Campus a capella group gives ‘Uptown Funk’ UD makeover
By: Mary Kate Dorr – Asst. A&E Editor
What do you typically do when you hear a popular or overplayed song? Some might immediately turn off the radio, refusing to give in to the temptations of pop culture, while others might crank it up to full blast and sing along, knowing every word and beat. If you’re a part of the University of Dayton’s a capella group Remedy, however, you create a remake of the song showcasing pride in your university.
On Tuesday, Remedy released the YouTube video “UD Flyered Up!” a parody of Mark Ronson’s recent hit “Uptown Funk,” featuring Bruno Mars. Don’t believe me? Just watch. The video had more than 90,000 views in the first 24 hours of its release.
“UD Flyered Up!” features members of Remedy, as well as the entire UD community, singing and dancing throughout popular locations on campus, including The Galley, Stuart Hall, porches in the student neighborhood, classrooms and in front of Roesch Library.
Remedy consists of eight talented students: Jonathan Besecker, Holly Gyenes, Caitlin Pearn, Matthew Radford, Trevor Rosenbaum, Shelby Searcy, Hannah Snow and Kerry Speed.
According to Michael Kurtz, the producer and director of photography for the video, the process for the video began in January while Remedy prepared for competitions. After the music was recorded at ArtStreet Street Sounds, video production took a few weeks. All of the music featured in the video is vocalized by Remedy.
The video was filmed in several shots throughout one week, and Remedy kept positive even in wintery temperatures. “We shot the outdoor scenes on a very cold Saturday. The temperature was below freezing as they were walking down College Park in their Dayton T-shirts,” Kurtz said. Post-production for the video took about a week.
The goal of the “UD Flyered Up!” project was to promote the UD community and create positive PR for the university. “We want prospective students to see how friendly and welcoming Dayton is, so we wanted to create something that would appeal to that demographic,” Kurtz said.
Remedy and Kurtz hope that students will see the video as an example of Flyer pride and take to sharing the video on social media so others can experience the UD community.
Kurtz’s favorite part of the project was working with the students on campus. “For some of the scenes, we just walked up to students and asked them to be in the video. There is so much love for UD among the students that it was easy to get people to participate,” Kurtz said.
“UD Flyered Up!” could not have been completed without the team working behind the scenes. Tyler Black directed the video, Brian Mills edited the video, and Quinlin Kelly, Kaitlyn Kraus and Pablo Ramirez were the student production assistants.
The videos won’t stop here. A behind-the-scenes video will be completed next week.