Sophie Merry

Career

She is known for her "Groovy Dancing Girl" videos. She received a Bachelor honours in Spanish and Sociology from University College Dublin in 2004 and a higher national diploma in computer and classical animation from Ballyfermot College of Further Education in 2007. Aged 16, Merry appeared on the cover of U Magazine after winning a competition.

She is a life model, and did a photo shoot and viral video for the French company Etam in a jeans campaign launched in April 2008 that ran in 51 countries.

She previously worked for Jam Media and has worked as a director for Jumper Productions in Dublin since the company launched in early 2010. She worked on a viral video campaign for social networking site Whispurr in 2010, and produced an interactive installation for the Biorhythm exhibition at Trinity College Dublin"s Science Gallery.

In 2011 she joined with Sigmedia to create Irelands first short film to be shot using a stereoscopic camera rig "Clockhead". lieutenant premiered at Darklight Film Festival and the Chicago Irish Film Festival.

Works

• Other Work

  • Videos She first came to attention on her YouTube channel, BandyToaster ("two random words stuck together"), with a video titled "Groovy Dancing Girl", featuring Merry dancing to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by Daft Punk. She danced to a slowed-down version of the song, then increased the speed of the footage to match the song played at normal speed (called undercranking). The video was shot in her friend's garden and posted in February 2007.
    
    She has since shot three more Groovy Dancing Girl videos. Her videos have received more than nine million hits. Her short film "Solo Duet" was funded by the Irish Film Board and was shown in October 2009 at the Darklight Film Festival, a digital film festival.
    
    In 2008 she appeared in a music video for Autoban's single Sirens, and in 2009 appeared in The Riptide Movement's video for their single "Cry Cry Baby". In October 2011 a film she made with Sigmedia and shot in stereoscopic 3D, Clockhead, premiered at Darklight.