The Star Wars Kid

Videos of this kid were downloaded 1.1 million times from a single fan site alone, a staggering 2.3 terabytes of traffic, placing a geeky little kid at the center of the web's attention practically overnight. So who was he and what was he thinking?

Research revealed few details, until the culprits finally came forward. His name is Ghyslain, a 15-year-old tenth grader living in Quebec. Originally recorded onto an 8mm tape on November 4, 2002 in the school's studio, the video was never meant to be seen by anyone. After Ghyslain returned the borrowed videotape to his friend, the video sat in a basement for months. On April 19, 2003, Ghyslain's friend stumbled on the tape's secret contents and immediately shared it with friends. They thought it would be a funny prank to encode the video and upload it to Kazaa.

 In return for all the trouble he's gone through to Ghyslain was given a new iPod, made possible by 421 donations made by viewers/fans of his video.

The Videos:
The Original he had no reason to think anyone would ever see this
Benny Hill Remix complete with the funnest song in the world to play on a saxophone
The Star Wars Kid and The Dancing Baby two famous web distractions take it on the road
Episode 3 coming soon
Remix saber animations - enough already

The Star Wars Kid Interview
by Jish

Ghyslain: Yes, hello?
Jish: Ghyslain?
Yes.
My name's Jish and I am calling you from San Francisco, California and I'd like to interview you. Do you speak English too?
Only a little bit.
Well, I'll try to speak in French, but I'll apologize in advance since my French isn't perfect.
Oh, that's ok.
The interview is concerning your martial arts video.
Mm hmm.
Did you know that over 500,000 people have viewed your video?
Yes, I know.
When you made the video, did you think this many people would be viewing it?
No, I really never anticipated that.
How did the video end up on the web?
Actually, it was a mistake. The cassette was left in the studio and someone put it on the Internet.
Then, I guess it wasn't a friend who did this, more of an enemy?
More or less. It was someone I knew.
I only have a few more questions... There was something yellow on the floor in your video, what was that?
It was probably something left behind in the studio from a previous session. I really don't remember what it was.
Some people have taken your video and have added some Star Wars special effects, have you seen these?
Yes, I have seen some.
What's your opinion of these videos?
From what I saw, they look very well-made. It's surprising to see what people have done with a video that wasn't meant to be seen. It's interesting.
Do you have a website?
Personally, no.
What are your favorite sites?
I'm really into computers/computing, so my favourite sites are the ones from the different companies involved... Nothing that I visit regularly.
Do you also read weblogs?
No.
We know that you have a laptop, cell phone, Palm and other gadgets like that. Do you have any other favorite gadgets that you would like to buy, perhaps something like an iPod?
For the moment, I don't have plans to buy any gadgets, but sometime soon I'd like to get an iPod.
Do you use a Mac or a PC?
At home, I use a PC, but I really like the world of Macintosh. It's what I use at school.
If you bought an iPod, would you get the PC or Mac version?
Probably, I'd get the PC version.
Well, thank you very much and good night.
Good night.
 

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