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Lonelygirl15

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Lonelygirl15
File:LonelyGirl15 Bree.jpg
Bree (and Daniel in the background) from one of the lonelygirl15 videoblogs.
Created by Miles Beckett
Mesh Flinders
Greg Goodfried
Starring Jessica Rose
Yousef Abu-Taleb
Jackie Jandrell
Jackson Davis
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes156 (As of March 17, 2007)
One public service announcement for the United Nations
Production
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkYouTube
Revver (September 9, 2006-Present)
ReleaseJune 16, 2006 –
Present

lonelygirl15 is an interactive web-based video serial centering around the life of a fictional teenage girl named Bree, whose YouTube username is the eponymous "lonelygirl15". The series is presented through short, regularly-updated video blogs posted by the fictional characters, as well as through an optional alternate reality game. lonelygirl15 came to international attention as a "real" video blogger who achieved massive popularity on YouTube, a popular video sharing website, but was eventually outed by suspicious viewers as a fictitious character played by American-New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.[1][2]

An interview with The New York Times then revealed the series' creators: Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, California, and Miles Beckett, a surgical residency dropout turned filmmaker.[3]

The series, which began June 16, 2006 is still running, with new videos appearing regularly on YouTube and Revver.

Characters

Bree/lonelygirl15: Bree is a perky 17-year-old girl (16 at the start of the series) who has been homeschooled for most of her life by her strict and religious parents. Although she is intelligent and well-read, she can be naive and emotionally immature because of her sheltered upbringing. Her family belongs to a mysterious cult called "the Order". In the early stages of the series there was speculation about the similarities to Thelema.[4]

Daniel/Danielbeast: Daniel is Bree's best friend. Daniel is naturally laid-back and a bit of a slacker, but he will do just about anything to protect Bree. While Bree is a creative dreamer, Daniel is usually grounded and the voice of reason. He has a knack for breaking into buildings and other forms of amateur espionage.[5]

Gemma/gemmers19: Gemma first showed up on YouTube replying to one of Bree's videos. They had been friends when Bree was living in England, and they were both part of the same "Order." She was the owner of the dog that Bree alluded to earlier in the series, the dog was Bree's best friend whilst living in England. Gemma claimed to be a University student living in a flat in London who had drifted away from the Order. She would often post videos giving advice to Bree while talking about her life there. It was later revealed that Gemma was actually an agent of the Order who had been in Southern California all along.[6]

Jonas/jonastko: Jonas made his entrance, like Gemma, posting video replies to Bree. His wealthy parents were lost at sea six years ago, and he was raised by his Nanny until he came of age. During his introduction he lived alone in a big house with his inheritance at his disposal. He offered shelter to Bree and Daniel when they were on the run, but they have since left his house and traveled to various other out posts, including his residence in the mountains and his aunty's house.[7]

Minor and Spin-off Characters

OpAphid: A fan-made spin-off and alternate reality game character that the creators of the series liked so much they made it an official part of the storyline. OpAphid is somewhat like the "field ops" branch of the organization after Bree.[8] The rival to OpAphid is Tachyon, a girl from a similar situation as Bree who battles "The Order," and her partner Brother. Tachyon and Brother finally interacted with Bree in the video "The Human Ransom", where they helped Bree and Jonas orchestrate an elaborate plot to get Daniel back, after he had been kidnapped by OpAphid.[9] Neither Tachyon nor Brother ever appear on camera.

Lucy: A major character who does not have an account or post videos. She does, however, appear in the background in many videos of other characters. She was originally Bree's "helper" who was helping her prepare for a mysterious ceremony that Bree ended up not doing. She now seems to be the figurehead for OpAphid, who is intent on convincing Bree to complete the ceremony.[10]

Nikki Bower: Nikki Bower is a recently graduated journalism student who is trying to make a name for herself by exclusively following the lonelygirl15 story. She acts in character, as if the lonelygirl15 series was real, but has a somewhat sarcastic and ironic attitude about dramatic events, somewhat breaking the fourth wall and letting the audience know she's aware of the alternate reality game. Nikki blurs the line between fan, fan-created spin-off, canon, and ARG character. She seems to be just a fan having fun with the series, but often reveals information in her own videos before it's released in the canon videos. In her most recent videos, minor characters like Lucy and Gemma are actually visible in the shot, so it's clear that she's getting some sort of help from the series creators. It was revealed that Nikki Bower is indeed played by Ali Danzinger.[11]

Cassie/cassieiswatching: A fan-made spin-off, based on a girl briefly mentioned in a video as having been friends with Bree when she went to Daniel's school, but then mysteriously disappearing. The series was active from September to October 2006, but was then abandoned. Cassie was one of the first spin-off characters, and gained notoriety by filming videos on the same locations that were seen in previous canon videos. Bree later referenced Cassie in the series, in such a way that acknowledged characteristics of Cassie established by the spin-off.[12]

Alex: The newly added character Alex is Jonas's aunt.[13] Recent video "Alex Is..." confirms the speculation that Alex is in the Order.[14]

Symbols

File:Opaphid.png
The Watcher logo from an OpAphid video.

There are many symbols in the lonelgirl15 storyline, the most important of which is the "Watcher" symbol, which looks like an eye. The watcher symbol started appearing in videos as the logo of the organization that is stalking Bree, around the time Gemma was introduced. It is a hybrid of a Theta and a Mu. Symbolically, it is said (by characters in the show) to represent the order's dominion over all things, as the Theta is symbolic of the sun and the Mu is symbolic of water, and their connection shows the Order's dominion over all things in between. Whenever the characters go outside, they usually go to places where there is water, and in many videos the sounds of distant helicopters can be heard, so the notion of the Order watching over everything between the sun and the water is quite literal. Theta is also an abbreviation of Thanatos, and is considered a warning of death.[15]

History

Lonelygirl15 debuted on YouTube as a "real" 16-year-old video blogger with the eponymous username. In "lonelygirl15"'s earliest videos, she posted video replies to and name-dropped popular YouTubers, which attracted the attention of their fans. Her video blogs eventually became popular in their own right, and attracted a massive following. To further the initial illusion that Bree was a real girl, a MySpace page was set up for her and she began meaningfully corresponding with many of her fans. Several fans of lonelygirl15's video posts began to wonder[16] if Bree was, in fact, a real person or if the posts were part of a teaser campaign for a television show or an upcoming movie[17][18] (similar to the viral marketing used to hype The Blair Witch Project). Others felt that the blog might be part of an alternate reality game.[19]

In early August 2006, fans began an active discussion on the www.lonelygirl15.com message boards and instigated an all-out investigation into the details behind lonelygirl15, pointing to small inconsistencies within the videos as evidence that the story might not be genuine. Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Rushfield was the first to provide proof of a hoax, when he wrote of Shaina Wedmedyk, Chris Patterson, and an anonymous law student, who set up a sting on MySpace to reveal that the Creative Artists Agency was behind the videos. Eventually it was revealed that 16-year-old "Bree" was played by 19-year-old New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.[20][21]

Because of lonelygirl15's YouTube popularity, media sources seized upon the story, extensively covering both the search process and the eventual "outing" as a fictional series. Afterwards, numerous news sources and talk shows featured interviews with the creators and actors of the series itself.[22][3][23][24][25][26][27][28]

New York Times reporter Virginia Heffernan expanded on the series of revelations on September 12 out with an article which confirmed Jessica Rose's identity, and revealed the identities of her "co-conspirators", Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, Calif., and Miles Beckett, a doctor-turned-filmmaker. Software engineer Grant Steinfeld was also involved in this project, as a photographer. Amanda Solomon Goodfried assisted in their efforts to hide their identities as well as posed as "Bree"'s online alter-ego. Ms. Goodfried's father-in-law, Kenneth Goodfried, handled various legal matters. The personnel involved worked under a non-disclosure agreement, according to Grant Steinfeld. Steinfeld has verified most of this information to the Times, and provided photographs he took on set of Ms. Rose as proof.[3] Also on September 12, the three main creators gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times revealing the third major partner as Greg Goodfried.[28]

Since the fictitious nature of lonelygirl15 has been revealed, the storyline continues to develop via new videos posted to both YouTube and Revver.

After the Reveal

  • Jessica Rose participated in a United Nations campaign in 2006, to fight poverty through an online anti-poverty video[29]. Rose portrayed the lonelygirl15 character as she sat by herself in her bedroom talking to the camera. The subject matter in the video focused on antipoverty, which breaks from the regular subject matter of the show. The video was posted on an alternate account, separate from the main channel.[30]
  • On November 20, 2006, lonelygirl15.com announced that the spin-off OpAphid was the official Alternate Reality Game of lonelygirl15. [3] OpAphid began in late September with what many speculated was a well-produced fan effort, and this announcement merges its characters OpAphid, Tachyon, and 10033/Brother, into the series storyline and continuity. In early February, 2007, it was revealed that Glenn Rubenstein was the original Puppet Master behind the OpAphid Alternate Reality Game and also the creator of its characters, OpAphid, Tachyon, and Brother. Glenn Rubenstein is also now credited as a writer and director on lonelygirl15.[31].
  • A 2006 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent was "inspired" by the lonelygirl15 phenomenon. The episode "Weeping Willow" featured a blogger named weepingwillow17, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. Willow and her boyfriend were kidnapped by men in black who demanded her fans donate money to a website to save their lives. The investigators did not know if Willow was real or fake. Various other video bloggers were also seen decrying weepingwillow as a fake, just like many did on YouTube.
  • On November 9 2006, DEE, a Montreal artist, released a song and a music video entitled lonelygirl.[32] The lonelygirl music video was shot in an almost exact replica of Bree's bedroom. In February 2007 it was featured by YouTube and got a hundreds of thousands of views.
  • Wired magazine ran a story on YouTube titled "YouTube Grows Up" in its December 2006 issue, featuring Jessica Lee Rose on the cover.[33]
  • The lonelygirl15 blog won Biggest Web Hit Award on VH1's Big in '06 Awards.[34]
  • Epic Movie released a series of trailers on YouTube in which Carmen Electra spoofed lonelygirl15. Electra portrayed lonelygirl362436. Yousef Abu-Taleb, the Danielbeast actor, even appears in one of them.

Trivia

  • The series was developed under the working title The Children of Anchor Cove.[35]
  • lonelygirl15 has various signature items/props that appear in its episodes. Recurring props include a pink feather boa, a safari hat, and her beloved puppet Purple Monkey (a.k.a. "P-Monkey").
  • Much of the music for the Lonelygirl15 has come from Magnatune and CC Mixter,[36] and is under Creative Commons licenses. Initial lonelygirl15 videos featured RIAA-controlled music such as Roy Orbison and Nelly, but the series quickly moved to only using music that could be used legally, largely all Creative Commons licensed.[37][38]

References

  1. ^ Jessica Rose at IMDb
  2. ^ Jessica Rose's acting headshot
  3. ^ a b c Heffernan, Virginia and Zeller, Tom (2006-09-12). "'Lonely Girl' (and Friends) Just Wanted Movie Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=Bree lonelygirl15.com
  5. ^ Daniel at lonelygirl15.com lonelygirl15.com
  6. ^ Gemma at lonelygirl15.com lonelygirl15.com
  7. ^ Jonas at lonelygirl15.com lonelygirl15.com
  8. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=OpAphid lonelygirl15.com
  9. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=Tachyon lonelygirl15.com
  10. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=Lucy lonelygirl15.com
  11. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=NBR lonelygirl15.com
  12. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=Cassieiswatching lonelygirl15.com
  13. ^ [1] lonelygirl15.com
  14. ^ [2] lonelygirl15.com
  15. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymSMBVMGiUM]
  16. ^ gohepcat (YouTube user) (2006). Lonelygirl15 a Fake? (YouTube video blog).
  17. ^ Krazymalicous (YouTube user) (2006). LONELYGIRL15 IS A FAKE (YouTube video blog).
  18. ^ Sternbergh, Adam (2006-08-28). "Hey There, Lonelygirl". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Cook, Lee (2006-09-29). "LonelyGirl15". Alternate Reality Gaming Network. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Flemming, Brian (2006-08-21). "Lonelygirl15 jumps the shark". Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Trademark Application
  22. ^ Rushfield, Richard and Hoffman, Claire (2006-09-08). "Mystery Fuels Huge Popularity of Web's Lonelygirl15". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "lonelygirl15 revealed : jessica rose aspiring actress". Top of the Tube. 2006-09-12. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ mgpapas (2006-09-12). Lonelygirl15 a.k.a. Bree a.k.a. Jessica Rose Exposed (YouTube video).
  25. ^ Foremski, Matt and Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "SVW Exclusive: The identity of LonelyGirl15". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "The Hunt for LonelyGirl15: Life in a blogger household . . ". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Foremski, Tom (2006-09-12). "How the secret identity of LonelyGirl15 was found". Silicon Valley Watcher. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ a b Rushfield, Richard and Hoffman, Claire (2006-09-13). "Lonelygirl15 Is Brainchild of 3 Filmmakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ SUZANNE VRANICA (2006-10-09). "U.N. Enlists Internet Star for Antipoverty Pitch". charity. Wall Street Journal - online. Retrieved 2006-10-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 27 (help)
  30. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ETsRObMQI Youtube.com
  31. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=Glenn_Rubenstein Lonelygirl15.com
  32. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1LL5if2kM
  33. ^ Garfield, Bob (2006-11-26). "YouTube Grows Up -- But What Does It Mean?". Retrieved 2006-11-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/big_in/2006/index.jhtml VH1.com
  35. ^ http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNjcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5OTI4MTEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3Northjersey.com
  36. ^ http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/6089
  37. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=701&sid=3f0ac2d9aeb7fe5e0b47207d0ce290ab
  38. ^ http://www.lonelygirl15.com/lgpedia/index.php?title=LG15_Soundtrack

See also

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