Een dag uit het leven van … Lakers fan Youssef Hannoun

Youssef Hannoun is 21 and his greatest passion is basketball. When he posted his first basketball video he  never imagined it would get 4.959.921 views. When his second video also became a hit, Time Warner Cable Sportsnet sportscannel came to visstit him in Egypt.  Read what Youssef says of that day….

Youssef Hannoun is 21 jaar en woont in Egypte. Zijn grote hobby, zeg maar passie is basketbal. Youssef is een grote fan van basketbalspeler Kobe Bryant. Hem viel de grote gelijkenis op tussen Kobe Bryant en Michael Jordan op het basketbalveld. Toen hij zich op een dag verveelde bedacht hij een project  om zichzelf bezig te houden. In vier dagen zette hij zijn eerste video van deze twee basketbalhelden in elkaar.

Youssef kon niet bedenken toen hij de eerste video op YouTube plaatste dat deze video meer dan 4.959.921 keer bekeken zou worden! De video werd zelfs uitgezonden in een populair Amerikaans sportprogramma, Time Warner Cable Sportsnet. Toen de tweede video weer een YouTube hit werd kwam Het Amerikaanse sportprogramma hem thuis opzoeken. Hoe die dag voor Youssef was lees je hieronder.

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My name is Youssef Hannoun, I’m 21 years old and currently studying graphic design, I love playing and watching basketball, it’s more of a passion than a hobby to me; it is something that I will always follow forever.  That’s why I always look for ways to incorporate it into the other things that I share a similar love for such as video editing.

I decided to create my first viral video that showcased the eerie similarities of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan for two reasons, one being that Kobe is my favourite player, I love watching him play and being a fan of the sport in general, I couldn’t help but notice his many similarities to the player many consider the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan. The second reason was that I was bored and thought I could give myself a little project to work on, it actually only took my four days to finish the first, I had no idea it would receive the attention and popularity that it did worldwide.

The second video was a much longer process, taking me about 3 months to complete, the reason it took so much longer was because I already used most of the plays and because I wanted to keep my standards high to not disappoint any of the people who were anticipating a sequel. Once it was done, I already knew it would go viral again, because of the hard work that I put into it.

The third video and most popular of all three, took the longest, taking me four months to finish. I knew that I had to do something really special to once again attract the attention of the basketball world, and I came up with the idea to make Kobe and Jordan do the same move in a seamless transition between the players, where it appeared like they were magically switching jerseys on the same play.

My first video I edited using windows movie maker, a very basic video editing software, but it got the job done, for the next two videos I used a program called Sony Vegas, which I found to be a very user friendly software, and a software that I felt allowed me to produce the imaginations and ideas I had.

In five years I see myself being a very successful video editor, one of the best in the world; my ultimate goal is to be one of the most well-known video editors, where all of the top organizations in the world would want me to edit they’re footage, I have the work ethic and a strong belief that it will eventually happen.

The day of filming was long and fun; I had obviously never been in a spotlight like that before; so it was a very unique experience that I will never forget. They filmed me watching a live Lakers game with my friends at a local Café at 5:30 am; unfortunately the Lakers lost that game.

Right after the game, we headed straight to the pyramids and the Cairo tower for a few pictures, we then headed to my home for an interview, I really felt like a celebrity for a day.

I can’t say I felt completely comfortable; being on television for the first time felt nerve racking, so it was difficult for me to be myself, but overall I enjoyed the feature.

Other than the Lakers losing, it was a great day, one that I could never take back.

I personally do play basketball, I have been playing for about 10 years now, and it has always been part of my life. Basketball feels like my refuge, when I’m playing, I feel like no problems exist.