ARLINGTON – It’s Homecoming Week, and Arlington High School students pulled off a seriously epic and intricate “lip dub” music video that rocked Olympic Avenue downtown.
Hundreds of high school students, alumni and family Thursday took part in a choreographed “Home Game Lip Dub” video, performed to the Haim song, “Want You Back.” The video featured students from clubs, sports and activities.
Not familiar with a “lip dub?”
In student speak, it’s like a mobile build-a-flash mob with semi-rehearsed players who lip-synch behind a rolling camera, then adds more lip-synchers as the group moves down the street, bringing in the crowd, who also has bit parts to play, before joining in the walk to the finale.
Homecoming week always teems with rousing school spirit: the lip dub video provided an alternative to a homecoming parade and the perfect way to capture the essense of school comaraderie, with most of the crowd showing off their blue, gold and white school colors.
“When we found out the Lip Dub was coming back, we were really excited to get everyone involved,” said Emily Keefe, a senior in the AHS Leadership program and chief architect of the project.
This is the first time the lip dub has been created outside a school environment, and participants managed to get from “action” to “cut, that’s a wrap” before the sun went down.
Why downtown?
“We wanted to bring it downtown so everyone in the community could be into it and make it a new tradition, bigger and better than ever,” said Keefe, who participated in another lip dub earlier in her schooling.
“My favorite part is the finished video, and to see all the work that we put into the Lip Dub,” she said. “It was cool to help build it.”
AHS Leadership advisor and teacher Ben Ballew said the students pulled off an incredible feat.
“The students looked at the idea, they made it happen, and that was it,” Ballew said.
He said the administration has been great. “They have been all aboard, they get it, they’re involved, and they have been really supportive of the students.” That goes for the city, too.
A mom in the crowd said, “What other town would close down their main street for a school event like this?”
The filming was followed by free ice cream sandwiches and popcorn in Legion Park.
The student videographer said the YouTube finished product should be posted on high school social media, including Facebook, early next week, as does the Arlington Times-Marysville Globe on its websites.
