Mannequin Challenge

2016

Date: 26 October 2016 · Place: Edward H. White II Middle School, Jacksonville, Florida · Figures: Emily France, student credited with first video · Rae Sremmurd, Black Beatles soundtrack · Tags: Challenge, Video, Soundtrack 01. Frozen Choreography Students at Edward H. White II Middle School in Jacksonville post a video on 26 October 2016 in which the entire room freezes in mid-action while a phone camera glides through. The soundtrack is Rae Sremmurd's Black Beatles. Within two weeks the form is everywhere: the New York Giants locker room, Hillary Clinton's campaign plane, Beyonce's birthday party, an operating theatre at Mount Sinai. Black Beatles goes to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 26 November 2016. 02. The Tableau as Format The mannequin challenge is the last major group video format before TikTok rewrites the grammar. It sits cleanly between the dance circle of Harlem Shake and the duet stack of TikTok. The format dies clean by January 2017. Three months of total saturation, then gone. Sources • Emily France, original Mannequin Challenge video, 26 October 2016 • Billboard, 'Rae Sremmurd Hits No. 1 With Black Beatles', 28 November 2016 • KnowYourMeme entry, 'Mannequin Challenge'