27 MARCH 2012

HUMAN BIRDWINGS:
THE FLYING DUTCHMAN EXPLAINED
The story behind the viral success of the birdman

Dutch mechanical engineer Jarno Smeets became an Internet sensation in the past weeks, when he claimed to be able to fly like a bird. About eight months ago, the first videopost by Jarno Smeets appeared

online. It was the beginning of an online storytelling / transmedia project titled Human Birdwings. On 20th March, the final episode was posted, showing Jarno Smeets taking off like a bird as the first human being in history. Several days later, we revealed the truth behind the Human Birdwings project on Dutch prime-time TV show 'De wereld draait door'. We would like to take this opportunity to give a short explanation about the project and our motivations. Human Birdwings is about sharing a personal, yet universal dream about flying like a bird. The story was carefully crafted and build over a period of around eight months, creating the fictional character of Jarno as well as several other characters, backstories and the storylines leading to the final flight. Human Birdwings consists of a total of fourteen short films. Together with the official Human Birdwings blog and YouTube channel, Jarno's tweets, posts and overall interaction, with the audience, we created a complete storyworld around Jarno Smeets, working towards the realisation of his dream. The story was distributed through online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and a blog. The project is inspired by the phenomenon of do-it- yourself (DIY) online communities. Over the course of nine months Human Birdwings simulated this concept how people share their ideas online to build revolutionary devices using household tools and widely available (electronic) components. In our project, this DIY phenomenon is copied and twisted to present the realization of a mythical dream by using modern technology and online knowledge sharing. The technology and theory behind the wings where carefully researched, with the help and advise of aviation specialists and mechanical engineers. The dream of flying like a bird is a dream of all times, a mythological dream that touches a core emotional layer. The project is therefore built on the creation of a suspension of disbelief with the audience. Trusting that the audience allows itself to accept what he sees, despite knowing its probably not possible. The audience wants to believe. This was the key underlying idea of this transmedia project, because it connects


our ideas and feelings about progress, technology and the will of mankind to reach out to unknown futures. We wanted to make a large online crowd part of this dream, and let them share their ideas on the technical and philosophical approach. Over the course of the project, there has been a continuous dialogue with the audience, through the various channels of the project, as well as through other platforms such as external blogs, discussion forums and Facebook groups. Our fictional character involved the audience by asking what techniques to use, sharing doubts and questions. Doing so, we created true interaction with the crowd as well as building an ever-growing fanbase of followers. All discussions, press attention, comments and critics combined explore and show the power of contemporary technology, online communication and the relations between art and science. The 13th video, showing Jarno Smeets making a (partially failed) testing flight caused a stream of feedback, ideas and suggestion as well as a lot of doubt about the credibility of the video. This was the bridge towards a carefully prepared climax with the last film (http://youtu.be/GYW5G2kbrKk) This last film showing Jarno Smeets successful flight has been watched 6,2 million times within a week and created over 15,000 reactions and over 23,000 likes. The Youtube channel in total garnered almost 8 million views and has 5,500 subscribers. During the period of the project, the blog has had over 600,000 unique visitors. The Twitter account of Jarno Smeets has over 1,800 followers and during the last week there have been over 10,000 tweets about the project. The project (both before and after the release of the hoax) has been featured in numerous online and offline media: Wired, BBC, ABC Network, CBS, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, NBC, Bild.de, Spiegel, Techcrunch, Gizmodo, Bright, Discovery Channel and many, many others. The project stirred a great amount of reactions from all over the world, both on the original ideas of building the wings, the dream of flying as well as on the fact that in the end it is a fictional project. There has been scientifically and mathematical analysis on the design of the wings by aviation specialists, scientists as well as Discovery Channels Mythbusters. George Lucas CGI company Industrial Light & Magic (the team behind Star Wars) where even asked to debunk the video. The sequentional way of publishing, the question whether the main character will succeed, the huge press attention and the constant interaction with the audience has lead to a compelling narrative structure and has made Human Birdwings to become a very successful online media project. A project that also clearly shows that using the tools and mechanics of social media and having a clear viral strategy, one can reach and touch a huge, worldwide audience. Even though no commercial sponsors or advertisers where involved in this particular project, it does show the power and huge potential of branded storytelling. By telling entertaining, amazing and engaging stories through ever-changing digital and social technologies we believe one can grab the attention of an audience that is yearning to be entertained and ready to engage. An audience that wants to be involved and entertained. Human Birdwings was directed by Dutch media artist Floris Kaayk, known for mockumentary films like Metalosis Maligna and The Origin of Creatures The project was produced by Amsterdam based Revolver Media, a next generation creative media company that create, produce and rolls out story driven campaigns, branded and social media content and formats for owned media. The company is built around experienced creatives, storytellers, producers, directors and artists.


Human Birdwings was made in collaboration with the Dutch public service broadcaster NTR and supported by Dutch Mediafund and Dutch Filmfund. Links to relevant project websites: http://www.humanbirdwings.net/ http://www.youtube.com/user/jarnosmeets80 https://twitter.com/jarnosmeets80 http://www.floriskaayk.com/ More information: Revolver Media www.revolver.nl Raymond van der Kaaij producer welcome@revolver.nl Credits: Director: Co-director: Original idea: Floris Kaayk Eelko Ferwerda Floris Kaayk David Menting Anneke Weerts Eran Ben-Michael David Goddyn Klemens Patijn Floris Kaayk Eelko Ferwerda Ivor Ribeirda da Silva St.Joost Art Academy Rudy Berdugo Airfilms Nienke Huitenga Rachel Deanen Rommert Schrijver Ingrid Walschots

Technical Design: Cast:

Animations: Edit:

MoCap supervisor: MoCap equipment: Animation cleanups: Helicam

Online Story & community management Production assistant Trainee Commissioning editor NTR

Producer Raymond van der Kaaij Made possible with the support of NTR Broadcasting, Mediafonds and the Dutch Filmfund A Revolver Media production, 2012