Going viral: On the set of a YouTube superstar

I was scared and exhilirated all at the same time. My directions to the top-secret location included words like “small dirt road that does not look very inviting.” After a snowy dirt road that required 4-wheel drive on my truck (I feared for my life on the road alone), I finally arrived at the location. I hiked to the scene, camera in tow to find a rope and a 400 foot canyon nestled between two cliffs. Going near the edge made me nauseated. Young college-age boys and girls were swinging from the rope and having a blast. I was on the set of Devin Graham's latest epic Youtube video, hanging on for the ride of my life.

Devin Graham, who goes by “devinsupertramp” on Youtube, is known for his “World's Largest Rope Swing” video of himself and his buddies swinging from one of the big arches near Moab, Utah. In his videos, he films beautiful scenery and kids having fun in Utah and other places worldwide. His videos are the summation of the word “epic” and take Utah fun to new levels.

That's why I was thrilled to be invited to stop by the set of what will soon become the new “World's Largest Rope Swing” video filmed by Devin Graham during a photography adventure I was taking in southern Utah. The experience was truly epic.

On the third and last day of the filming, the “actors,” or “stunt men/women,” or whatever they are called in Devin Graham-land (in reality they were just real people having fun, just as you would imagine), had braved near zero-degree temperatures camping out at what seemed like the edge of the world. The scenery was truly breathtaking. The scene was an area some of the people in the video had frequented in the past, rivaled in depth and beauty only, perhaps, by the Grand Canyon.

Creighton Baird, whom you might recognize from the first “Arches Rope Swing” video (you see him in the video shooting the rope across the canyon with a bow and arrow), helped set up the swing. He told me they used the location previously to slackline, a sport kind of like tightrope walking between cliffs and high areas. They introduced Graham to the area for use in one of his future videos.

Entering the set, I expected the typical Scott & Brendo tune playing in the background, but in reality it was a beautiful, serene quiet, with an occasional scream from those making the jump. Getting back to the top, perhaps the hardest part, required a little rock climbing, as well as rapelling skill to climb the 300 or so feet to the top. Each jump was a feat in and of itself.

Visiting the set of a Devin Graham Youtube video was an experience truly of epic proportions. The man surrounds himself with some of the most talented people in the world, and it shows in his videos. This bucket-list item, for this Youtube loving social media geek, has been accomplished.

Now to check off cliff jumping from my bucket-list — maybe in a future video.

Jesse Stay is author of Google+ Marketing For Dummies, Google+ For Dummies, and I’m on Facebook–Now What???. He spends his days as Director of Social Media for Deseret Digital Media. Follow him at Facebook.com/stay for more pictures of these videos!