in Bandersnatch and not one of you said it wasn’t “art”. “ At this point Odin began foaming at the mouth and was escorted from the Harpy offices by three members of the Filmsoc committee.
A spokesperson for the Society’s Council in UCD spoke out against the screening in a statement released earlier today. “This screening goes totally against the ethos of what UCD societies stand for. The main purpose of every society should be to make as much profit as possible off the backs of students. Free screenings of Youtube videos will not further that cause in any way, shape or form.” Students seem to generally be interested in the screening, and there are discussions as to which Youtube videos should be screened next. A poll on Filmsoc’s official Facebook page has “(HQ) Man slips on ice on RTE’s Six One News” as the top choice for the next screening with “Family Guy Dark Jokes -Family Guy-” coming in with a close second.
The screening of “lofi hip hop beats” will begin at 8 o’clock this Thursday. Entry is free for members and the event is strictly BYOSM, or Bring Your Own Study Materials for short.