George West in the Coopers Style video
Gangnam-style video is YouTube hit for Upminster students
by Safira Ali, Senior reporter
Friday, January 11, 2013
11:47 AM
Students have become YouTube sensations after making a Gangnam-style video about their school.
Group of students performing Gangnam-style dance for Coopers-Style videoThe group of friends from Coopers’ Company and Coborn School, Upminster, decided to put the comical video together in the style of South Korean singer Psy’s song which had international success last year.
Pupils from the school, sixth form and PE captains personalised the video with their own lyrics.
Iconic
It even includes teachers and dinner ladies at the school performing the now iconic dance.
It was made after school and in the lunchtimes and featured in a sixth-form assembly. But the video – which is almost four minutes long – has gone beyond only local success with 7,000 hits in its first week just before Christmas and more than 17,500 hits on the video-sharing website YouTtube since then.
The school’s head boy, George West, wrote the lyrics with Michael Badley, who recorded the soundtrack and produced the song.
Jordan Femi wrote his own rap which is featured in the song. And the video was filmed, edited and produced by Joe Balfe.
George West said: “The idea of Coopers-style came to me when I needed to make something special for my school’s Christmas assembly. After seeing the success of Gangnam style, I thought that I could easily adapt a song to my life here at Coopers, with many school puns included.
“I actually couldn’t believe it the number of views and how it escalated so quickly. The video was intended for an assembly, not for public viewing, and so I wasn’t anticipating it.
“I did the video also tongue in cheek because everyone sees me as the head boy that’s seriously stuck in my studies and so I wanted to show the fun side of me. It’s really cool hearing the Year 7s singing it around school, and even hearing some teachers sing it!”
Joe said: “We did it as a fun little project for the sixth-form Christmas assembly just to celebrate a good first term back for Year 13 and a good start to the sixth form ‘life’ for the Year 12s.”
Enthusiasm
Joe added that Mr Bell, the sixth-form director, was their “go-to man” if they had any issues or problems with filming or locations, and he let them take full control of the video and let their “creative juices flow”, which he said paid off.
He added: “I think George West’s, Michael Badley’s, Jordan Femi’s and my own enthusiasm rubbed off on those that were in it and all the staff were more than willing to co-operate which really reflect the fantastic tightknit community we strive to maintain at Coopers.”
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