In 2012, researchers at Google’s secretive X lab built an
artificial neural network of 16,000 computer processors as part of a study
intended to find out whether the system could be trained to detect and identify
images without outside prompting. Using a database of 10 million thumbnails
from YouTube videos, computer scientists sat back to let the network teach
itself what visual information was most important.
One of the first things the network learned to do was search
for pictures of cats.
If nothing else, the study proved that in order to understand
the internet, you have to know cats. Not even massive computer brains are
immune to the charms of a good cat video.
At least part of the appeal of cat videos lies in the fact
that, possibly more than any other creature on the planet, cats are wholly
themselves. They’ll behave however they damn well please, regardless of whether
there’s a camera on them or not. There’s probably a lesson to be learned there:
we should all aspire to such liberated unselfconsciousness.
The early-2000s heyday of Lolcats
may be past us, but silly cat videos continue to be a foundational part of
popular internet culture. With everything wrong in the world today, cat videos
are one of the few things we have left to consistently bring us joy. And since
we’re all sharing them anyway, why not make a point of enjoying them with a
crowd of like-minded cat enthusiasts?
Enter the Cat Video Festival, a 70-minute screening event
that collects the best and most entertaining cat videos for your viewing
pleasure, while raising awareness for cats in need around the world. The
festival began as an event at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
(coincidentally also in 2012), but quickly grew much larger.
Thanks to its soaring popularity, Cat Video Fest now screens
at theaters across the country. Each venue has the chance to team up with local
feline charities and animal shelters, and a percentage of the proceeds are
donated to each organization. Filled to the brim with non-stop cat antics and
feline escapades, Cat Video Fest will be screening locally at the Little
Theatre Saturday, March 9 (SOLD OUT), with a second showing Sunday, March 10. For the
event, The Little will be partnering with Lollypop
Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester.
And whose job is it to comb the internet and hunt down these
videos? That would be festival curator Will Braden, who’s tasked with putting
together the purr-fect collection of videos to
entertain audiences across the nation. Braden says submitted videos make up about
25 percent of the program, but it varies by year.
“It’s important to me to really scour the corners of the internet
to make sure that no matter how much of a cat video devotee you are, you will
definitely have some surprises,” he says.
Braden landed this sweet gig after his short film “Henri 2, Paw de Deux” was awarded the Golden Kitty award at the first
Internet Cat Video Festival in 2012. “After that, I just sunk my claws in, and
eventually began curating the festival reel myself in 2014.”
Does he have any advice for those hoping to create a video
good enough to make it into future installments of the festival? “Make sure
that your cat is into it. When people have an idea and try to shoehorn their
cat into it, people can tell it’s not natural,” says Braden. “Just try to let
your cat be the genesis of the concept. If there is something funny they do, or
some bit of weird behavior, use it! Just make sure your cat is on board. Also,
it helps if the biggest moment (funniest, most interesting, etc.) is right at
the end of the video.”
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2019.
