W3V2

The videos playing on our library’s flat screens that get the most attention from our adult patrons are the ones that feature live action. Videos that feature athletes who test their limits to perform amazing stunts are not only entertaining but also inspirational. These videos get our patrons interested, interacting and inspired to go out and be physically active.

Many of our regular patrons in Virtual Village are basketball fans. We recently had a wonderful, community building experience here in the computer lab when we played the final basketball game of the 2008 summer Olympics (when USA defeated Spain to win the Gold Medal) on the flat screens. We turned the sound on (which we rarely do) and a group of patrons congregated in front of the flatscreens, watching the game and enjoying each others company. Many of our patrons do not have the luxury of a TV, comfy couch, or even a living room of their own and they were truly appreciative of this opportunity to watch the game with their friends.

In response to this enthusiasm for sports, especially basketball, we are displaying two Nike commercials on the flatscreens: Freestyle and Jump. We do not play commercials that are overtly selling a product and the number of commercials in rotation is very limited (just these two so far) but I felt that these provided enough entertainment and inspirational value to override the little “swoosh” at the end. These days, companies are creating videos that are as much art and entertainment as sales tool. They must rely on internet sites such as YouTube to get their commercial seen by a wide audience because, thanks to TIVO and television online, very few people have to watch commercials in their traditional form anymore.

Freestyle, directed by Paul Hunter and choreographed by Savion Glover, features basketball tricks performed by NBA stars and street ballers. The spot was instantly popular and evolved into several extended versions, a website, and spoofs on various TV shows. ESPN wrote a great article on the video that can be found here. There is also an interesting video that documents the making of the commercial here.

Another Nike video, titled “Jump” was created to air in Brazil during the 2008 Summer Olympics and features the story of triple jump athlete Jadel Gregorio. One of the reasons that this video is great for the TVs in virtual is that Jadel’s story is narrated with subtitles, making it perfect to view without sound. The end of the video reads “Stop looking for excuses. Just do it.” This is a message that all of us need at some point in our lives.

Even those who are not athletes or sports enthusiasts can find inspiration in testing the limits of your abilities and perfecting the talents that you have.

Nike “Freestyle”

Nike “Jump”