Law Revue, Law Revue Video Contest, Law Schools, Videos

Law Revue Video Contest 2017: Dishonorable Mentions

Despite certain admirable aspects, these three videos fell short of the mark.

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thumbs downLat here. We will soon be announcing the finalists for Above the Law’s 2017 Law Revue Video Contest. Thanks to everyone who submitted entries for our consideration.

Make that almost everyone. Consistent with contest tradition, we’ll take a few digs at some subpar submissions before teeing up the top contenders.

Actually, in all honesty, this year’s “dishonorable mentions” are not that bad. Each of them has at least one redeeming feature. Overall I felt that the contestants this year fell within a narrower band than in years past: the highs weren’t quite as high, and the lows weren’t quite as low.

Without further ado, here are comments on the three weakest entries, courtesy of yours truly and my colleague Staci Zaretsky.

1. American University, Washington College of Law — Hire Me, Maybe

LAT: Or maybe not. The singing is a little weak, and the lyrics are a little “meh.” But the Asian woman is a charismatic and talented performer — assuming she’s not a 3L, bring her back next year!

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STACI: Perhaps it’s because I’m a new mother, but I can’t bring myself to say anything really mean about American’s effort. This video wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just okay. I think we saw similar law revue parodies around the time this song was released, five years ago. Please try again next year, and be a little more creative. 🙂

2. George Washington University Law School — Professor Williston

LAT: Nice shout-outs to both Billy Joel and Samuel Williston — that’s kicking it old (and older) school — and clever case summaries. So this entry had potential. Alas, some of that potential went unrealized, thanks to long patches of nothing much happening. Protip: if you’re going to use a song with extended instrumental sections, at least provide viewers with visual entertainment; otherwise, attention will wander.

STACI: To be perfectly honest, I was waiting for this video to end. I was incredibly bored. I think all of us were. The quality of GW’s law revue offerings has drastically gone down since the star of the school’s Palsgraf video graduated. That was a true gem, and this… wasn’t.

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3. UCLA School of Law — Sorry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QJdOG9Beds

STACI: “Sorry”? Yeah, you should be sorry, UCLA. Go to your room and think about what you’ve done. This was not very good.

LAT: This video, to its credit, provided viewers with the eye candy that GW’s entry lacked: funky costumes, cute dancing, and a Jake Gyllenhaal doppelgänger. Alas, it suffered from some of the same faults as AU and GW: overall slowness, with an insufficiently high ratio of laughs per second, and singing that could have been better (wait until we post the finalists, you’ll see — or hear — what I’m talking about).

So there you have them: three videos that, despite certain admirable aspects, landed at the bottom of this year’s heap. Stay tuned for the finalists and the honorable mentions, coming soon.

Earlier: ATL’s 9th Annual Law Revue Video Contest

DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at dlat@abovethelaw.com.

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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