I’m making a game about the newly famous Shooting Stars Meme.

The meme’s execution is pretty simple, it often starts with either:

1. A well known fail video ( a video where a person or thing is attempting to do a specific task or activity but fails at it by falling or getting hurt or falling short of the expected result );
2. A well known weird video ( a video where…something weird happens, usually a weird talent a person is demonstrating );
3. Or an unpopular video that fits with the theme.

Then, at a point where the subject in the video jerks into/from/out of the air the subject is cut out of the original video and is shot out into space with a loop of the jerking motion. The song the meme gets it’s name from, “Shooting Stars” By Bag Raiders is playing in the background starting a bit before the jerk triggering motion. The first tempo switch in the song is synced up with the jerk trigger moment. Random background videos of space are played as the looped clip of the subject ….loops by.

That’s the most complicated and in depth I’d ever wish to describe this amazing meme. It’s best to just experience it rather than explain it. I’ve personally heard this song before the meme, while it was coming up in another meme. While Vine was still a thing, some popular trend-setting Viners started using that song to create a meme. In it, you’d just have a person staring at the camera, as it zooms out, and when the tempo switches they would sort of nod their heads to the side in rhythm to the beat. This was popular for a while and I thought it would permanently link the head nodding to that song. Apparently not.

For my game, I chose to stick with the newer version of the meme, which is still gaining momentum. I may include a nod (pun included) to the original meme if I have extra time. My game is an endless runner where you will be a couple of people who’ll experience first hand the Shooting Stars meme. You’ll start running normal, with the song in the background, and once the tempo changes, you’ll be set on a track where the background changes to space backgrounds and random effects will be floating around you.

I pull inspiration from the linked video my class saw, Music Object, Substance, Organism, by David Kanaga. Some key notes from the video for me were,

• “Game Feel is about the rhythms of a videogames’ affordances.” in terms of Haptic Realism of the game music.
• “Music doesn’t require sound it only requires (space) time.” In terms of Musical Realism of the game music.

It’s kind of confusing, but the second quote taken both literally and figuratively, relate heavily on the Shooting Stars meme. The whole visual instrument I hope to create depends on the track in the background and the subjects playing their roles in the foreground. My game is looking to be classified less as a game, and more as a real form of a musical experience, real in the sense of all layers of the music’s reach will be interacted with.

Some Screen Grabs and bts:

 

Game will be available on itch soon: jwberry.itch.io/shooting-stars-meme

Now, I must get back to work, thanks for your time.

-James W. Berry